Chief Operating Officer

Job summary

Closing Date: 31st May 2026

Interviews will take place week commencing 15th June 2026

Full details of the role can be found in the attached Candidate Brief.

As Chief Operating Officer (COO) you will be responsible for providing strategic leadership to Homes England’s enabling functions. You will embrace and role model the values and behaviours as a leader and colleague across the Agency more widely. Working closely with our Chief Executive Officer and the rest of the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT), your input will be critical to the success of the Agency’s mission and government’s housing priorities. As Chief Operating Officer you will provide leadership across people, digital, change, performance, estates, legal, commercial and business services, enabling effective decision making, organisational resilience and value for money, while supporting the Chief Executive and Board.

Job description

As Chief Operating Officer you will provide strategic leadership of the Chief Operating Office, aligning individual expert contributions toward a shared vision, and leveraging diverse skills for collective problem-solving. Ensuring high quality, efficient and resilient enabling and corporate services that support delivery of Homes England’s mission.

• You will be a core member of the CLT, contributing to corporate strategy, organisational performance, and long-term sustainability.
• You will lead organisational planning, performance management and assurance, ensuring robust governance frameworks and operational processes and structures which enable the agency to operate within its Risk Appetite.
• As COO you will lead the design and delivery of strategic change, ensuring the organisation can deliver on its mission and strategy through optimal alignment of its people, systems and processes.
• Our COO will oversee financial management, budgeting and financial control of the Directorate and change budgets to ensure public funds are used responsibly and deliver value for money.
• You will lead the people agenda, including workforce strategy, organisational design, culture, leadership capability and employee engagement.
• You will provide executive sponsorship for digital, data and systems transformation to improve efficiency, insight and user experience, and minimise cyber and operational risk.
• As COO you will ensure Homes England meets its statutory, regulatory and assurance obligations, including audit, compliance and transparency requirements.
• You will maintain strong relationships with sponsor departments, regulators and key partners, representing Homes England with credibility and authority.

This role is also key in promoting continuous improvement, innovation and collaboration across corporate services and the wider organisation.

Person specification

As Chief Operating Officer you will be an experienced senior leader with significant experience at executive or board level within a complex organisation.

You will be able to demonstrate a strong understanding of corporate services, including performance, people, digital, commercial and governance functions.

You will possess a strong understanding of corporate services, including performance, people, digital, commercial and governance functions.

Your demonstrable experience of leading largescale complex organisational change and transformation will be key.

You will bring a proven ability to operate effectively within public sector governance, assurance and accountability frameworks.

This role will require strong financial acumen, with experience overseeing budgets, financial planning and value for money decisions.

Success in this role will require excellent interpersonal and influencing skills, with the ability to build trust and credibility with senior stakeholders.

Benefits

Homes England: The Housing and Regeneration Agency

We believe that affordable, quality homes in well-designed places are key to improving people’s lives. As the government’s housing and regeneration agency, we create thriving new places and transform urban areas, combining the full breadth of our powers, expertise, land, capital and influence to bring investment to communities and get more homes built.

How? We form long-term partnerships that bridge the gap between the public and private sector to meet local needs and aspirations. We use our influence to champion the creation of sustainable homes, communities and places that are brilliantly designed for the people that live there now, and in the future. And we use our funding and support to build a more resilient, diverse and innovative housing sector, helping new entrants in the market, encouraging modern methods of construction and design, and promoting the utmost attention to building safety.

Together with our partners, we’re accelerating the pace of house building, remediation and regeneration across the country, as we seek to deliver ever more affordable homes in places people are proud to call home for generations to come.

What we offer

As well as a competitive salary and 33 days annual leave, we are committed to 50/50 hybrid working. We’ll support you, wherever possible, so that you don’t miss out on what matters to you.

Membership of the Homes and Communities Agency Pension Scheme, which is a contributory defined benefit scheme with the amount you receive on retirement based on your salary and years worked at the Agency.

Internal applicants: please note that if you are successful, the salary you are offered will be in accordance with our pay policy. You can find details on the HR Hub SharePoint site.

If you ever need a bit of extra help, we have a great employee assistance programme, a wide range of healthcare plans, financial wellbeing support and access to many great discounts with leading high street names.

Our range of network groups are also there to support you to be yourself at work and play a key role in helping shape our future.

If you are a member of a professional body, we’ll pay for your membership and once you get your digital kit, you’ll be good to go.

Homes England are a geographically diverse community. We work to a 50/50 office/ home based model. Moving back into our office environments has enabled us to utilise our space and time together in the most collaborative way.

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

We would encourage all applicants to apply as soon as possible as we may close vacancies early should we receive a high number of applications.

We also encourage you to apply using the full application option as opposed to quick apply, this is especially important if you would like to indicate to us that you would like to be considered under the disability confident scheme.

We’re a diverse team of more than 1,000 professionals spanning 17 professions, helping Homes England to be effective, efficient and deliver for communities.

Our people remain at the heart of everything we do, and we’re committed to building an Agency that not only reflects the diverse communities we serve, but also champions inclusion in how we shape homes and places across the country. For more information about our EDI strategy please see our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2024 to 2025 — Second Edition - GOV.UK

You will be required to have the Right to Work in the UK and Homes England do not offer visa sponsorship. If your application is shortlisted to interview we will require you to provide proof of your Right to Work in the UK at this stage.

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

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 : Recruitment Team
• Email : recruitmentinfo@homesengland.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitmentinfo@homesengland.gov.uk