This week we are shining a spotlight on colleagues across our organisation, to raise the profile of careers in housing in support of National Careers Week.

Ready to meet our team? Click on the toggles below to explore their roles.

• Karen Lee, Project Manager

  Karen has worked for One Vision Housing for over four years and describes her role as a Project Manager as diverse and rewarding.

  What is your favourite part of your job?

  I have worked for various registered social landlords for over 40 years and love my job.

  The pleasure I get from seeing a housing scheme through from inception to completion, knowing the appreciation of the families we are able to provide a home to is my favourite thing.

  Do you have any career highlights?

  I have been blessed with many lifelong friends from working in this industry. Not really a career highlight but my claim to fame is that I have been a contestant on The Weakest Link – I didn’t win but came close. 

  What piece of advice would you give to someone starting their career?

  Believe in yourself and your ability and never give up…oh and be punctual!

  

• Neil Kenwright, Neighbourhood Services Manager

  Neil has worked for One Vision Housing for over 13 years and describes his role as a Neighbourhood Services Manager as strategic, challenging and rewarding.

  What is your favourite part of your job?

  I am performance driven, so achieving our objectives is easily my favourite part. I also love helping my colleagues to improve their skills and gain promotions. I feel really proud to see how well they are all doing.

  Do you have any career highlights?

  I have been very fortunate to have had the support of our Executive Management Team and some motivated, talented colleagues during my career. Whilst I have many career highlights, they wouldn’t have been possible without their support.

  • Contact Centre Manager at the Call North West awards in 2010
  • Customer Service Manager at the European Customer Service Awards in 2011
  • Best Customer Experience & Contact Centre at the Customer Contact Association awards in 2012
  • Management of our Property Pool Plus integration
  • Achieving over 100% rent collection during 2019/20 and 2020/21

  Which piece of your advice would you give to someone starting their career?

  • Use your strengths to help you progress, never give up, believe in yourself, and be ambitious.
  • Keep learning and developing, whilst listening to others and asking for advice.
  • Plan, do and review! Always spend time looking at what you are doing, why you are doing it and what you want to achieve, then consider how you can improve.
  • Motivation is your own desire to do something. Whilst working, ask yourself “why am I doing this?” and if you have a self-motivated reason, this will give you a great platform for success. If you don’t have a strong reason why, consider doing something else that you are motivated to do.

  

• Paula Robinson, Operations Director

  Paula has worked for One Vision Housing for 12 years and describes her role as an Operations Director as exciting, enjoyable, and varied.

  Having started her journey with One Vision Housing as an Antisocial Behaviour Manager back in 2009, Paula now oversees independent living, customer access, commercial leaseholds, and sales.

  What is your favourite part of your job?

  Providing excellent homes and services to our customers and supporting them throughout their journey with us. Our support is helping to change people’s lives, whether this is through Independent Living or helping customers onto the property ladder through Shared Ownership.

  Do you have any career highlights?

  I’ve worked in the housing sector for 30 years and the impact we have on positively changing people’s lives is very rewarding. Taking on a new service area across the sales side of the organisation has been a great highlight and an enjoyable learning journey. I’ve developed a new skill set and gained a great insight into the benefits to our customers.

  Did you need any qualifications to get your job?

  The Institute of Housing have me a great grounding and the skills that I needed to work in the sector, which was an excellent base to start from. As I became a Manager, I completed a course with the Chartered Institute of Management to develop new skills. I then became a board member at Calico Homes to expand my strategic skills and mindset before becoming a Director.

  Which piece of advice would you give to someone starting their career?

  Keep an open mind, continue to learn, read, and speak to as many people as you can. Get a taste of different areas across a business to explore what excites you most, expand your skill set and discover what you are passionate about.

  

• Marie Boyd, Financial Inclusion Officer

  Marie has worked for One Vision Housing for nearly nine years and describes her role as a Financial Inclusion Officer as challenging, busy, and rewarding.

  What is your favourite part of your job?

  Enabling a person to make an informed choice, by giving them the best possible information to make that decision.

  Some of Marie’s customers recently got in touch with us to sing her praises and said:

  “The advice I have received has been really helpful, Marie was lovely. I was sitting in a rut and now I feel so much better.”

  “Marie has been amazing; I just wish I had of called us sooner instead of stressing out as Marie has helped so much – she deserves a medal.”

  Did you need any qualifications to get your job?

  Whilst you don’t need any formal qualification, you’ll probably need two years’ experience, normally through volunteering. You can also do a recognised NVQ in Welfare Rights at levels three and four, which I was lucky enough to do when the qualification was first introduced.

  Which piece of advice would you give to someone starting their career?

  Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer! Your local Citizens Advice centre will offer training which is second to none. You can start as a Generalist Advisor and then become a specialist in an area that interests you, such as welfare rights, debt, housing or employment.

  

Interested in starting your career with the UK’s best place to work?

Explore our careers.