Director of Assurance & Compliance | Full time | Watford | Competitive

Watford Community Housing is hiring a Director of Assurance & Compliance.

This is a senior leadership role in a community-focused housing association. The organisation owns and manages around 8,000 homes and related assets across South-West Hertfordshire and North-West London.

The role comes at an important time. Watford Community Housing has agreed a merger with Thrive Homes to create a new Community Gateway housing association from 1 June 2026. The successful candidate will become Director of Assurance & Compliance for the new organisation.

You will report to the Executive Director of Asset & Compliance. You will lead work across building safety, health and safety, risk, insurance, and wider Compliance. You will help make sure strong assurance systems are in place and that the organisation meets its legal and regulatory duties.

This role gives you the chance to shape standards, culture, and trust across more than 13,000 homes.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead assurance: Develop and lead assurance, compliance, risk, health and safety, and insurance services
• Support the merger: Align cultures, systems, and ways of working through the merger
• Provide confidence: Give clear assurance to the Executive Team, Board, and Committees
• Manage safety duties: Act as Responsible Person where needed and support Building Safety and Fire Safety compliance
• Use data well: Drive a data-led approach to risk, monitoring, and performance reporting
• Build strong systems: Design a future-focused framework that responds to regulation, digital change, and customer needs
• Promote safety culture: Support a strong health and safety culture for customers, staff, and contractors
• Identify issues early: Spot emerging risks, service failures, and compliance issues and make sure they are clearly reported and addressed

About You

• Values-led: Strong commitment to safety, customer outcomes, and social purpose
• Senior leader: Experience working at senior level and providing assurance to Boards, committees, and regulators
• Strong track record: Background in leading compliance frameworks, risk strategies, and organisational assurance
• Relevant sector experience: Experience in compliance, building safety, fire safety, risk, or assurance in social housing or another highly regulated environment
• Balanced judgement: Able to weigh risk, cost, quality, and long-term value
• Programme experience: Experience managing complex supply chains and large-scale programmes
• Analytical: Strong use of data to improve insight and performance
• Change-ready: Energy and enthusiasm for change, including merger work
• Qualified: Professional qualification such as RICS, CIOB, IOSH, or equivalent is desirable, but not essential

What Watford Community Housing Offers

• Senior impact: A key leadership role with influence across a newly merged organisation
• Scale: Opportunity to shape assurance and compliance across more than 13,000 homes
• Purpose-led work: Chance to support safe, sustainable homes and strong customer outcomes
• Strategic role: Close working with senior leaders across asset management, operations, finance, and governance
• Meaningful change: Opportunity to help define standards, systems, and culture in a new organisation

How to Apply

If you are a strategic and values-driven leader with strong experience in assurance, safety, risk, and compliance, Watford Community Housing would like to hear from you.

The advert asks interested candidates to contact its consultant at Neemar Search for a confidential discussion.

Application Tips

Focus on your senior leadership experience in compliance, assurance, risk, and safety. Use clear examples that show Board-level reporting, strong judgement, merger or change work, and how you have improved culture, systems, or performance in a regulated environment.