Durham County Council - Head of Service: Housing, Communities and Leisure

Durham County Council

Head of Housing, Communities and Leisure

Salary: £135,406

Imagine a role where you can shape the places people call home, create vibrant cultural and leisure experiences, and strengthen the communities that bring County Durham to life. As our new Head of Housing, Communities and Leisure, you’ll lead teams that help residents feel safe, supported, active and connected. From building the homes we need, to enhancing our libraries, museums and leisure centres, to empowering local neighbourhoods - this is your chance to make a visible and lasting difference to people’s daily lives across the county.

What is involved?

In this key role, you will lead a wide and high‑impact portfolio shaping homes, places, services and experiences across County Durham, including:

Housing and Homelessness

You will lead the Council’s overall housing agenda, setting and delivering the Housing Strategy, overseeing the Council House building programme, managing services for vulnerable and homeless residents, and driving improvements across both public and private housing. You’ll ensure the county has the right mix of homes, expand affordable housing with partners, support community‑led schemes and maximise external funding.

Spatial Planning and Building Control

You will guide the county’s long‑term growth by leading planning policy and statutory plans, including the County Durham Plan. You’ll oversee Building Control to ensure safe, compliant development that supports sustainable, well‑designed places.

Communities, Safety and Local Networks

You will oversee community-facing services including Care Connect, telecare and out‑of‑hours support with NHS partners. You’ll lead CCTV operations with Police and strengthen place‑based working through Local Networks and neighbourhood‑funded programmes that give communities a real voice in shaping local priorities.

Leisure, Culture, and Tourism

You will drive the development of high‑quality leisure, sport, cultural and outdoor services. This includes enhancing leisure centres, parks and delivering the county’s cultural offer - theatres, museums, heritage sites, events and key partnerships. You’ll also guide the delivery of a modern, accessible library service.

Corporate Leadership and Health

As part of the senior leadership team, you’ll collaborate across the directorate and wider Council to deliver shared priorities and work closely with the Director of Public Health to improve wellbeing and quality of life for residents.

What will I need?

We’re looking for someone who brings:

• A relevant degree‑level professional qualification and strong grounding in housing, communities, leisure or place‑based services.
• Strategic leadership experience, with a proven ability to set direction, shape policy and deliver large, high‑impact service portfolios.
• Expertise in housing legislation, delivery and management, including affordable housing, homelessness support and private sector regulation.
• Strong political awareness and confidence operating in a complex local government environment, including effective working with Elected Members.
• A track record of leading major service improvements, transformation and change, with the ability to balance competing priorities and drive performance.
• Significant partnership experience, working across government, health, housing providers, cultural organisations and community stakeholders to achieve shared outcomes.

To find out more, please contact our retained consultants at Penna: Nick Raper on 07715 690463, for a confidential conversation, or visit https://durhamleadership.co.uk for further information.

Closing date: Midnight on Wednesday 11th of March

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.