Interim Rent and Service Charge Manager

Are you an experienced Rent and Service Charge professional who understands the importance of balancing operational delivery with strategic oversight? Have you previously managed rent setting and service charge functions within a Housing Association environment? Do you enjoy reviewing legacy processes and introducing stronger controls, governance and policy frameworks?

My client is a medium-sized Housing provider based in Birmingham currently seeking an Interim Rent and Service Charge Manager on an initial 3-month contract. Joining during a relatively stable point in the annual rent cycle, this role will focus on ensuring the function continues to operate smoothly whilst also reviewing and strengthening existing processes and controls.

Managing a Service Charge Officer responsible for much of the day-to-day processing work, the successful candidate will take overall ownership of the organisation’s rent and service charge function. Key responsibilities include:

• Taking full responsibility for the setting and management of all rents and service charges
• Ensuring all statutory notifications and resident communications are issued accurately and compliantly
• Reviewing existing rent and service charge policies, procedures and controls
• Introducing and embedding audit processes for leasehold schemes
• Providing strategic oversight and leadership to the function rather than purely operational processing
• Supporting and managing the Service Charge Officer
• Ensuring the function continues to “tick over” effectively during the interim period
• Identifying opportunities to improve efficiency within a largely spreadsheet-based environment

This role would suit an experienced interim professional who can quickly assess an established function, maintain stability and identify practical improvements without unnecessarily overcomplicating processes. The current systems and processes are heavily spreadsheet-driven, so the successful candidate will need to be comfortable working in a less automated environment whilst bringing a strategic mindset around governance, compliance and future improvements.

There is a minimum expectation to attend the Birmingham office two days per week. The annual rent increase process has already been completed for the current year, meaning there is capacity to focus on process improvement, policy review and strengthening controls across the service charge function.

To be considered, please meet these criteria:

• Prior experience working as a Rent and Service Charge Manager within the Housing sector
• Strong understanding of rent setting, service charges and statutory notification requirements
• Experience reviewing and improving rent and service charge processes and policies
• Knowledge of leasehold service charges and associated audit/control requirements
• Comfortable operating within spreadsheet-based environments
• Previous team management experience
• Ability to quickly stabilise and oversee an established function in an interim capacity

If you’re an experienced Rent and Service Charge professional available at short notice and looking for your next interim assignment, please apply now or contact me directly for a confidential discussion.