As the industry looks to deliver the Government’s ambitious home building programme one of the biggest challenges the industry faces will be around how it recruits and trains the workforce to build the homes the country needs.

With home building a high priority for Government, there is a key opportunity to shape the policies and the framework for skill development in the industry to address long-standing workforce challenges. Building, retaining and developing our workforce is essential if we are to increase housing supply in line with national ambition - and this HBF plays a vital part in this.

The role

The role will focus on overseeing how the industry develops its workforce by working with HBF members and external stakeholders including the supply chain, Government, Skills England, CITB, training and education bodies and other industry bodies to develop a framework to allow it to attract and train tomorrow’s house builders.

This role provides an exciting and unique opportunity for a leader to effect lasting change at a critical time for industry. The successful candidate will work with members to develop proposals, processes and initiatives that will shake up the system and address current barriers to better enable the industry to recruit and train its workforce.

The Director will lead industry research, engagement and activities to develop focused, deliverable skills, attraction and learning solutions that will address workforce challenges across the industry, ensuring they are embedded as standard company practice.

The role requires a highly experienced talent attraction, skills and training practitioner who can shape and drive industry’s strategic objectives to achieve measurable outcomes.

Importantly, they will also be a strong communicator with the ability to effectively engage and partner with a range of stakeholders – including Government departments, Skills England and CITB – to encourage participation and buy-in that leads to positive changes. The role holder will need to be comfortable leading the debate, engaging with Ministers, industry and stakeholders as well as providing hands on delivery and management.

The role will provide the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of HBF and the industry’s work. It will require confidence as a strategic and influential leader to shape the right policy and programme interventions and take operational control of specific projects.

Member, partner and stakeholder relationship management

• Develop and implement the Home Building sector skills plan and manage the implementation and updating of the plan in line with industry priorities.
• Develop an effective framework of stakeholders within the industry that allows initiatives to be agreed, progressed and implemented.
• Work closely with the Senior Team at HBF and our members, taking responsibility for the development and management of the Skills Partnership Activity Groups set up to support key topics and projects.
• Work with HBF’s Policy team to develop a range of policy positions and asks of Government that will support the industry’s skills needs.
• Engage with Government and Skills England to shape policy decisions that support industry needs to recruit and develop a workforce.
• Work with and influence CITB such that it can become an effective funding partner for the industry.
• Work with other industry partners to ensure member concerns are represented and initiatives are developed and implemented.
• Devise and implement strategies for identifying, engaging and influencing new initiatives and partners.
• Develop effective relations with the HBF policy and communications team such that we are developing effective marketing and communications plans to cover all skills related activity.
• As a member of the HBF leadership team, act as a media spokesperson on relevant issues as required (training can be provided as necessary).
• Promote high-level visibility of the skills work and its projects and products, successes and examples of good practice, internally and externally.
• Act as the senior point of contact for skills matters; responding to high-level enquiries from internal and external sources.
• Develop and maintain effective internal communications and working relationships with the HBF board, Executive, Finance, Legal and wider teams.
• Drive effective reporting ensuring clear and accurate visibility of progress, reporting to internal and external stakeholders including the HBF board, Government, employers and funding partners, as required.
• Work closely with the Housebuilder events team to develop the agenda for the annual Future Talent Conference.

Team management and sustainability

• Management and development of the HBF skills team, demonstrating strong leadership skills to ensure team has the requisite knowledge, skills and attitude to be motivated to meet the HBF skills needs.
• Work with the HBF executive team, HBF members and industry partners to plan for long-term sustainability of project work.
• Consider and make recommendations on the delivery of programme streams/projects within the constraints of overall resource capability and capacity.
• Align programme activity to operational capability where it enables income growth through existing and additional funding partners and employer cash and in-kind contributions.

Operational project delivery

• Overall responsibility for ensuring delivery of all strands of HBF’s skills work and skills partnership activity-based projects, including the skills and attraction strategy within the home building skills plan and specific projects such as Women into Construction and Partner a College.
• Ensure contractual relationships are built and leveraged, especially with CITB and any other co-funding partners.
• Provide effective management and monitoring of contracts, programme development, project performance and operational delivery to drive successful completion of targets on schedule, to meet income and budget requirements. This will include acting on internal and external feedback and identifying and dealing with any critical path issues.
• Produce evaluation reports where contractual or appropriate.  Ensure access to data and information is readily available for independent Evaluators who will be monitoring performance and reporting on outcomes throughout any contract
• Contractual reporting as required by CITB and other funding partners
• Be future focussed and drive the effective transition of project initiatives into business-as-usual operational delivery through sustainable products and services which align with the HBF skills strategy and employer needs
• Deliver effective work scheduling and resource management of both internal staff and associate networks in line with HBF resourcing and performance management processes.
• Provide effective financial management of the HBF skills work, including the preparation of budget proposals for the overall work and individual projects and ensuring due allocation of funds and spend within the skills team and that supporting data is accurate and timely - including the data required by funding/support partners which trigger payments for specific project activity.

• Company pension
• Life insurance
• 26 days holiday
• 35-hour week
• Flexible working options

Email your CV and a covering letter outlining how your experience, qualifications and skills make you an ideal fit for the role to hbfjobs@hbf.co.uk.

Deadline for applications is 8pm on Friday 20 December.