Assistant Director of Strategy, Insight, and Assurance

Assistant Director of Strategy, Insight, and Assurance

Salary: £105,000 per annum

Location: Colindale, London (with hybrid working)

Help shape the future of one of London's most ambitious housing and care organisations.

The Barnet Group is entering an important period of transformation.

We manage more than 14,000 homes, deliver homelessness services, and provide adult social care services across Barnet. Following the award of a C1 grading from the Regulator of Social Housing for Barnet Council in 2025, our focus is on building on that strong foundation and continuing to improve the services and outcomes we deliver for residents, service users, and communities.

At the same time, we are launching an ambitious Data, Digital, AI, and Technology Strategy (DDAT). This will fundamentally change how we use insight, technology, automation, AI, and data to improve services, strengthen decision-making, enhance resident and service user experience, and deliver value for money.

We're looking for an experienced and ambitious leader to become our new Assistant Director of Strategy, Insight, and Assurance.

This is a new and influential role that will sit at the centre of strategic decision-making. In this role, you will work directly with the Executive Management Team, Boards, senior leaders, regulators, local authority partners, and external stakeholders. You will help shape the future direction of The Barnet Group and ensure that our strategic ambitions translate into better services and measurable results.

You will bring together our corporate strategy, business intelligence, regulatory readiness, programme governance, data protection, and corporate health and safety and assurance functions. You will connect operational performance with strategic decision-making and provide clear, reliable assurance to senior leaders and Boards.

You will also play a leading role in delivering our Data, Digital, AI, and Technology ambitions.

This is a broad, practical leadership role with influence across the organisation.

We are looking for someone who can combine strategic thinking with practical, hands-on delivery and make a tangible impact across the organisation.

You might spend one morning helping colleagues develop an effective approach to AI governance, challenging performance data, removing barriers to programme delivery, or supporting teams to use insight more effectively. Later that day, you could be advising the Board on regulatory readiness or providing assurance on a complex organisational risk.

You'll need to work confidently at every level of the organisation. That could mean leading preparations for regulatory engagement, strengthening our performance culture, improving programme governance, building confidence in AI adoption, or working alongside colleagues to resolve a complex operational challenge.

This role will suit a leader who enjoys working across organisational boundaries, building strong relationships, and turning ideas into action.

Why this role matters

Over the next three years, The Barnet Group will be:

• Delivering a major Data, Digital, AI, and Technology Strategy.
• Strengthening assurance and maintaining regulatory readiness.
• Embedding better use of data and insight across the Group.
• Improving how we govern major programmes and transformation.
• Building stronger corporate intelligence capabilities.
• Delivering change that improves outcomes for residents and service users.
• Ensuring we continue to meet the highest standards expected by customers, partners, and regulators.

The Assistant Director of Strategy, Insight, and Assurance will make an important contribution to each one of these priorities, with the opportunity to make a visible and lasting difference across the Group.

What you'll lead

You will have responsibility for:

• Corporate strategy and policy.
• Regulatory readiness and assurance.
• Business intelligence, performance, and insight.
• Data governance and information governance.
• AI governance and organisational adoption of AI.
• Corporate programmes and transformation governance.
• Corporate health and safety and assurance.
• Board and Executive assurance reporting.

You will help ensure that decisions across the Group are informed by high-quality evidence, effective controls, and a clear understanding of performance, risk, and opportunity.

You will join a leadership team that is ambitious for the organisation, open to challenge, and committed to working across boundaries to deliver better outcomes.

What we're looking for

We would welcome applications from leaders who bring:

• Significant senior leadership experience in a complex and regulated organisation.
• A strong track record of delivering organisational change and transformation.
• Substantial experience in strategy, assurance, performance, insight, regulatory environments, or governance.
• A genuine interest in data, digital innovation, and the responsible and effective use of AI.
• Credibility to work effectively with Boards, Executive teams, regulators, and senior stakeholders.
• Outstanding communication and influencing skills.
• Intellectual curiosity, political awareness, and sound judgement.
• The ability to move confidently between strategic leadership and hands-on delivery.

Above all, you'll bring the energy, ambition, and resilience to help shape the next chapter of The Barnet Group.

Why join us?

This is a rare opportunity to take on a role with genuine breadth, visibility, and influence.

You'll work directly with senior leaders and Board members, help shape organisation-wide transformation, and play a key part in delivering one of the most significant periods of change in our history.

We want The Barnet Group to be a fantastic place to work for all our people. Alongside a supportive working culture, we offer:

• A flexible pension and benefits allowance of 5% of your base salary, including a Medical Cash Plan, Dental Insurance, and shopping discounts.
• 25 days’ annual leave, increasing to 30 days with service.
• The option to buy or sell up to five days’ annual leave each year.
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements, with two days a week in the office.
• Life assurance at three times your annual salary.
• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme.
• Volunteering opportunities.
• Career development through mentoring.
• Extensive learning and development opportunities.

If you're excited by the opportunity to bring together strategy, insight, assurance, and transformation in a role that will make a real difference, we'd love to hear from you.

The Barnet Group operates a preferred supplier arrangement for recruitment. We do not accept unsolicited agency introductions and will not be liable for any associated fees.

About The Barnet Group

The Barnet Group is a local authority-owned organisation that exists to make a positive difference to people's lives. Through our housing, property, and support services, we provide homes, services, and opportunities that help individuals, families, and communities thrive across the London Borough of Barnet.

We want to be an employer of choice and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing, and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels they belong and is empowered to achieve their full potential.

The Barnet Group is a Disability Confident Employer. If you declare a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, we will ask you whether you need any reasonable adjustments, and we will make these wherever possible. We want every candidate to be fully supported and able to participate in the selection process on an equal basis.

Interview date: Thursday 29 October 2026

Interview location: NW9