Stroud District Council Strategic Director of Housing & Communities Salary: up to £99,764 (includes a market supplement, based on experience) Location: Ebley Mill, Stroud / Hybrid Located in the heart of beautiful Gloucestershire, Stroud District Council is seeking a passionate, values-driven leader to join our Strategic Leadership Team as the next Strategic Director of Housing and Communities. This is a pivotal role at a critical time, offering the opportunity to lead through Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) while shaping and integrating Housing & Tenant Services, Environmental Health, Culture, Leisure and Community Services. Your leadership will directly influence the services and outcomes that residents experience every day. Stroud is one of the few councils that retains and actively managers its own housing stock (c.5,000 homes) across the district. This gives the role exceptional scope and influence. You will be central to shaping the future of a large, complex landlord service, driving improvements in quality, safety, compliance, carbon reduction, repairs, customer experience and asset investment. You will lead our strategic approach to delivering the strengthened consumer standards, ensuring our homes are safe, sustainable and well maintained while ensuring residents voices are central to service design and improvement. You will oversee our ambitious Housing Revenue Account (HRA) delivery plans. Alongside this you will lead our homelessness prevention and Housing Advice service, ensuring compassionate, customer-centred and collaborative prevention services. You will drive strong joint working with health, social care and voluntary sector partners to support residents who face multiple and complex needs, and strengthen the districts approach to money, wellbeing and tenancy sustainability, aligning people focused services with our Council Plan. You will also provide strategic leadership for our Environmental Health service, ensuring the delivery of our statutory responsibilities across environmental protection, food safety, licencing, public health, private sector housing and regulatory compliance. Working closely with partners, you will ensure we protect residents’ safety, wellbeing and local environmental quality while supporting responsible business growth and effective enforcement. You’ll also take forward our leisure, culture and community agenda, including embedding and evolving the insourced Stratford Park Leisure Centre (Active Lifestyles Stroud) model and maintaining strong relationships and working practice with our leisure facility in Dursley (Active Lifestyle Dursley). You will champion implementation of our district wide Cultural Strategy, and lead work with members and communities on the future of the much loved Stratford Park Lido. This role is ideal for an experienced Director or an ambitious Assistant Director with demonstrable experience of being ready to take the next step. Professional background is less important than your ability to lead with integrity, empathy, and a genuine commitment to our residents and staff. We are proud of our high levels of staff engagement and we want a leader who will continue to build an environment where people feel valued, supported and motivated to deliver their best. We are looking for a Strategic Director who models the Councils values. You will bring leadership that is visible, inclusive and authentic, someone who can build trust quickly and empowers other to grow. Experience within reorganisation is desirable, but not essential. We offer flexible working arrangements, including hybrid working without mandated office days. However, visibility and presence will be important at such a pivotal time for local government, and we encourage candidates to consider how they will build relationships, lead teams and engage with our teams and community meaningfully. Now is the perfect time to join Stroud District Council and make a lasting impact for the future of our organisation and workforce. F or more information click apply below, or please contact Gary Evans (07809 195 593). Closing date: Sunday 3 rd May 2026