Our work is driven by a passionate belief that our contribution as housing professionals is vital to making communities great places to live and work. Our unique position as the voice of the sector gives the people that work for us great opportunities to shape the future of housing. We’re looking for the best of the best to join us.
- Salary: £55,157 - £57,569
- Location: Hybrid - Home / CIH office
- Hours: 35 hours per week
- Closing date: 1 June 2025
We’re looking for a new head of policy and external affairs (England) to join us at a pivotal time for housing. If you’re passionate about influencing the direction of policy, engaging with key decision-makers, and leading a high-performing team—this is your opportunity to make a real impact.
In this senior role, you will:
- Be a visible leader and ambassador for CIH and the housing profession across Westminster and beyond.
- Drive the development of bold, evidence-based housing policy and good practice.
- Represent CIH at the highest levels—engaging with government, the media, and sector leaders.
- Lead and develop a talented policy and external affairs team, with responsibility for the team’s strategy, delivery, and budget.
- Work closely with colleagues across CIH to ensure our policy voice reflects and supports our members' needs.
You’ll bring strong analytical thinking, excellent communication skills, and the ability to build meaningful relationships across the housing sector and political landscape. You’ll be energised by influencing debate, shaping ideas, and driving real change.
If you’re an inspiring leader with a deep understanding of housing policy, a collaborative mindset, and the drive to make a difference, we want to hear from you.
Benefits that make a real difference
We want you to enjoy working at CIH, so it’s really important to us that we offer benefits that you value. Take a look below at some of the things you can take advantage of when you join us:*
- 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 test and help with the cost of glasses
- Cycle to work scheme.
- Access to CIH benefits, including our employee discount portal, Let’s Connect – tech scheme, and gym membership discounts
- Income protection scheme in case of 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
- Access to Wagestream – 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
- A flexible office space encouraging collaborative working.
We embrace hybrid working and encourage everyone in CIH to work from a location that suits them and our business needs.
No role is exclusively remote. Organisational cohesiveness is important to our overall performance; we value the benefits of coming together with colleagues to enable the cohesiveness of teams, departments, and collaborative working across CIH. This, and our operating model, means that there will be times when you are required to go to your local office, another CIH office, or another location such as a CIH event.
Your contracted office will usually be the CIH office that is the closest to where you live. CIH office locations can be found here – Contact details | Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH)
If you have any questions about our hybrid working policy or live more remotely, please contact us to ask how this would work in practice for the role you are applying for.
*Subject to availability in Republic of Ireland
- Locations:
- 1 x Scotland committee member (immediate start)
- 2 x devolved nations members (immediate start)
- 1 x devolved nations member (start November 2025)
- Hours: Three virtual meetings per year, plus any ad hoc working groups as required
- Closing date: 23 May 2025
- Interviews: via Microsoft Teams w/c 26 May 2025
We are looking for four CIH members to join us at this exciting time, when professionalism and professional standards are in the spotlight like never before. As we move forward, the professional standards committee (PSC) is looking to support the development of CIH’s professional pathway, to continue promoting the value of working towards the CIH code of conduct and overseeing and monitoring our continuing professional development (CPD) offer. It is a unique opportunity to play a key role in influencing and driving change and making a difference to the housing sector.
If you would like to discuss the role and what it involves, please contact us at professional.standards@cih.org.
