Head of Housing
Salary: £76,271 - £88,631
Location: Crewe / Macclesfield (hybrid, with borough-wide travel)
The Opportunity
This is a pivotal leadership role at the centre of Cheshire East’s ambitions to strengthen its housing offer, support communities and enable sustainable growth. As Head of Housing, you will lead the council’s full housing function, ensuring the delivery of statutory responsibilities while shaping a more proactive, interventionist approach to housing across the borough.
This is a role that combines strategic leadership with operational grip. You will oversee housing strategy, homelessness services, housing standards and development activity, while leading the council’s emerging approach to becoming a more active participant in the housing market. This includes influencing supply, working with developers and partners, and exploring opportunities to acquire and manage housing assets. In a context of rising demand, deprivation and housing pressure, this is a career-defining opportunity to shape housing delivery at scale and make a tangible difference to communities.
The Organisation
Cheshire East Council is entering a significant period of transformation and renewal. The council has recently embarked on a programme of organisational change aimed at strengthening leadership stability, modernising services and ensuring long-term financial resilience. At the same time, Cheshire East is preparing to work closely with the emerging Combined Authority, creating new opportunities to shape regional growth and collaboration.
The council is committed to building a cohesive and resilient senior leadership team capable of delivering sustainable improvement and delivering lasting impact for residents, communities and businesses across the borough.
Candidates
We are seeking a senior housing professional with a track record of delivering across housing strategy, homelessness and service delivery within a complex public sector environment. You will bring experience of operating at scale, alongside the ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams, manage performance and deliver high-quality, customer-focused services.
You will be a confident and pragmatic leader, with the resilience and political awareness required to operate effectively in a No Overall Control environment. Strong partnership skills will be essential, as will the ability to work across organisational boundaries and align housing with regeneration and growth agendas. Above all, you will bring the clarity, credibility and leadership required to stabilise, strengthen and transform housing services in a challenging and high-profile environment.
For a confidential discussion, please contact our retained consultants at Penn:
- Pete John – 07701 305617 or pete.john@penna.com
- Bruna Varante – 07539 070615 or bruna.varante@penna.com
- Ali Tasker – 07843 573373 or ali.tasker@penna.com
Closing date: 23:59pm on Sunday 24th May 2026.