Assistant Director Risk

The Opportunity

Turn insight into action. Strengthen assurance. Help shape better outcomes.

Broadacres is seeking an accomplished and forward-thinking senior leader to join its Senior Leadership Team as Assistant Director, Performance and Risk.

This is a broad and influential role providing strategic and operational leadership across performance and insight, risk, assurance, governance, data quality, data protection and legal services. Reporting to the Director of Resources, you will help ensure that Broadacres has the insight, controls and assurance it needs to deliver its corporate ambitions, respond effectively to emerging risks and continue improving outcomes for customers and colleagues.

The Role

You will lead the development of an integrated approach to performance, risk, assurance and governance, giving leaders, the Executive Team and Board a clear line of sight across organisational delivery, regulatory compliance, risk and opportunities for improvement. A key priority will be strengthening the use of data, insight and benchmarking, enabling evidence-based decisions and supporting a culture in which colleagues confidently ask the “so what?” question.

The role will also shape Broadacres’ future approach to data. You will oversee the organisation’s data strategy, strengthen ownership and quality, and develop reporting and analytical capability through dashboards, data warehousing and tools such as Power BI. You will also champion the responsible use of artificial intelligence, machine learning and emerging technology where these can improve insight, productivity and decision-making. 

Alongside performance and data, you will provide senior oversight of risk management, internal audit, business continuity, insurance, fraud and probity. You will ensure that risks are understood, controls and mitigations are effective, and actions arising from audit and assurance activity are completed and evidenced. 

Governance and legal services also sit within this varied portfolio. You will support effective Board, Committee and Executive Team governance, act as Deputy Company Secretary when required, and oversee the provision of pragmatic in-house legal advice across development, acquisitions, property transactions, contracts and housing-related matters. 

About You

You will bring significant senior leadership experience, ideally gained within social housing or another regulated service environment. You will have led one or more relevant organisational functions, which may include performance, risk, assurance, governance, data or legal services, and be confident reporting to and influencing senior leaders, Executive teams, Boards and Committees. 

Strategic, analytical and collaborative, you will be comfortable navigating complexity and translating insight into clear priorities and practical action. You will combine strong people leadership with sound judgement, highly developed communication skills and the ability to build trusted relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. 

You do not need to be a technical specialist in every part of this wide-ranging portfolio. What matters is your ability to lead expert teams, connect performance, risk and governance at an organisational level, and create the conditions for high-quality advice, challenge and decision-making.

You will also demonstrate:

• Experience of leading significant change and improvement.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and risk-management capability.
• An understanding of performance, assurance, governance, data protection and data governance.
• The ability to use financial information effectively and demonstrate value for money.
• High levels of digital literacy and an interest in new approaches to data, reporting and technology.
• A genuine commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and values-led leadership. 

This is a visible leadership position. The successful candidate will balance home working with a regular presence across Broadacres’ portfolio, typically spending two to three days each week in the office, and will be willing to attend occasional evening meetings.

How to Apply

This is an opportunity to lead a diverse and organisation-wide portfolio at a time when trusted data, meaningful insight, effective assurance and responsive governance have never been more important.

You will have the scope to connect specialist functions, develop organisational capability and ensure that leaders have the information, advice and confidence they need to make well-informed decisions. Your contribution will support regulatory assurance, organisational resilience, value for money and improved outcomes for Broadacres’ customers and communities.

Broadacres welcomes candidates from different professional backgrounds who can bring relevant leadership experience from social housing, the wider not-for-profit sector or another complex and regulated environment.

Broadacres has appointed Nigel Wright Group on a retained basis to manage this search.