Director of Membership and Professional Development

Chartered Institute of Housing

Hours
35 hours per week

About the Organisation

Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is the professional body inspiring, equipping and supporting housing professionals to create a future in which everyone has a place to call home. We passionately believe in the life-changing impact of the work of housing professionals, and our purpose is to provide everyone involved in housing with the advice, support and knowledge they need to make a difference every day.

About the role

We’re looking for an experienced and commercially minded Director of Membership and Professional Development to join our executive leadership team and to lead our Membership, Education (CIH Housing Academy and Awarding Organisation) and Professional Services functions. This is a key leadership role, responsible for ensuring our offer is high quality, commercially sustainable and responsive to the needs of the housing sector.

You will be a collaborative strategic leader with significant experience in relevant fields such as membership, professional services or education and training. You will bring strong commercial awareness, sound judgement and excellent relationship-building skills. Knowledge of housing, professional standards, regulation, further or higher education, accreditation, and online or blended learning would be highly valuable.

As part of our Executive Team, you will share responsibility for the overall performance of CIH, alongside a focus on our international subsidiaries. You will help deliver the Corporate Plan set by our Governing Board and ensure the right systems, culture and processes are in place for CIH to thrive as a great place to work, while meeting our compliance and regulatory responsibilities.

You’ll inspire and motivate our teams across the UK and Ireland, fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence, and you will embody the values set out in CIH Professional Standards, acting as an integral and valued member of our supportive and welcoming team. If you are excited by the opportunity to shape membership and professional development for the housing profession, we would love to hear from you.

Director of Membership and Professional Development is a member of CIH’s Executive Team and contributes to the collective leadership, performance and stewardship of CIH, including shared responsibility for organisational culture, prioritisation and strategic direction. The Director leads CIH’s work across membership, membership engagement, professional and vocational qualifications and accreditation, events, professional standards and practice, continuous professional development and specialist training.

The Director promotes CIH as the heart of professionalism in housing and leads the development of its membership, knowledge, learning and professional offer so that CIH is recognised as a leading provider of learning and education, standards and professional practice and as a trusted professional authority for the housing sector. The Director ensures CIH has an excellent membership offer, providing value for money and meeting the needs of the housing profession.

The Director provides thought leadership on professional practice, capability and future skills and contributes to the development of the future workforce and professional capability of the housing sector. The Director supports CIH’s international subsidiaries, boards and committees through advice, collaboration and shared learning and engages and collaborates with other professional bodies to learn and share experience and good practice.

Director of Membership and Professional Development takes operational decisions in relation to own directorate and advises the Chief Executive and board in relation to strategy. The director reports to the Chief Executive and is accountable to the Chief Executive and the board and will regularly attend board meetings and provide board papers and briefings.

Purpose

• Lead the membership and professional development directorate, ensuring its activities are aligned with CIH’s mission and strategic aims and that its structure and activities are high quality, sustainable and deliver value
• Lead and develop CIH’s membership operations, including membership support services, events and member engagement
• Lead and develop CIH’s knowledge, learning and professional development offer, including qualifications, training, apprenticeships, professional standards, product development, best practice and member knowledge resources
• Develop membership, education, training and professional standards as an integrated proposition that supports housing professionals throughout their careers and creates clear pathways between learning, professional development and membership
• Lead and develop the Learning, Development and Qualifications activity, delivering CIH’s education and learning, accreditation, professional standards and continuous professional development services; ensuring excellence and compliance
• Use member insight, customer data and strategic intelligence to inform CIH’s strategy, policy priorities, products and services and support consistent, evidence-led decision-making
• Provide strategic leadership on the future skills, professional capability, workforce development, career pathways and leadership needs of the housing profession
• Provide effective support and advice to CIH’s international membership operations
• As a member of CIH’s Executive Team, contribute to the strategic development and operational management of CIH as a whole, including shared responsibility for organisational culture and priorities.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership:

• Provide strategic leadership for the membership and professional development directorate, ensuring its work supports CIH’s mission, strategic aims and long-term sustainability
• Contribute collectively with Executive Team colleagues to CIH’s strategic direction, organisational culture, priorities and overall stewardship
• Use strategic intelligence, member insight and reliable data to shape organisational priorities and support effective decision-making
• Support, advise and report to the Governing Board and relevant committees, attending Board meetings as required
• Ensure directorate business plans, priorities and targets align with and contribute to CIH’s organisational strategy.

Membership and Engagement:

• Lead the continuing development and implementation of CIH’s membership strategy, delivering a compelling proposition that increases member value, acquisition, engagement, retention and sustainable income growth
• Position membership as a strategic organisational asset and ensure member insight demonstrably informs CIH’s strategy, policy priorities, products and services
• Grow and retain membership across key demographics, extending CIH’s relevance and reach while maintaining a consistently member-focused approach
• Lead CIH’s regional and devolved nations’ membership engagement strategy, ensuring CIH is visible and responsive to differing needs across the UK
• Ensure members, prospective members, customers and learners receive high-quality support through effective systems, processes and service standards
• Deliver high-quality events that provide excellent member and attendee value, strengthen CIH’s brand and reputation and achieve an appropriate commercial return
• Provide support and advice to CIH’s international membership operations to support sustainable growth in membership and income.

Education, Learning and Professional Development:

• Lead the development and operation of the Housing Academy across the UK, ensuring it has the scale, scope and agility to meet changing sector needs
• Ensure CIH’s qualifications, training, apprenticeships and professional development offer is high quality, relevant, accessible and informed by evidence, emerging practice and innovation
• Ensure the education and learning offer responds effectively to developments in housing and education policy, legislation and regulation
• Integrate membership, learning, professional development and professional recognition to create clear career-long pathways for housing professionals
• Identify and develop new learning and professional development opportunities and partnerships that strengthen CIH’s position as a leader in housing education and practice
• Work with employers to understand changing skills and capability needs and ensure CIH’s offer supports the future housing workforce
• Maintain effective assurance, quality management and regulatory oversight across Housing Academy activity.

Professional Standards and Regulatory Compliance:

• Lead the development and operation of the CIH Awarding Organisation, maintaining high-quality standards and compliance with relevant UK qualification regulators
• Oversee the accreditation of professional qualifications, CIH-recognised courses, apprenticeships and related schemes, and ensure effective support for study centres
• Ensure CIH is recognised as the home of professional standards and practice for housing, reflecting the current and emerging policy, regulatory and operating environment
• Provide thought leadership and strategic direction on professional practice, future skills, professional capability, workforce development, career pathways and leadership development
• Maintain effective assurance, quality management and regulatory oversight across the Awarding Organisation and professional services activity.

Commercial and Financial Management:

• Ensure products and services are customer-focused, commercially viable and deliver appropriate financial returns alongside member and sector value
• Maintain the financial sustainability of the directorate, including effective management of income and robust control of costs
• Ensure budgets and forecasts are developed, managed and monitored effectively
• Develop and maintain robust, costed business propositions for new and existing products, services and initiatives
• Balance educational quality, regulatory integrity, customer focus and commercial discipline in the development and delivery of the directorate’s portfolio.

People and Operational Leadership:

• Lead an effective, confident and collaborative directorate with clear accountabilities, consistent processes and empowered heads of service
• Develop directorate culture, communication, capability and morale, creating the conditions for colleagues and teams to perform at their best
• Ensure the directorate is appropriately structured and resourced and that operational delivery is supported by effective systems, reliable data and clear performance information
• Determine and develop systems and data requirements that enable consistent, evidence-led decisions and improve CIH’s ability to inspire, equip and support members
• Build effective working relationships with Finance and Corporate Services to secure appropriate organisational support and sound financial and business planning
• Work collaboratively with Business Development, Marketing, Policy, Communications and External Affairs to position CIH’s products, services and professional offer effectively.

Partnerships and External Influence:

• Build strategic relationships with employers, education providers, regulators, government and other stakeholders to shape the profession and improve professional practice
• Lead CIH’s relationships and partnerships with higher and further education institutions to support appropriate accredited vocational and professional qualifications
• Act as an ambassador for CIH across the housing sector and in government, regulatory and policy forums
• Strengthen CIH’s position as a trusted professional authority and leading contributor to professional capability and workforce development
• Support CIH’s international boards, committees and professional bodies through appropriate advice, collaboration and shared learning.

Outcomes and Measures of Success:

• Member insight demonstrably informs organisational strategy, policy priorities and service development
• A confident, well-structured and appropriately resourced directorate operates with clear roles and reliable organisational support, enabling the Director to focus on strategic leadership and external influence while empowering heads of service to lead delivery
• Membership, qualifications and professional standards work in synergy, driving member growth and value, income growth and CIH’s professional standing
• Collaboration between directorates enables faster decisions and fewer unnecessary escalations
• Standardised processes, reliable data and strong colleague development support consistently high performance
• CIH is recognised externally as a trusted professional authority in housing and as a leading contributor to professional capability and workforce development across the housing sector.

Key Working Relationships:

• Senior colleagues: collaborative working, providing advice in relation to own area of expertise
• Members and other stakeholders: ensuring high-level engagement, facilitation and contribution to membership and business development
• External partners in the UK and internationally: identifying and developing new commercial opportunities
• Other organisations: collaborative working, negotiation on commercial opportunities, networking and relationship building, particularly including other professional and membership bodies and regulators
• External partners including web and CRM providers and marketing agencies
• The governing board, delegated boards and committees.

Financial Resources:

• Overall responsibility for ambitious plans for the membership strategy, with expectations for growth given the opportunity to increasingly develop and personalise the membership value proposition.
• Overall responsibility for significant growth in qualifications given the opportunities afforded by the Competence and Conduct Standard.
• Responsible for associated costs to deliver these ambitions.
• Agreed figures are set out in yearly directorate budgets signed off by the board.
• Individual sign-off limits as set out in the CIH scheme of delegations.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Knowledge & Experience:

• Experience of leading the development and implementation of business and product development strategies
• Knowledge of customer or membership-based organisations
• Knowledge of customer, membership or stakeholder engagement
• Management experience, including operational, budget, and people management
• Commercial product development experience
• Experience of developing evidenced and costed business or product development opportunities
• Knowledge of the further and higher education sector, and process for accrediting vocational and academic programmes
• Knowledge of professional standards and regulation
• Knowledge and experience of partnership working
• Understanding of professional body/membership organisation
• Knowledge of the housing sector, housing policy

Skills & Abilities:

• Highly developed interpersonal networking, relationship building and influencing skills, including ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders
• Strong communication skills, including ability to influence through use of written propositions, presentations and facilitation of groups
• Ability to develop, negotiate and maintain effective commercial or business arrangements with other organisations
• Highly developed financial management skills, including setting and managing complex budgets and business propositions
• Leadership skills, including ability to engage, develop and performance manage a team of professionals
• Experience of working with a board
• Highly developed planning and project management skills
• Ability to manage organisational change, including engaging staff and other stakeholders in the process
• Excellent understanding of the role of ICT in online learning, blended learning, and education provision
• Analytical, entrepreneurial and strategic thinking skills and ability to lead the development and implementation of new business opportunities

Personal Qualities:

• Professional and personal credibility to act as an ambassador for CIH
• Commitment to equality and diversity and understanding of how it applies to own role
• Self-aware, and commitment to own continuous professional development
• Commitment to the charitable aims and objectives of CIH

Required Qualifications

• Advanced professional knowledge, qualifications and experience within a relevant field (membership, commercial, education, housing)

Compensation & Benefits

• 25 days holiday, plus eight bank holidays as standard (pro-rated for part-time colleagues), plus gifted days off over Christmas and New Year
• Flexible working to accommodate your work and personal commitments; we value outcomes and recognise that everyone has a unique working style
• Holiday purchase scheme.
• Access to our employee assistance programme for life’s challenges
• Policies to support you with big life changes or difficult times, such as the menopause and caring responsibilities
• Enhanced maternity and paternity packages
• Private health care with the option to purchase for family members
• Generous sick pay allowance
• Financial support for eye tests and help with the cost of glasses
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Employee discounts to help your salary go further
• Income protection scheme in case of an extended period of illness
• Death in service benefit equivalent to three times your salary
• Helping you save for the future by contributing to a defined contribution pension scheme, with the option of salary exchange
• Access to Stream, a financial wellbeing platform to help you manage your wages.
• Full CIH membership – access all our member-exclusive content to build your housing knowledge
• A commitment to your professional development with plenty of opportunities for career development, including training, qualifications and professional memberships
• A flexible office space encouraging collaborative working.

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the Coventry office and remotely
• With regular travel across the UK.

How to apply

• To apply for the position, please visit the CIH careers page - Careers and Vacancies
• You’ll be asked to upload your CV and complete an application form, including a personal statement where you tell us why you are a great fit for the role. There are a few short questions to answer, along with a brief equality and diversity form to complete.
• You will receive an automatic email confirming that your application has been submitted. If you don’t receive one, or if you’re unsure about anything, please reach out to us at [email protected], and we’ll be happy to help.
• If you wish to have an informal discussion about the role/organisation, or if you have any other questions to help you decide whether to apply, please email your availability for a call to [email protected], and we will set that up with Gavin Smart, our Chief Executive
• The closing date for applications is Monday 23rd November 2026 at 9 am.

Interviews

• The interview will consist of two rounds, with the second round of interviews to be held in person at our Head office in Coventry. Both panels will comprise Gavin Smart, our Chief Executive, who will be supported by members of our Governing Board
• First round interviews are expected to be held w/c Monday 30th November and second round interviews are expected to be held w/c Monday 14th December 2026.

Policies

CIH is committed to equality of opportunity throughout recruitment and selection. We strive to build a diverse and inclusive workforce and welcome applications from all sections of the community. We are also happy to discuss reasonable adjustments that may support you during the recruitment process.

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