Head of Business Design and Architecture

Title: Head of Business Design and Architecture Contract Type: Permanent, Full-Time, 35 hoursSalary: Circa £110,000 per annum (London weighted salary) or £95,000 per annum (Regional salary), dependant on experienceGrade: 13Reporting Office: London, Stratford or Manchester, Trafford Persona: Agile Worker: 20% - 40% of contractual hours to be worked from reporting office/working location (hybrid working) Closing Date: 8th February 2026Interview Dates: 18th & 19th February 2026 *Please note that in person interviews will be held for at least one of the interview stages for this role. Please click here for the role profile Head of Business Design and Architecture Role Profile.docx

Benefits include: Excellent pension plan (up to 6% double contribution), 28 days Annual Leave rising to 31 days with length of service + Bank Holidays, Westfield Health Cash Plan, non-contributory life assurance, up to 21 hours volunteering paid days, lifestyle benefits, Employee Assistance Programme and many more…

Early applications are encouraged as we reserve the right to close the advertisement and interview earlier than stated.

Join our Transformation and Change Team at L&Q:

We have a multi-year, multi million pound investment, Transformation and Change portfolio at L&Q, spanning full operating model, ways of working, structures and systems.

We are seeking a highly experienced leader to establish and run a new Business Design and Architecture function, positioned at the heart of and a critical enabler to the successful delivery of the strategic outcomes sought from our Transformation and Change portfolio; specifically, to enable robust design and delivery in line with our target operating model expectations for the L&Q Group, and to enable organisational agility to respond to internal and external factors that require improvement and change in the future.

The role is the strategic lead for business design and architecture across the organisation, enabling design assurance, and ensuring L&Q is set up well to enable future change.

If this sounds like you, we would love for you to apply!

Your impact in the role: You will be responsible for

• Ensuring that the design and architecture of all Transformation and Change activity aligns to the corporate strategy and L&Q’s Target Operating Model (TOM).
• Leading the Business Architecture and Service Design teams, and work with a matrix of design and architecture disciplines spanning people, process, technology and data & information.
• Leading a practice of Business Analysts, contributing to discovery, assessment, solution design and post implementation support.
• Leading and Co-Chairing our new Business Design Authority, which provides guidance, oversight, governance and assurance on end-to-end solution design to enable L&Q to move towards its TOM and target outcomes.
• Being accountable for the embedding and evolution of our new Business Architecture Framework, working in partnership with Technology Architecture, Process Architecture, Human Resources, Portfolio Management Office, and subject matter experts to enable effective, joined-up decision-making.

What you'll bring:

Key Skills

• People Leadership and Management
• Business Design and Architecture Leadership
• Strategic Thinking and Execution
• Design and Systems Thinking, and Service Innovation
• Cross Functional Integration
• Business Design Tooling and Techniques
• Agile and Iterative Design
• Operating Model and Capability Design
• Design Governance and Assurance

A Recruitment Advocate will join this recruitment process as a panel member. This is part of an internal scheme supporting our recruitment process to be fair, transparent and consistent.

If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage during this process, including application stage, please email lqcareers@lqgroup.org.uk

About L&Q:

We’re one of the UK’s leading housing associations and developers. We were founded on a simple belief: high quality housing is vital for people’s health, happiness and security. Everyone deserves a quality home that gives them the chance to live a better life.

250,000 people call our properties ‘home’, and we’re proud to serve diverse communities across London, the South East and North West of England.

People are at the heart of our business and our success depends on employing the best people and getting the best from them. The foundation of everything that we are is built on our corporate values and behavioural framework, which outlines our core expectations and should be demonstrated at all times, and all levels, when representing L&Q.

At L&Q, we know that diversity and inclusion make us stronger – and they’re at the heart of everything we do.

When we recruit, we look at what really matters: your skills, experience, and potential. We’re proud to be recognised for creating an inclusive workplace. We’re a Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) and we’ve introduced our own Recruitment Advocate scheme to make sure every step of our hiring process is fair, transparent, and consistent. It’s all part of our commitment to ending discrimination and making L&Q a place where everyone feels welcome. Fine out more here.

Sustainability is also at the heart of what we do. We recognise the responsibility we hold as one of the UK’s largest housing associations.

Click here to find out more about L&Q and why you should join us!

#TJ