Learning and Development Lead

Learning and Development Lead
Salary: £44,440 per annum

Contract type: One-year, fixed term

Hours: Full time, 35 hours per week

Location: ISHA, 102 Blackstock Road, London N4 2DR

About Us

At ISHA, community and neighbourhood mean everything to us, and our roots run deep in the areas of North London that we serve. Founded over 90 years ago, we provide around 2,500 homes for over 5,000 people across Islington, Hackney and Waltham Forest.

ISHA is smaller and more local than many other housing associations operating in London. We are proud to remain a community-based housing association with a strong social purpose and an ambitious future.

We offer a wide range of housing choices: social rented, shared ownership, intermediate rent, market rent, supported housing, and options for the elderly. We also provide homes and support for the Vietnamese, South-East Asian and wider communities.

About the Role

At ISHA, we believe our people make a difference. By investing in learning, development and continuous improvement, we can build the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to deliver excellent services for residents and achieve our organisational ambitions.

That's why we're looking for an exceptional Learning and Development Lead to help shape the future of learning across the organisation.

This is a rare opportunity to establish and lead a newly created role with freedom, visibility, and support to make a lasting impact. You'll be responsible for building a culture where learning is valued, development is embedded in everyday work, and colleagues are equipped to achieve their full potential.

As our Learning and Development Lead, you will play a key role in ensuring colleagues across ISHA have the capability, confidence and knowledge needed to deliver excellent outcomes for residents, meet regulatory requirements and support organisational success.

Working as part of our People Team, you will partner with colleagues across the organisation to identify learning needs, design innovative development solutions, and deliver programmes that improve individual, team and organisational performance.

Job Purpose

You will lead ISHA's organisational learning agenda and annual learning plan, identifying current and future capability needs and delivering practical, high-quality learning interventions that support individual, team and organisational performance.

Working closely with stakeholders and subject matter experts, you will manage learning projects from scoping through to evaluation, while ensuring the effective delivery of core learning and development activities. You will combine learning expertise with a practical, delivery-focused approach, creating engaging learning experiences that meet diverse business and learner needs.

You will work in collaboration with our Resident Involvement colleagues to engage and involve residents in the implementation of the Competence and Conduct Standard.

This is a newly created role at ISHA and an exciting opportunity to shape the future of learning and development across the organisation. You will play a key role in building a strong learning culture, enhancing capability and ensuring our colleagues have the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to deliver our corporate strategy and achieve the best possible outcomes for residents.

You will have the opportunity to make a lasting impact, bringing fresh ideas, driving innovation, and influencing how learning is designed and delivered at ISHA. This is a role with real scope to make your own, giving you the freedom to develop approaches, programmes and initiatives that best meet the needs of our colleagues, our organisation and the communities we serve.

About You

We're looking for someone who is passionate about developing people and helping organisations succeed through learning.

You'll be a collaborative learning professional who can combine strategic thinking with a practical, hands-on approach.

You'll bring:

• Significant experience in learning and development.
• Strong project management and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience influencing and building credibility with colleagues at all levels.
• An ability to balance strategic priorities with operational delivery.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to use data to evaluate impact and inform decision-making.
• Experience developing leadership and management capability.
• A passion for helping people learn, grow and perform at their best.
• Knowledge of the Competence and Conduct Standard or social housing sector learning requirements would be beneficial but is not essential.

Why join ISHA?

This is an exciting time to join us. As our first dedicated Learning and Development Lead, you'll have the opportunity to shape how learning is designed, delivered and experienced across the organisation.

You'll play a central role in building organisational capability, strengthening performance, supporting compliance and creating development opportunities that help colleagues thrive.

This role offers genuine scope to make your mark. You'll have the autonomy to introduce new approaches, develop innovative learning solutions and influence how we invest in our people for years to come.

Ultimately, your work will help create a culture where colleagues feel supported to learn, grow and perform at their best, enabling us to deliver better outcomes for residents and communities.

Ready to make a difference? We'd love to hear from you.

Inclusion and Diversity

We want ISHA to be a great place to work and to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBTQ+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that passionate commitment to customers, respect for everyone, pride in Team ISHA and trusted to make the difference remains at the heart of everything we do.

Closing date: 9am on Wednesday, 11 November 2026.
Interview date(s) are to be confirmed.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

Once you have landed on our website, you will need to do the following in order to apply for this role:

Application Process

When you submit your final application with your CV and a covering letter tell us:

(a) Why do you believe you are a strong fit for the role, with reference to the job description and person specification?

(b) Describe a significant service improvement initiative you have led. What was the challenge, what actions did you take, and what measurable outcomes were achieved?

(c) Tell us about a service that frustrates you as a customer. What do you think is causing the problem, and what would you do differently if you were responsible for improving it?

(d) What motivates you most about service improvement and delivering excellent outcomes for customers?

(e) Is there anything else you would like us to know in support of your application?

Please note: We can only be able to accept applications from candidates with eligibility to currently work in the UK. We do not offer a visa sponsorship programme.

Applications sent without a covering letter outlining how your skills and experience match the role, as well as expressing your motivation for applying for the role will not be accepted.

Asking for adjustments

ISHA is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions. If you would like us to do anything differently during the application, interview, or assessment process, including providing information in an alternative format, you will be able to contact us.

No agencies please.