A day in the life of… Jane

Lettings and Homeless Service Manager

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself…

A: I am married with three children, who are all grown up, and Grandma to the most adorable Ida, Archie and Ivy. I love spending quality time with my family, good food and wine, reading and going on holidays.

I am responsible for leading a team of 30 members of staff to deliver an allocation and lettings service and homeless support service for our current and prospective tenants. I am also the named Safeguarding Lead for Ongo.

Q: What do your teams do?

A: The lettings team are responsible for marketing, allocating and letting all our vacant homes to those who need them efficiently ensuring the best customer journey. We also manage Rent to Buy lets, decants and safeguarding triage.

The homeless team feature a mixture of shared and single occupancy units across Doncaster and North Lincolnshire. We provide a service to support and coach single adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to develop skills to be able to move on to independent living. The homeless team also manage the safe accommodation property in partnership with North Lincolnshire Council (NLC) for families who are fleeing Domestic Abuse and at risk of being homeless.

Q: How do your teams make a difference?

A: We provide something so fundamentally essential to any one of us – a home. Not only that, but we support people to maintain it too, making sure they have a long and successful time as an Ongo tenant with help and guidance if needed. My team are responsible for the start of the customer journey.

Q: How long have you worked at Ongo?

A: I will have worked at the organisation for 36 years in January. I started my career in 1989, working for Scunthorpe Borough Council in the Housing Benefit Team. After the local authority merger to become North Lincolnshire Council, I began working in the rent recovery team.

My next move came as a Housing Officer, followed by Area Housing Manager. This was a steep learning curve but something that gave me the drive to pursue my next career goal.

I then secured the position of ASB Manager on a temporary basis. I loved this role and learnt so much. I then became Lettings and Customer Service Manager.

My first task as new manager was to close all satellite offices and launch the new Customer Centre at Cole Street within nine weeks. We did it and this was one of my proudest moments. It was a very new and innovative project that showcased us as an organisation, removed the image of local authority and reinforced our new Ongo brand. This was the start of my journey as Lettings Manager.

Q: Why have you stayed so long?

A: I love my job and always have done. I have had various roles which I feel has given me a breadth of knowledge and created some amazing relationships.

I love people, making a difference and providing the best service I can to our customers, but also to my team. I learn something new every day and when this stops, is when I think I will hang my hat up. I love working in an environment that evolves. We can be creative and this drives me to be the best I can be.

It’s hard work but so rewarding. My family have always said how strange I am that I have always been so passionate about my work but housing is a strange beast – once you’re in, it becomes such a big part of you.

Check out another ‘A day in the life of’ story, this time Julie who is a Tenancy Officer.