HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY 

Salary: £70,000 – £80,000

Directorate: Housing, property and regeneration

Roles Purpose:

This Head of Service role is one of the most important in WMCA and will be truly leading edge nationally. The role requires appraising, managing and enabling the delivery of housing, employment and mixed-use development projects worth billions of pounds across our region – including many of the largest brownfield regeneration schemes in the country.

The role requires an experienced chartered surveyor who is comfortable appraising and negotiating grant funding agreements and public sector investment cases for landmark placemaking projects and programmes across a region. The critical function is appraising and co-designing schemes with project sponsors seeking funding for these schemes from over half a billion pounds of devolved housing and land funds in line with the criteria set by the Government and the region together in our “Single Commissioning Framework”

Responsibilities Include:

• Leading the effective and efficient project and Programme management and appraisal of a pipeline of strategically important and high-profile real estate projects in the region throughout all stages of the end to end development process
• Leading and responsible for the deployment of hundreds of millions of pounds of devolved housing and land funds into some of the largest land and development schemes in the region and country
• Leading and responsible for taking projects and schemes through the WMCA’s Single Commissioning Framework – from initial design and concept stage through various approval points
• Leading the production and communication of high quality reports, evidence, business cases and briefings of commercially sensitive and complex real estate schemes and projects to the WMCA Senior Leadership Team, Housing Board and Investment Board, Mayor and the WMCA Board.
• Providing expert strategic real estate advice to WMCA in all its functions
• Leading collaboration and senior level engagement across the region on real estate projects and portfolios needing WMCA support and investment
• Working alongside the Head of Strategy and Analysis to provide information on schemes and the residential and commercial property market to support multi-million pound business cases and performance reports to Government
• Leading on the development, implementation and continual improvement and refinement of the requirements, processes and criteria of the SCF – ensuring compliance with the WMCA Constitution, and sound financial, legal and commercial principles
• Leading and managing robust due diligence, risk appraisal, design and wider commercial appraisal and assessments and funding agreement negotiations on all SCF schemes and associated external commissions
• An active contributor to the H&R Directorate Leadership Team – contributing to all aspects of the leadership of the Directorate
• Manage and lead the WMCA’s expert real estate delivery and investment [SCF] team of project and development manager and officers – managing performance, setting clear roles and responsibilities, coaching and mentoring team members
• Stakeholder management and coordination – ensuring public and private sector applicants sponsoring projects through the SCF process receive a top-quality service
• Developing deep and trusted working relationships with partners (councils, developers and investors) through regular bilateral and partnership meetings and clarity on priority projects the WMCA should work on to support those partners
• Working in close collaboration with the Head of Property and Strategic Assets to unlock the potential of WMCA’s and other public sector partners own estates
• Oversees a devolved Housing and Land Budget of [£300m+]
• Ensuring that the revenue and capital budget is managed effectively and work with Finance to bid for additional funds and resourcing where required

Required Skills

• Professional membership of RICS
• Educated to degree level or equivalent in a subject relevant to the role
• Extensive detailed experience in project management, appraisal and delivery in real estate, including associated joint ventures and delivery vehicles
• Personal responsibility for, experience of appraising and managing complex and challenging real estate and regeneration projects and packaging up interventions into area-based programmes
• Experience of making the connections and alignment between real estate projects and wider remit of an organisation
• Management of teams of external advisers and specialists on transformational real estate projects
• Significant and extensive experience and knowledge of residential and commercial property markets
• Experience of managing and leading teams
• Writing comprehensive reports and business cases that secured major public sector investment

Rewards:

• £75,000
• Flexible Working Hours –
  • Designed to provide flexibility over start, finish and lunch breaks allowing people to better balance their work and home commitments.
• 27 days annual leave
  • Plus public holidays, which increases after 5 and 10 years of service
• Local government pension
• Annual Salary Progression
  • Progression is on 1 April each year provided performance is satisfactory and you have completed six months of service within the post. Increments are applied where no other salary increase has been received six months prior to 1 April.
• Discounted gym membership
• Free breakdown cover for essential car users
• Discounted Gourmet Society membership
• Free approved professional development
• Occupational health support
• Free Yoga sessions
• Cycle to work scheme

If you’re committed to a vibrant, diverse Birmingham and would like to join a great team of talented professionals and use your experience and leadership to drive improvement, please contact our retained consultant at Joshua Robert for further information as detailed below: