Chair of the Board

Chair of the Board
East London
£10,500 + expenses

If you believe everyone deserves a place to call home, you could help lead the organisation that’s making that belief a reality for thousands across East London.

Local Space is a well-established housing organisation with a clear social purpose: ending homelessness and enabling people to rebuild their lives through safe, high-quality homes. Since 2006, they’ve been a vital part of the East London community, offering stability and opportunity to those who need it most.

This is an exceptional opportunity to become Chair of the Board — guiding an experienced, values-driven team and helping to shape the future of an organisation that’s making a real and lasting difference.

The opportunity

As Chair, you’ll have the platform to influence strategy, culture, and impact at the highest level. You’ll lead a committed Board, ensuring strong governance, effective challenge, and meaningful collaboration with the Executive team.  Local Space is moving from being a “big small provider” to a “small big provider”, with a sharper focus on professionalism, systems and organisational capability. As Chair, you’ll help steer this journey – ensuring the Board provides clear strategic direction, robust oversight and constructive support to the Executive

Working closely with the Chief Executive, you’ll play a key role in:

• Navigating the renegotiation of Local Space’s largest contract with the London Borough of Newham.
• Responding to the outcome of an upcoming regulatory inspection and leading any improvement journey, particularly around consumer regulation.
• Strengthening financial resilience and service quality while supporting ambitions to create more homes for people who need them.

You’ll also act as an ambassador — representing Local Space externally, engaging with partners, and keeping informed on policy developments that affect the housing and homelessness landscape. With most committee meetings online and full Board meetings held in person, there’s flexibility to fit this rewarding role around your existing commitments.

You’ll be joining a cohesive Board – a group that combines strong challenge with deep respect, low ego and genuine alignment to Local Space’s values. They take the work seriously but not themselves, and they are keen to welcome a Chair who will both protect and evolve this culture.

What you’ll bring

We’re open on sector background- you might come from housing, another regulated service, or a similarly complex environment, but you will be comfortable operating in a regulated context and understand the distinction between governance and management.

• Strategic leadership experience in a regulated or complex environment, ideally at Board or Chair level.
• Confidence in leading constructive debate and drawing out diverse viewpoints to reach informed, collective decisions.
• A strong grasp of governance and an understanding of how effective oversight can empower rather than constrain organisational performance.
• Genuine alignment with Local Space’s social purpose and a belief in the impact that safe, affordable housing can have on people’s lives.

Why this role matters

The incoming Chair will join at a pivotal moment. Local Space is:

• Strengthening its systems, data and professional capability.
• Preparing for a regulatory inspection and the improvement work that may follow.
• Renegotiating a major local authority contract that underpins its ability to provide homes.

Your leadership will shape how Local Space navigates this change – ensuring that governance stays focused, that culture remains healthy and inclusive, and that tenants and communities continue to benefit from a resilient, values‑driven organisation.

If you’re motivated by purpose and want your leadership to leave a tangible legacy, this is an opportunity to make a genuine difference.

Diversity and Inclusion

Local Space’s doors are firmly open. Applications are especially welcome from people who too often wonder if these ads are “for someone like me.” Local Space want a Board that reflects the full diversity of their customers and communities—whatever your gender, background, age, or ability.

Please contact Barry Forsythe at Greenacre Executive on 07715 409001, or email barry@greenacre-recruitment.com for a confidential discussion or request the Recruitment Pack.