Head of Housing Ombudsman Response Service - 7207

Title: Head of Housing Ombudsman Response Service

Contract Type: Permanent, Full time (35 hours per week)

Salary: Starting from £76,034 per annum (London weighted salary) or £66,380 per annum (Regional salary)

Grade: 12

Reporting 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: 3rd November 2025

Interview Date: 14th November 2025

Please click here for the role profile - Head of Housing Ombudsman Response Service (002).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 Housing Ombudsman Response Service Team at L&Q!

At L&Q, we’re committed to delivering exceptional service to our residents — and that means learning from every experience.

As our Head of Housing Ombudsman Response Service, you’ll play a pivotal role in managing our strategic and operational relationship with the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS). You’ll ensure we meet our obligations under the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and Code, while driving improvements in customer service and complaint resolution.

Are you a confident leader with deep knowledge of regulatory frameworks and a passion for service excellence?

Do you thrive in a collaborative environment where your expertise helps shape better outcomes for residents?

If so, we’d love for you to bring your insight and leadership to our values-led, customer-focused team!

Your Impact in the Role:

• Lead L&Q’s strategic and operational relationship with the Housing Ombudsman Service, ensuring full compliance with the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and Code.
• Act as the subject matter expert on all Housing Ombudsman matters, providing expert guidance across the organisation and ensuring timely, accurate, and high-quality responses to enquiries, orders, and recommendations.
• Collaborate with internal teams and the Housing Ombudsman to embed learning from determinations into service delivery, driving improvements that reduce complaints and enhance customer satisfaction.
• Ensure sector-wide insights and Ombudsman findings are considered and applied to support continuous improvement across the business.
• Manage a team responsible for complex case oversight, regulatory compliance, and data analysis, ensuring decisions are informed and resident outcomes are improved.
• Lead on challenges and appeals, working closely with legal services and internal stakeholders to ensure a proactive, transparent, and accountable approach to complaint resolution.

What You’ll Bring:

• Extensive experience in leading strategic and operational relationships with regulatory bodies, with a strong understanding of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and Code.
• Proven expertise in providing subject matter guidance across complex organisations, ensuring high-quality, timely, and compliant responses to regulatory enquiries and recommendations.
• A collaborative approach to stakeholder engagement, with the ability to work constructively with internal teams and external partners to embed learning and drive service improvements.
• Strong leadership skills, with experience of managing teams responsible for complex casework, regulatory compliance, and data analysis to inform decision-making and improve resident outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead challenges and appeals, working closely with legal services and regulatory bodies to ensure a transparent and accountable approach to complaint resolution.
• A commitment to continuous improvement, using sector-wide insights and Ombudsman findings to enhance customer service and reduce complaints.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to influence at all levels and represent the organisation externally.

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, particularly at senior levels

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.

At L&Q, 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.

L&Q strongly believe a diverse and inclusive workforce is important, and inclusion is part of our core values and everyday working practices. We make hiring decisions based on your experiences, skills and merits and we are recognised externally for our commitment to inclusion. We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident (Committed) employer and have signed the Time to Change Employer Pledge to demonstrate our commitment to end mental health discrimination in the workplace. Click here to read more.

At L&Q, sustainability is 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!

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