Heading up the team tasked with building a substantial programme of new homes for rent and shared ownership across Magna’s core area of operation in Dorset and Somerset.

Management (executive and departmental)Coaching (business)Construction Management (housing)Business DevelopmentAcquisition (land, buildings) Sales (property)Procurement (goods and services)Value Adding (employment and skills and environment)Contracts negotiation and managementCustomer care / AftercareCommunity engagement

A role focused on supporting local business units in delivering increased turnover, margins and great customer service. Alongside this, where new company acquisitions were taking place, to review business practices and embed change and the new brand identity into the new businesses. Working as part of a national team of experts, sharing information and innovating solutions to drive shareholder value as part of the plc. I also represented our business stream on corporate initiatives such as; Corporate Social Responsibility (Positive Impact Team) and Group Procurement (Category Spend for Housing)

A department head role sporting to the chief executive and the Board. My time at synergy saw a significant increase in delivery of new homes. Engagement with new products supported this, achieving market dominance in delivering Extra Care homes. New procurement arrangements, though the creation of frameworks, secured cost and quality advantage. System building pilots and engagement with the Building Research Establishment and the Housing Forum drove further innovation. I gained a reputation as a manager for cross functional engagement to improve life cycle costs to the business plan.

Promoted from Projects Manager to Senior Projects Manager, I managed the day to day needs of my director and the team. My role engaged me in a the full range of land finding and acquisition, to procurement of contractors as well as managing the overview of projects and regulatory compliance as part of the team. This was a period of significant development with the organisation funding me through the University of Westminster on their post graduate certificate in housing association development management course. I was engaged in general as well as specialist housing development during this time.

I developed an interest in the affordable housing sector and took this opportunity for a maternity cover post to get 'coal face' experience of the core function of housing management, whilst at the same time taking a correspondance course to further my knowledge. My role engaged me in the day to day activities of rent collection, resident dispute resolution and resident engagement in major repairs programmes on my estates.

Seeking out land opportunities, appraising land value through establishing costs and sales values, utilising skills and knowledge from being a trainee surveyor. The Croudace model for land appraisal developed new skills to undertake planning drawings and scheme layouts. Negotiating with the Local Authority on design and density, to review services availability and capacity to 'take' off' measurements for materials quantities for the preferred layouts and to run these through the bespoke software model for land valuation. Undertaking market research on property values through our own sales data as well as field analysis and competitor analysis. In addition, the formation for the 'partnerships team' brought my skills to the team negotiating land design and build contracts with housing and health bodies where I was given a central support role in this part of the business.

As a trainee I was given a broad base of experience within this commercial estate agency. Undertaking mortgage valuations, building surveys on the valuations side of the business and then in the lettings and sales side having the opportunity to engage in the estate agency of commercial property. I was given a small portfolio of commercial units to manage and practice my estate management, negotiation and valuation skills.