Head of Building Safety

Apply by sending your CV and a covering letter to recruitment@isha.co.uk by 9am on Wednesday, 30 September.

In your cover letter you must tell us:

1. Why you feel you’re a strong fit for this role, with reference to the job description and person specification.
2. Please describe a building safety, fire safety, compliance or risk management challenge you have led or influenced, what you did, and what the outcome was.
3. How would you build confidence with residents, colleagues and regulators when dealing with complex building safety matters?
4. How do you manage competing priorities, statutory deadlines, technical information and stakeholder expectations?
5. Anything else you feel is relevant to share with us.

If you don't answer each question, we won't be able to consider your application.

Reports to: Assistant Director of Compliance and Building Safety
Direct reports: Building Safety Manager, Building Safety Officer
Team: Building Safety and Compliance
Directorate: Development

Job purpose

The Head of Building Safety will provide strategic and operational leadership for ISHA’s building safety, fire safety and higher-risk building responsibilities. The postholder will ensure ISHA maintains effective systems, controls and assurance arrangements to meet its statutory obligations, including under the Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety Act 2021, Fire Safety Order 2005 and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.

The role will lead the development and delivery of a proportionate risk management framework for ISHA’s higher-risk and complex residential buildings, including safety case reports, golden thread information, safety management systems, resident engagement and regulatory submissions.

The postholder will act as ISHA’s senior competent lead for building safety, providing clear advice, assurance and challenge across the organisation and working collaboratively with residents, colleagues, contractors, consultants, managing agents, developers, local authorities and regulators.

This role will also manage building safety projects, budgets, performance reporting and service improvements, ensuring decisions are evidence-based, properly documented and aligned with ISHA’s values and resident-focused approach.

A key part of the role is ensuring residents are informed, listened to and able to influence building safety decisions that affect their homes.

Our values

Consistently demonstrate and champion ISHA’s values through your behaviours, decisions, and interactions, whilst always acting as a positive and visible role model for our values:

• Professional
• Motivated to Deliver
• People Focused
• Compassionate 

Key accountabilities

1. Develop, lead and maintain ISHA’s building safety strategy, policies, procedures, guidance and assurance framework, ensuring they remain aligned with legislation, regulatory expectations, sector good practice and ISHA’s values, and support effective compliance with statutory requirements.
2. Lead the preparation, review, maintenance and submission of building safety case reports, ensuring information is accurate, evidence-based and submitted to the Building Safety Regulator within required timescales.
3. Ensure compliance with relevant building and fire safety legislation, including the Building Regulations 2010, Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Fire Safety Act 2021, Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, approved documents and applicable industry standards.
4. Lead and support the procurement, appointment and management of consultants, contractors and specialist advisors for building safety works, ensuring contracts are managed effectively and risks are identified, escalated and mitigated.
5. Ensure resident enquiries, complaints and building safety concerns are responded to promptly, fairly and empathetically, with clear explanations and appropriate evidence.
6. Proactively manage ISHA’s higher-risk and complex residential buildings by developing and maintaining effective safety management systems, ensuring building safety risks are identified, assessed, prioritised, controlled and monitored throughout the building lifecycle, with clear ownership, controls, monitoring arrangements and audit trails in place.
7. Maintain and continuously improve accurate building safety records, golden thread information, risk data, performance information and management records, ensuring information is accessible, proportionate, audit-ready and supports effective decision-making and regulatory compliance.
8. Maintain up-to-date expert knowledge of building safety legislation, fire safety legislation, building regulations, regulatory guidance and relevant sector developments.
9. Work with colleagues across ISHA to embed clear roles, responsibilities and controls for building and fire safety, ensuring teams understand and deliver their responsibilities effectively.
10. Lead building safety inspections, audits and assurance reviews, monitoring and reporting performance against building safety objectives, key performance indicators, risk indicators, project milestones and compliance obligations, and driving continuous improvement through the timely identification and resolution of non-compliance, emerging risks and service weaknesses.
11. Commission, review and act on risk assessments, surveys, inspections, FRAEWs and technical reports, ensuring findings are quality assured, prioritised and translated into clear action plans.
12. Lead, support and monitor building safety funding applications, ensuring claims, evidence and project information are accurate, timely and properly documented.
13. Set, monitor and manage budgets for building safety activities and projects, reporting variances, forecasting expenditure and taking corrective action where required.
14. Investigate, coordinate and resolve significant building safety, fire safety, structural and building services issues affecting higher-risk and complex residential buildings.
15. Discharge client duties under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, including ensuring suitable appointments, pre-construction information, project governance and health and safety arrangements are in place.
16. Oversee relevant statutory approvals, including planning, building control and regulatory gateways where applicable, ensuring records are complete and audit-ready.
17. Report on the adequacy of safety management and maintenance arrangements, including identifying and reporting mandatory occurrences to the Building Safety Regulator where required.
18. Build productive relationships with residents, colleagues, managing agents, consultants, contractors, developers, local authorities and regulators, establishing professional credibility and trust.
19. Lead, coach and support direct reports, ensuring objectives, performance standards, supervision, development, appraisals and onboarding arrangements are clear and effective.

Essentials

In addition to the principal accountabilities of the role, there are significant elements that we deem essential for every role at ISHA:

Ensure safeguarding responsibilities are fully and effectively met by promoting a safeguarding culture appropriate to the scope and seniority of the role.

Champion equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of work, ensuring policies are actively applied and the principles of fairness, inclusion and respect are positively promoted.

Maintain a safe, compliant and responsible working environment by ensuring full adherence to health and safety and data protection requirements, and by promoting practices that protect personal wellbeing, organisational data and the safety of others.

Ensure priorities are met through flexible and responsive working, adapting approach and taking on additional reasonable responsibilities to support the needs of the team, directorate and ISHA, as and when required.

Personal specification

About ISHA

At ISHA, community and neighbourhood mean everything to us, and our roots run deep in the areas of North London that we serve. Founded over 90 years ago, we provide around 2,500 homes for over 5,000 people across Islington, Hackney and Waltham Forest. We are proud to remain a community-based housing association with a strong social purpose and an ambitious future.

Our values are at the heart of who we are and everything we do, inspiring our thinking and guiding our actions. We strive to build a more diverse organisation, where everyone feels empowered to bring, and be, their best self to work.

We are ambitious about the future while remaining grounded in our communities and values. We are looking for a confident, collaborative and resident-focused building safety professional who can provide clear assurance, constructive challenge and practical leadership across a complex and important area of work.

About the role

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for ISHA’s building safety, fire safety and higher-risk building responsibilities.
• Lead effective systems, controls and assurance arrangements to meet statutory and regulatory obligations.
• Oversee safety case reports, golden thread information, resident engagement and regulatory submissions.
• Commission, review and act on risk assessments, surveys, inspections, FRAEWs and technical reports.
• Manage building safety projects, budgets, performance reporting and service improvements.
• Lead, coach and support a small team, while working collaboratively with residents, colleagues, contractors, consultants and regulators.

Why join ISHA?

• A genuinely community-based and values-led organisation with a strong social purpose.
• The opportunity to shape a high-profile building safety function and influence services that directly affect residents’ homes.
• A role with clear strategic importance, working closely with senior leaders, Boards, Committees and regulators.
• A supportive and collaborative working culture with hybrid working arrangements.
• Commitment to continuous professional development, including support for relevant qualifications and professional subscriptions.
• Competitive pension and benefits package.

We can’t be a brilliant landlord if we don’t partner with brilliant colleagues. Could you help us strengthen building safety, assurance and resident confidence?

If this sounds exciting, we want you on our team. Please do apply.

Staff benefits

We’ll offer you a generous pension scheme (up to 10% employer matched contributions and a death in service benefit), 29 days annual leave (increasing after five years’ service), eye care vouchers, a cycle to work scheme, health cash-plan, and other great benefits (see attached) and we will invest in your professional development with on-going learning and career development opportunities.

Our commitment to inclusion

We want ISHA to be a great place to work and to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBTQ+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that passionate commitment to customers, respect for everyone, pride in Team ISHA and trusted to make the difference remains at the heart of everything we do.

ISHA is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled and neurodiverse candidates, or people with long-term health conditions. If you would like us to do anything differently during the application, interview, or assessment process, including providing information in an alternative format, please contact us at recruitment@isha.co.uk or via post to 102 Blackstock Road, London N4 2DR.

You will have:

• Significant experience in building safety, fire safety, risk management, compliance or a closely related field.
• Strong working knowledge of relevant building and fire safety legislation, including the Building Safety Act 2022 and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.
• Ability to analyse complex information, assess risk, reach evidence-based conclusions and translate findings into practical action plans.
• Highly developed communication skills, with the ability to explain complex matters clearly to residents, senior leaders, Boards, Committees and regulators.
• Experienced in managing complex stakeholders, competing priorities, statutory deadlines and technical assurance requirements.
• Curious, organised and committed to continuous improvement, professional learning and developing others.

Dear applicant

Thank you for your interest in the role of Head of Building Safety at ISHA, and for taking the time to review this recruitment pack. This is a critical senior role at the heart of our commitment to providing safe, well-managed homes and maintaining strong assurance across building safety, fire safety and higher-risk building responsibilities.

ISHA is a community-focused, neighbourhood-based housing association managing and developing high-quality, affordable homes across North and East London. We currently own and manage approximately 2,500 homes, including around 400 shared ownership properties. Over the past 20 years, we have built 60% of our housing stock, and we are proud that around 80% of our homes achieve an EPC rating of C or above. Our vision is to provide high quality homes and services and contribute to thriving communities.

As Head of Building Safety, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for ISHA’s approach to building safety, fire safety and compliance. You will lead the development and delivery of effective systems, controls and assurance arrangements, ensuring that ISHA meets its statutory obligations under the Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety Act 2021, Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.

You will act as ISHA’s senior competent lead for building safety, working collaboratively with residents, colleagues, contractors, consultants, managing agents, developers, local authorities and regulators. The role will involve leading safety case work, golden thread information, resident engagement, regulatory submissions, technical assurance, performance reporting, project delivery and service improvement.

We are looking for someone who can combine strong technical knowledge with clear leadership, sound judgement and a resident-focused approach. You will need to be able to analyse complex information, assess risk, reach evidence-based conclusions and translate findings into practical, well-documented action plans.

This role will suit a confident and collaborative professional with significant experience in building safety, fire safety, risk management, compliance or a closely related field. You will be comfortable providing assurance and constructive challenge, managing complex stakeholders, leading a small team and producing clear reports for senior leaders, Boards, Committees and regulators.

If this sounds like the role for you, please respond by answering the questions and submit your responses alongside your CV.

We cannot consider applications that do not answer these questions.

Best wishes

Dan Sheridan
Assistant Director of Compliance and Building Safety

About us

At ISHA, community and neighbourhood mean everything to us, and our roots run deep in the areas of North London that we serve. Founded over 90 years ago, we provide around 2,500 homes for over 5,000 people across Islington, Hackney and Waltham Forest. We are proud to remain a community-based housing association with a strong social purpose and an ambitious future.

Our vision is to provide high quality homes and services and contribute to thriving communities. We are ambitious about the future while remaining grounded in our communities and values.

Our values

We strive to be a values-led organisation, with our values at the heart of who we are and what we do, including how we approach our work with residents and each other. They inspire our thinking and help guide our actions. Our values and behaviours sit alongside our five-year corporate strategy, which the Head of Building Safety will help deliver through safe, compliant and resident-focused services.

We offer a wide range of housing choices: social rented, shared ownership, intermediate rent, market rent, supported housing, and options for the elderly. We also provide homes and support for the Vietnamese, South-East Asian and wider communities. We are committed to ensuring equality, diversity, and inclusion of all communities in our approach to services and the way we work.

ISHA is smaller and more local than many other housing associations operating in London. The roots of ISHA go back to 1933 when we were involved with tackling slum clearance, poverty, overcrowding, ill-health, and high rents. Today we employ close to 80 staff and have over 2,500 homes.

We are proud to be a London Living Wage employer, and no employee will earn below that level. It is calculated independently to reflect the high cost of living in the capital, giving a worker in London and their family enough to afford the essentials and to save.

We are a diverse organisation with opportunities across a wide range of roles and professions, and we welcome talent from different backgrounds.

We provide safe spaces for staff to speak out and have a plan to make us proudly anti-racist. This work has led to co-creating a diversity and inclusion strategy, and we have an internal staff-led Council, who hold regular surgeries for staff to share their concerns in a safe space.

We work in close cooperation with local authorities, the Regulator of Social Housing, Homes England, the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Building Safety Regulator and other local housing associations, including Black and Minority Ethnic, specialist housing associations and co-operatives. Investment in development is provided through our own borrowing, the GLA and local authorities. ISHA leads the North River Alliance (NRA), a consortium of North and East London community-based housing associations.

We have a G1 Governance rating and V2 Financial Viability rating.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion statement

We expect all ISHA’s staff, residents, and stakeholders to be treated equitably and with respect in their dealings with us.

We will be inclusive and reflect the rich and diverse communities we exist to serve.

We will work to earn the trust and confidence of staff, residents, and stakeholders that they can expect - from us and our contractors - respect, fairness, and equitable treatment.

ISHA has co-created an equality, diversity, and inclusion strategy for 2023-25 (running concurrent to the current strategic plan) and works within the framework of this as well as all current legislation and codes of practice.

Employee benefits

Contractual
29 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) rising to 31 days after five years’ service (pro-rata for part-timers). There are three compulsory office closure days between Christmas and New Year, which need to be taken from an employee’s annual leave entitlement.

Non-contractual
Pension: Defined Contribution as a salary sacrifice. Starting at employer (ER) contribution of 6% and 2% employee (EE), or match funded up to a maximum of 10% from ER and EE.

Emergency leave: Up to five days per annum for unexpected emergencies. Day one is paid on five occasions to allow employees time to make alternative arrangements.

Financial services: We joined the London Credit Union that provides employees with fair, ethical, and affordable financial services. You can also access the home contents insurance negotiated for our residents.

Working flexibly: Up to three days working from home per week, if your role allows and with prior managerial approval. With monthly designated ‘all in’ days.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), offering emotional and practical support, advice for legal or financial matters, a manager support line and access to online self-help resources that can help you stay focused and protect your mental health and wellbeing.

Support for continuous professional development: Everyone has a personal development plan, and we offer opportunities to take qualifications, contributing partial funding and study leave. We also offer study loans repayable over 10 months.

Management Academy for managers: Ongoing professional development for all managers that supports ISHA to set minimum standards and helps us meet best practice as line managers. We are members of the Institute of Customer Service and other relevant bodies with access to training through them. We also support all colleagues by paying for one relevant professional subscription (with approval).

Social opportunities: as a small organisation we meet regularly as a whole team, celebrate successes and share experiences.

Staff awards: Quarterly awards where colleagues nominate one another to express gratitude for great work. There are gift voucher prizes for individuals and a team award.

Health and wellbeing: a health cash plan to reclaim a percentage of the costs for a variety of health services, virtual GP appointments, second opinion diagnosis, online physio, shopping, and gym membership discounts. We also offer eye care vouchers, cycle to work scheme, Interest Free Season Ticket Loan (these are all available post probation).

Access to our office

102 Blackstock Road, London, N4 2DR

Parking: There is very limited parking in the Finsbury Park area, but ISHA can provide a parking permit to staff with a disability who can only commute via car. We have pool cars, and staff can book parking spaces when transport is essential for their role, subject to availability and approval.

Bicycle racks are available outside the back and front of the office.

Tube/Underground: The nearest tube station is Finsbury Park on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines (10 minutes’ walk to our office).

Trains/overground: The nearest train station is Finsbury Park with trains from Moorgate and Kings Cross. London Overground operates a train from Stratford to Finsbury Park.

Buses: Many buses run between Finsbury Park station and our office: 4, 19, 106, 236. Other buses stop on Seven Sisters Road (7 minutes’ walk) 29, 253, 259, 279.

Physical layout and features

Reception and the Customer Services Team are located on the ground floor. All other departments are on the first and second floors. There is a lift that serves each floor.

Our office is wheelchair accessible, and there is a disabled toilet on every floor, and one at Reception. The height of some desks can be adjusted and would be suitable for wheelchair users or very tall people.

There are soft strip lights throughout with good natural light. Some managers’ offices are further away from windows and rely more on artificial lighting. However, those offices have an air-cooling system to facilitate temperature control.

As the office is mainly open plan, noise levels vary and can, at times, be high. Most employees sit in an open plan office area with colleagues, with computers and printers operating intermittently during the day.

There are audio loop systems in the main meeting room, the tenant interview rooms, and at reception.

If you prefer, you can download or view all this information in a single file.

• Full recruitment pack for Head of Building Safety (PDF, 1.1mb)