Head of Housing - Cheshire East Council

Head of Housing

Salary: £76,271 - £88,631

Location: Crewe / Macclesfield (hybrid, with borough-wide travel)

Choose Challenge. Choose Change. Choose Cheshire East.

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 more information on the role please visit https://wearecheshireeast.co.uk/

If you have any questions or would like confidential discussion, please contact our retained consultants at Penna:

·       Pete John – 07701 305617 or pete.john@penna.com

·       Bruna Varante – 07539 070615 or bruna.varante@penna.com

·       Tom Niven – 07860 657044 or tom.niven@penna.com

Closing date: 23:59pm on Sunday 24^th May 2026.

How to Apply

1. Upload your CV under “Please select one of the options below.”
2. Complete the short mandatory fields on the next page.
3. Use ‘Add Attachments’ to upload your Supporting Statement and any other documents.
4. Please ensure that the file name of your CV and supporting statement includes your full name.
5. Ensure both CV and Supporting Statement are uploaded before submitting your application.
6. If you have a long-term health condition or disability and would like your application to be considered in accordance with a Disability Confident Scheme, please email: execapplications@penna.com to inform the Penna team.