Service Improvement Manager

Service Improvement Manager
Salary: £50,000
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: ISHA, 102 Blackstock Road, London N4 2DR

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.

ISHA is smaller and more local than many other housing associations operating in London. We are proud to remain a community-based housing association with a strong social purpose and an ambitious future.

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.

About the Role

This is a rare opportunity to establish and lead a brand-new service improvement function at ISHA and make a visible difference to the services our residents receive. As Service Improvement Manager, you will lead a small team to help ISHA turn resident feedback, complaints, performance information and operational insight into practical action, ensuring improvements are implemented, embedded and deliver measurable results.

Ultimately, you will help ISHA become better at learning, better at improving and better at delivering the services our residents deserve.

The job:

• Building and leading ISHA's new Service Improvement Team.
• Driving a culture of continuous improvement across the organisation.
• Using complaints, resident feedback, Tenant Satisfaction Measures, Ombudsman learning and performance data to identify priorities and opportunities.
• Leading deep-dive service reviews to uncover root causes and implement practical solutions.
• Managing a portfolio of high-impact improvement projects from diagnosis through to delivery.
• Working alongside directors, managers and frontline colleagues to remove barriers and improve outcomes.
• Embedding learning from complaints, audits and regulatory activity into day-to-day service delivery.
• Ensuring resident voice and lived experience are central to service design and improvement.
• Measuring and demonstrating the impact of improvement activity through clear outcomes and benefits.

About You

We're looking for a curious, driven and collaborative improvement professional who combines strategic thinking with a hands-on approach.

You'll bring:

• Significant experience in social housing, local government, social care, public services or another regulated customer-focused environment.
• A proven track record of leading service improvement, transformation, performance or change programmes that have delivered measurable results.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify root causes and turn insight into action.
• Experience of leading complex cross-organisational projects and influencing stakeholders at all levels.
• The ability to challenge constructively, build credibility quickly and bring people with you through change.
• A passion for resident outcomes and service excellence.
• A strong understanding of the social housing landscape, including Tenant Satisfaction Measures, Consumer Standards and the Housing Ombudsman's Complaints Handling Code, would be particularly valuable.

Why join ISHA?

This is an exciting time to join us. You'll have the opportunity to influence how services are designed, delivered and improved across the organisation while helping shape our future approach to organisational learning and resident experience.

This role offers you the chance to leave a lasting legacy. You will establish a function that helps ISHA learn faster, improve continuously and deliver better outcomes for residents. Your work will influence services across the organisation and ensure that resident feedback leads to tangible change.

Ultimately, you'll help ISHA become better at listening, better at learning, and better at delivering the services our residents deserve.

Ready to make a difference? We'd love to hear from you.

Inclusion and Diversity

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.

Closing date: 9am on Monday, 12 October 2026.
Interview date(s) are to be confirmed.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

Once you have landed on our website, you will need to do the following in order to apply for this role:

Application Process

When you submit your final application with your CV and a covering letter tell us:

(a) Why do you believe you are a strong fit for the role, with reference to the job description and person specification?

(b) Describe a significant service improvement initiative you have led. What was the challenge, what actions did you take, and what measurable outcomes were achieved?

(c) Tell us about a service that frustrates you as a customer. What do you think is causing the problem, and what would you do differently if you were responsible for improving it?

(d) What motivates you most about service improvement and delivering excellent outcomes for customers?

(e) Is there anything else you would like us to know in support of your application?

Please note: We can only be able to accept applications from candidates with eligibility to currently work in the UK. We do not offer a visa sponsorship programme.

Applications sent without a covering letter outlining how your skills and experience match the role, as well as expressing your motivation for applying for the role will not be accepted.

Asking for adjustments

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 people, neurodiverse people 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, you will be able to contact us.

No agencies please.