Assistant Director – Guarantees & Product Development

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity to join Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, at a pivotal moment for the sector. With housing at the heart of the national agenda, the creation of the National Housing Bank (NHB) marks one of the most significant interventions in housing investment in a generation.

Backed by £16bn in new financial capacity, including £5.5bn for the new Guarantees Programme, the NHB will unlock investment at scale, attract new institutional partners, and accelerate the delivery of high‑quality homes across the country.

As Assistant Director – Product Development, you will play a central role in shaping the next generation of financial products that support housing delivery, regeneration and long‑term place‑making. You will help design innovative, scalable solutions that address market failures, unlock capital, and enable partners to deliver the homes and infrastructure communities need.

This is a rare opportunity to influence a new national organisation from the ground up and to make a meaningful impact on the future of housing investment in England.

Job description

You will join the newly established Guarantees Team, a growing and strategically important part of the Agency’s investment offer. Your work will focus on the origination and development of new financial products, ensuring they are impactful, market‑informed and aligned with the NHB’s mission.

You will:

• Lead the design and development of innovative, scalable financial products that attract institutional capital and support housing delivery.
• Engage extensively with the market to understand barriers to investment and identify opportunities for intervention.
• Work collaboratively across Homes England to ensure products align with strategic objectives, governance requirements and risk frameworks.
• Empower internal stakeholders to contribute to product development, ensuring a shared understanding of purpose, impact and delivery.
• Shape the NHB’s approach to product innovation, helping to build a new national capability from inception.
• Provide clear leadership, direction and judgement, ensuring your team’s work aligns with organisational goals and delivers measurable impact.

A two‑stage interview process will apply. Candidates invited to second stage will complete an Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ).

Person specification

We are looking for creative, commercially minded professionals with a strong understanding of the residential property market and the dynamics of housing investment. You will bring:

• A track record of developing financial products or investment solutions within housing, real estate, infrastructure or related markets.
• The ability to listen to the market, interpret complex challenges and design interventions that drive meaningful change.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and build trusted relationships across sectors.
• Leadership qualities that inspire confidence, support professional development and foster an inclusive, collaborative culture.
• The patience, resilience and strategic thinking required to deliver innovation in a complex policy and investment environment.

As a leader, you will:

• Provide clear direction and ensure alignment with organisational priorities.
• Demonstrate integrity, sound judgement and a commitment to public value.
• Build a positive, inclusive culture where people can do their best work.
• Encourage collaboration and support the growth of a high‑performing team.

About the National Housing Bank

The National Housing Bank (NHB) is a new financial organisation within Homes England, created to unlock investment at scale and accelerate the delivery of homes, regeneration and long‑term place‑making.

With £16bn in new financial capacity, the NHB will:

• Connect capital with capability
• Enable innovation and sustainable growth
• Support partners to unlock complex sites and deliver at pace
• Provide government‑backed finance where the market cannot act alone

Purpose‑driven and built for impact, the NHB offers a unique opportunity to shape a new national institution from its earliest stages.

Benefits

Homes England is an executive non-departmental public body with its own terms and conditions, benefits and pension scheme. We are a government agency working in partnership with the private sector and want to employ and retain great people. In return we offer a range of excellent benefits, some of the key benefits include:

Holiday - Homes England offers all staff 33 days annual leave per year in addition to 8 statutory bank holidays.

Working Flexibly - At Homes England we have a strong culture of flexible working and encourage all employees to have a healthy work/life balance. We offer a wide range of potential working patterns, including part time, job share and compressed hours.

Health and Wellbeing - We offer health screening with Nuffield Proactive Health Clinics, a free Employee Assistance Programme which offers confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as well as access to Occupational Health.

Professional Development - At Homes England we are committed to your continued professional and personal development with learning as one of our core values. We pay for one job-related professional membership subscription per year for our employees.

We also offer an excellent range of family friendly benefits, for example, maternity, paternity, shared parental leave.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

How to apply?

To apply please follow the links to our careers page.

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Selection process details

For more information on the role, please see the attached Job Description.

Successful applicants will be advised of the outcome of their application and interviews held as soon as practical after the closing date. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in this role and Homes England.

Please note – Homes England has a responsibility to ensure compliance with HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard to address the potential problems of identity fraud, illegal working and deception generally. To ensure compliance we will carry out a pre-employment Personal Identity and Vetting Report through Experian to meet the standard and you will therefore be asked to provide certain information in order that the verification check can be carried out if you are successful in your application.

Homes England are an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer that values and respects the people who work for us. Our aim is to be an employer of choice, enabling everyone to reach their full potential.

Homes England is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. For further information please refer to our Privacy Notice which can be viewed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/homes-england/about/personal-information-charter

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a guaranteed disability confident interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Ciara Lynn
• Email : Ciara.lynn@weareams.com

Recruitment team

• Email : psrpermapplications@weareams.com

Attachments

JD - AD - Product Development Opens in new window (docx, 312kB)