Head of Fire and Building Safety

Head of Fire and Building Safety

Anchor is England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for people in later life. Our purpose is simple but powerful: to provide safe, high-quality homes where residents feel secure, respected and listened to.

As building safety regulation continues to evolve, we are strengthening our leadership capability with the appointment of a Head of Fire and Building Safety. This is a critical senior role with national influence, providing expert leadership across our diverse property portfolio and ensuring the very highest standards of fire and building safety compliance.

As Head of Fire and Building Safety, you will be Anchor’s recognised subject matter expert, leading compliance with the Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety legislation and the requirements of the Building Safety Regulator. You will set strategic direction, provide assurance to the Executive Team and regulators, and ensure risks are identified, mitigated and managed with absolute rigour, always with resident safety at the heart of decision-making.

This role requires a confident leader who combines strong technical expertise and judgement, collaborative leadership and the ability to influence at all levels.

What you’ll lead

• Technical leadership on high‑rise and higher‑risk buildings
• Fire Risk Assessments, remediation activity and Building Safety Cases
• National inspection and testing programmes
• Development of strategies, policies and Golden Thread information
• Commissioning and management of specialist contractors
• Resident engagement and safety communications
• Incident investigations and liaison with regulators
• Leadership and development of a high‑performing specialist team

Knowledge & Skills

• Expert knowledge of the Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety legislation, Golden Thread requirements and FRA methodologies.
• Strong leadership, influencing and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to undertake site inspections, HRB visits and incident investigations.
• Proven experience in resident engagement and complaint resolution.
• Desirable: Knowledge of cladding remediation, BS 9792, BS 8674, behavioural safety leadership. NFCC Specialised Housing Guidance, Fire safety risk assessment: residential care premises.

Experience

• Senior leadership experience in fire and building safety compliance.
• Managing HRBs, Safety Cases, FRAs and complex remediation programmes.
• Contractor procurement and performance management.
• Regulatory engagement and incident management.
• Desirable: Social housing experience and budget ownership.

Qualifications

• Relevant qualification in Building Safety, Construction or Surveying (e.g. RICS, CIOB), or significant experience with commitment to achieve.
• NEBOSH Fire Safety Certificate.
• IFE membership (or willingness to work towards).
• CIH Level 4 or above (or willingness to work towards).
• Full, clean UK driving licence.
• Desirable: Fire or Structural Engineering degree; NEBOSH Diploma.

If you’re driven by purpose, ready to shape national best practice, and want to make a meaningful impact on the safety of residents across the country, we’d love to hear from you.

Anchor – a great place to work

Anchor is England’s largest not-for-profit providers of care and housing for older people. Our heartfelt ambition is to transform housing and care so everyone can have a home where they love living in later life.

We’re not-for-profit which means every penny we make or save is invested in the people who live with us, the places they live and the people who work here. That means a better standard of care and customer service, better wages, more investment in training and development and improved facilities.

Our values

Every one of us can make a difference to our residents and play a part in shaping homes and services around their needs.

Our Anchor values of being Accountable, Respectful, Courageous and Honest apply to us all, whether you manage colleagues as part of your role or not.

Displaying our values can influence those around us to do the same. We can all be leaders at Anchor and should all be driven by the same customer ethos.  Our Anchor Leadership Framework helps align these values with the skills and behaviours we demonstrate.

A rewarding environment

From health and happiness to finance and your career, we’ll give you all the support you need.

Health & happiness

• Gym, fitness and wellbeing discounts
• Mental health support
• Flexible working options
• Access to online GP appointments

Finance

• Pension plan – contribute between 4% and 8% and we’ll match it or better
• Quick and easy pension transfer service
• Savings and financial advice, loans, free life assurance
• Discounts on shopping, holidays, phones, technology and more
• Free Blue Light Card

Career

• Ongoing personal and professional development programme
• Leadership Pathways online learning resources
• Career progression and promotion opportunities

To see our full range of benefits, check out our dedicated being well website Please follow the link or copy and paste https://anchorbeingwell.co.uk/ into your browser 

Celebrating diversity, celebrating you

Anchor is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We aim to celebrate diversity and inclusion in all that we do, as we know that the more diverse our colleagues are, the better care and support we can give to our residents and each other.  

We are proud to have an LGBT+ group for our residents, and also Disability, LGBT+ and race and ethnicity colleague networks. These work to celebrate diversity, address concerns, review policy and practice and empower their members.  We also have an Inclusive Ambassador network to allow all colleagues to be part of promoting diversity and to be an ally to others.

We are a Gold Standard Inclusive Employer, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, Menopause Friendly and a signatory to the Care Leaver Covenant, HouseProud Pledge and Age Friendly Employer Pledge schemes.