Senior Housing Standards Officer/Specialist Housing Standards Officer

Wirral Council is a place where you can genuinely make a difference, guided by strong organisational values that shape everything we do. Our values, ambitious, professional, resident‑focused and accountable, act as our organisational DNA, influencing how we work, lead and support one another every day. We take pride in delivering great services, acting with integrity, building positive relationships, and always putting residents first, creating a supportive and inclusive culture where everyone can “be the best we can be”. With our beautiful surroundings, ambitious future plans, and a commitment to empowering staff to #BeTheDifference, Wirral Council offers an inspiring environment to grow your career and make a lasting impact.

Senior Housing Standards Officer/Specialist Housing Standards Officer

Want to make a real difference to standards in the private rented sector?  Wirral Council has full and part-time roles available with various working hours for Senior Housing Standards Officers with proven experience working in housing enforcement. Maybe you are someone wishing to return to the workforce in this role.

In this role you’ll help keep residents safe, tackle hazards including damp and mould and use your professional judgement to drive improvements across the Borough – while helping continuously help shape services as part of the Renters Rights Act.

We have excellent prospects for those wishing to progress from Housing Standards Officers to a more senior level via a competency framework along with training and support to help you progress your career here in Wirral.

We are open to full or part-time hours and will consider flexible patterns (including compressed hours where service needs allow.  The role is a mix of sites visits and office/home working.

About the Role:

We have a new opportunity within our Housing Standards Team to drive forward our housing agenda and passion to support our customers as we implement the new legislation in the Renters Rights Bill.

Your Team: You’ll join a supportive Housing Standards Team that shares learning, carries out joint visits on higher risk cases and works closely with colleagues in legal and partner agencies to achieve the right outcomes for residents.

In these roles, you'll be responsible for mentoring less experienced housing standards officers in their development into confident enforcement officers across the Borough by working pro-actively, providing advice and guidance, undertaking more complex property inspections.

You will undertake more complex caseloads for statutory enforcement using relevant housing legislation, conduct interviews, brief legal officers, prepare cases for court and attend tribunals, court hearings and public enquiries as required.

About the Candidate:

We would like to hear from you if you want to help drive Properties, and private sector housing and have experience (or a clear interest in developing experience) across areas including Mandatory HMO and Selective Licensing, , Empty Properties,  and our response to damp & mould complaints as well as being at the forefront of using our new renters Rights Act Powers, and the revised HHSRS.

Ultimately, we are looking for candidates who have a passion to drive up standards.

We would welcome candidates who have a demonstrable and strong track record in housing enforcement and want to develop their careers in a board multi-disciplinary environment where training and development of individuals is key.

You should be customer focused with excellent interpersonal skills as well a detailed practical knowledge of the legislative powers under the Housing Act; sound knowledge of building construction and competence using Information and Communication Technology, including Microsoft Office, & Teams and case management systems.

What we offer:

• Regular professional supervision, case discussions and support on complex enforcement activity
• Essential car user allowance
• Tools and Technology to support field work
• Ongoing Training and opportunities for, housing enforcement emerging legislation and leadership development skills
• CPD training for those registered with a professional body such as CIEH

Previous applicants - if you have applied before and your experience or circumstances have changed; we would welcome a new application.

For more information or an informal discussion regarding this vacancy, please contact Thomas Edwards, Housing Standards Manager, via email thomasedwards@wirral.gov.uk

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates. For this vacancy, candidates must have an existing right to work in the UK before commencing employment. Skilled Worker visa sponsorship is not available for this post. Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process. 

If you are a Wirral resident, are unemployed or out of work, and require help with your application, please contact Involve Northwest’s employment and skills team on info@involvenorthwest.org.uk or contact 0151 644 4500 or 0151 652 4349.

If you’re already a Wirral Council employee, as part of our Talent Strategy, we’re committed to strengthening opportunities for our people to learn, grow, progress, and thrive. For many of you, this may be preparing and applying for your next role with us, and we're passionate about ensuring you feel supported throughout your internal recruitment experience. Please get in touch if you want to know more about some of the ways in which we could support you by emailing recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

Working at Wirral

You’ll also want to know what it’s like to work here so, as a start:

Our values are more than just pieces of paper on our walls! We’ve all played a role in developing these, so they reflect the immense pride we have in what we do, what matters to us, what inspires us and inform how we think, approach things, and behave.

We believe in ensuring staff are well looked after, staff wellbeing is a priority for us. We’re serious about recognising and rewarding people for the great things they do. You’ll benefit from our track record of developing, growing, and investing in our people.

We have a range of staff benefits including staff discounts, an excellent pension scheme which includes a generous employer contribution rate, immediate life cover and ill-health protection. We have a strong flexible working approach, hybrid working, family-friendly employment initiatives and an annual leave package from 28 - 33 days leave plus public holidays and options to buy up to 10 additional days leave.

We have an inclusive, engaged culture, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued for their contribution and understands the role they play in delivering our strategic priorities.

Each voice is heard, each contribution valued. We embrace diversity in our workforce and recognise it is critical to our success. We support an inclusive culture that champions difference and nurtures a sense of belonging. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds, who share our values and our commitment to inclusion to apply for roles with us.

We want you to be your best at work, we create the conditions to help you thrive and we mirror this in our recruitment process. If you’d like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process to make it barrier-free and as accessible as possible, please contact recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

^{Please note that in accordance with the Council’s policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.}

^{It is Council policy not to re-appoint any employee who has left under the terms of the Council's Early Voluntary Retirement (EVR) scheme or who have left with a voluntary severance (VS) package, unless in exceptional circumstances.}

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^{We do not accept applications or CV’s from recruitment agencies, unless otherwise stated. Therefore, any candidates submitted via a recruitment agency will not be considered for this role.}