Sanctuary manages rented and shared ownership homes and supports community initiatives for thousands of customers across England. Our staff help make a real difference to the quality of people’s lives.
Head of Independent Living – National Operations
Homeworking
£64,224 - £78,015 per year plus Company car or car allowance
37.5 hours per week
We have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Independent Living – National Operations to lead the national delivery and transformation of operational and change functions across our Independent Living service.
This role will not oversee Neighbourhood Services. Instead, it will play a pivotal leadership role, driving service excellence, national consistency and continuous improvement across Lettings, Digital, Maintaining Independence and Performance.
The postholder will ensure our operational systems, processes, and customer‑facing functions are efficient, future‑ready, and centered around enabling customers to live independently, safely and with dignity.
The role of Head of Independent Living – National Operations will include:
Operational Leadership
- Lead national operational teams across Lettings, Digital, Maintaining Independence, and Performance, ensuring high‑quality, person‑centered service delivery
- Drive service consistency, efficiency and innovation through strong operational planning and execution
- Ensure operational processes are robust, responsive, compliant and aligned with regulatory and organisational standards
Service Transformation & Change Delivery
- Lead national change programmes that improve the customer experience, streamline processes and support digital transformation across Independent Living
- Work collaboratively to design and implement improved ways of working, embedding a culture of continuous improvement
- Support system development, data improvement and enhanced reporting frameworks to strengthen decision‑making and service assurance
Performance & Quality
- Lead the performance function to deliver a balanced scorecard across Independent Living, ensuring KPIs, customer satisfaction and compliance levels are met or exceeded
- Use performance insights to identify risks, service gaps and opportunities for improvement
- Oversee quality assurance, audit findings and continuous learning to drive high‑quality operational outcomes
Customer Impact & Experience
- Ensure that customers are at the heart of all operational delivery and change activity
- Support the development of customer‑focused solutions that promote independence, wellbeing and tenancy sustainment
- Promote best practice in safeguarding, risk management and customer engagement
Collaboration & Influence
- Work closely with the Director of Independent Living to deliver organisational strategy and priorities
- Collaborate with regional leaders, Neighbourhood Services, Property, Digital and other corporate teams to enable joined‑up service delivery
- Act as a key partner in internal and external stakeholder engagement, representing Independent Living operations at a national level
Financial & Resource Management
- Manage national budgets within remit, ensuring efficient resource allocation and compliance with financial policies
- Lead and support high‑performing teams, setting clear expectations, nurturing talent and promoting a culture of inclusion, wellbeing and professional development
Skills and experiences:
- Degree, management qualification or CIH Level 5 qualification – or willingness to work toward one
- Proven leadership experience in a national or multi‑site operational environment
- Demonstrated experience in service transformation, operational delivery and performance management
- Strong understanding of housing, support services, or related customer‑facing sectors
- Evidence of delivering process improvements and digital change
- Ability to build effective relationships, manage risk and influence across diverse teams and stakeholders
- Commitment to promoting inclusion, wellbeing and high professional standards
- This role will involve driving on company business. In order to drive a company vehicle, drivers must hold a full valid UK driving licence
Why work for us?
We are a not-for-profit housing association, and own and manage around 125,000 homes. We foster a diverse and inclusive culture, and nurture and reward talent. Our customers are at the heart of all we do, and colleagues help make a real difference to people’s lives.
Our Benefits
As part of our commitment to making Sanctuary a great place to work, where your wellbeing is of genuine importance, we have developed an attractive employment package. The package recognises your contribution, supports your physical, mental and financial health and gives you the flexibility to tailor your employee benefits by offering:
- 25 days annual leave (rising to a maximum of 30 days) plus public holidays
- A pension scheme with employer contributions from Sanctuary
- Life Assurance
- Employee Advice Service including counselling
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Voluntary health plans
- Employee discounts
- Wellbeing support and tools
- Employee recognition scheme
- Staff Networks, with a shared interest in inclusion, and who provide invaluable support to colleagues
Role Salary is dependent on successful candidate’s home location/ local office base as below:
- London area - £66,703 with an additional policy allowance of £7,410 per annum (rising to £70,214 with an additional policy allowance of £7,800 per annum after 12 months service and subject to satisfactory performance)
- South East region - £60,692 with an additional policy allowance of £6,742 per annum (rising to £63,886 with an additional policy allowance of £7,097 per annum after 12 months service and subject to satisfactory performance)
- Elsewhere in the UK - £57,802 with an additional policy allowance of £6,421 per annum (rising to £60,844 with an additional policy allowance of £6,759 per annum after 12 months service and subject to satisfactory performance)
View the job profile (if the link is unavailable please visit the Sanctuary careers website)
Closing Date: 26 April 2026
If you're unsure about any details, have questions about the role or want to discuss a need for adjustments, our fantastic talent team will be happy to help you – [email protected]
We reserve the right depending on application numbers to close or extend the closing dates for positions; we would therefore recommend an early application.
View more detail about what it’s like to work for our organisation, and what we offer on our Sanctuary careers pages at - www.sanctuary.co.uk/join-our-team
Inclusion is one of our core values. Our goal is to be a diverse, inclusive organisation where our people thrive and meet our customers’ needs with fairness and empathy. We know having a range of ideas and opinions makes a difference. We encourage and welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds to support this mission. We will make adjustments throughout your application process, in line with Sanctuary’s commitment to our Disability Confident employer status.
Building Equality and Diversity
Sanctuary Group encourages and welcomes applications from people from diverse backgrounds to support our commitment to offering an inclusive environment for our employees and customers.
We work closely with the Home Office in order to prevent illegal working.
A basic Disclosure and Barring Service check will be necessary in the event of a successful application which we will pay for.
Sanctuary Housing Services Limited is a subsidiary of Sanctuary Housing Association, an exempt charity.