Head - Operational Readiness

Job summary

Closing Date: 11th October 2026

Interviews from wc 2nd November

2 year Fixed Term Contract/Secondment

Working within our Help to Buy Transformation & Reprocurement Programme, the Head of Operational Readiness will play a key role in delivering a complex, multiyear public sector change programme.

You will join a highly skilled, collaborative programme team tasked with reshaping a nationally significant service at a critical point in its lifecycle. Our focus is on strengthening data integrity, reducing operational and financial risk, improving customer experience, and ensuring long‑term service portability while protecting public funds.

This is a programme that values disciplined delivery and thoughtful decision‑making. Our Programme Director champions evidence‑based choices and a diversity of perspectives, recognising that the best outcomes come from constructive challenge and collective problem‑solving.

Job description

This is a rare opportunity to help shape the future operating model of one of the UK’s most high‑profile home ownership public services. You will work closely with colleagues across a range of specialisms to design and deliver an integrated, coherent and defensible service model. One that can stand up to scrutiny from governance forums, audit and value‑for‑money assessments while delivering long term benefits for the Agency and our customers.

Person specification

As Head of Operational Readiness, you will lead the activity needed to prepare the Help to Buy service for successful programme delivery while maintaining continuity for customers. You will provide oversight and coordination across operational readiness, establishing robust governance, reporting and operational frameworks that enable clear, controlled delivery.

You will contribute to programme planning, align operational priorities with programme objectives and manage resource requirements, including staffing and training. Acting as a central point for risks, issues, dependencies, ad hoc commissions and senior requests, you will ensure that information is visible, accurate and appropriately signed off. You will also drive continuous improvement, identifying opportunities to strengthen efficiency, compliance and operational performance.

You will bring significant experience in operational delivery or programme management, with a proven ability to lead strategic planning and resource management in a complex organisation. You will understand performance reporting and programme assurance requirements, be experienced in developing and implementing process improvements, and be able to balance competing priorities while delivering under high scrutiny. Experience in public equity mortgage loan management, such as Help to Buy, is important for this role.

A confident communicator and influential stakeholder manager, you will provide expert operational readiness advice to senior leaders and build productive relationships across internal teams, corporate functions, government departments and other external stakeholders. You will use clear communication and sound judgement to influence decisions, support accountability and help the programme deliver effectively.

Benefits

Homes England is an executive non-departmental public body with its own terms and conditions, benefits and pension scheme. We are a government agency working in partnership with the private sector and want to employ and retain great people. In return we offer a range of excellent benefits, some of the key benefits include:

Holiday - Homes England offers all staff 33 days annual leave per year in addition to 8 statutory bank holidays.

Working Flexibly - At Homes England we have a strong culture of flexible working and encourage all employees to have a healthy work/life balance. We offer a wide range of potential working patterns, including part time, job share and compressed hours.

Health and Wellbeing - We offer health screening with Nuffield Proactive Health Clinics, a free Employee Assistance Programme which offers confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as well as access to Occupational Health.

Professional Development - At Homes England we are committed to your continued professional and personal development with learning as one of our core values. We pay for one job-related professional membership subscription per year for our employees.

We also offer an excellent range of family friendly benefits, for example, maternity, paternity, shared parental leave.

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

To apply please follow the links to our careers page.

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Selection process details

For more information on the role, please see the attached Job Description.

Successful applicants will be advised of the outcome of their application and interviews held as soon as practical after the closing date. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in this role and Homes England.

Please note – Homes England has a responsibility to ensure compliance with HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard to address the potential problems of identity fraud, illegal working and deception generally. To ensure compliance we will carry out a pre-employment Personal Identity and Vetting Report through Experian to meet the standard and you will therefore be asked to provide certain information in order that the verification check can be carried out if you are successful in your application.

Homes England are an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer that values and respects the people who work for us. Our aim is to be an employer of choice, enabling everyone to reach their full potential.

Homes England is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. For further information please refer to our Privacy Notice which can be viewed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/homes-england/about/personal-information-charter

Nationality requirements

Open to UK,