Head of Development

At Orbit, we believe everyone deserves a home they can be proud of. Every development we deliver creates opportunities for people, families and communities to thrive, and we're looking for an exceptional development leader to help us build even more.

Orbit Homes has been creating high-quality homes for more than 50 years. Today we're one of the UK's most respected housebuilders and housing developers, delivering homes for private sale, shared ownership and affordable rent across the Midlands, East and South of England. But we're far more than a housebuilder.

As part of Orbit Group, our purpose is to build thriving communities. Every decision we make, every partnership we form and every home we create contributes towards that purpose.

The role

This is a genuine leadership opportunity.

As Head of Development, you'll lead a talented team responsible for identifying, acquiring and progressing development opportunities from land acquisition through to start on site. You'll influence the future shape of our development programme, balancing commercial performance with social impact, while working alongside senior colleagues across Orbit Homes and the wider Group.

You'll negotiate complex land deals, build strong partnerships across the industry and ensure every opportunity aligns with our ambitious growth plans, sustainability commitments and long-term investment strategy.

This is a role for someone who enjoys combining strategic thinking with commercial delivery and who thrives on seeing opportunities become places that people will one day call home.

This role is part of Orbit Homes where you'll help us to build 7,000 new affordable homes by 2030 in a sustainable way.

What you'll achieve

You'll provide leadership to a high-performing development team, creating an environment where people can perform at their best while delivering an ambitious pipeline of land and new business opportunities.

Working closely with colleagues across planning, technical, commercial, finance and construction, you'll:

• Lead the identification, appraisal and acquisition of strategic land and development opportunities.
• Drive projects through planning, legal and internal governance to achieve timely starts on site.
• Negotiate commercially successful land and development agreements that maximise value while effectively managing risk.
• Build and maintain influential relationships with landowners, developers, Homes England, local authorities, agents and professional partners.
• Lead investment approvals and present significant development opportunities to senior leadership and governance forums.
• Ensure robust financial appraisal, forecasting and programme management across your portfolio.
• Champion continuous improvement, sustainability and high standards across every development.

What you'll bring

Essential skills

You'll already be operating in a senior development leadership role within housebuilding, residential development or the affordable housing sector.

• A strong track record of securing and delivering successful land and development opportunities.
• Extensive knowledge of the planning and development process.
• Excellent commercial judgement with experience negotiating complex development agreements.
• Strong financial and analytical capability, including development appraisals and investment decision making.
• The ability to inspire and develop high-performing teams.
• Outstanding relationship-building skills with the credibility to influence at executive level and across external partners.
• A passion for creating places and communities that make a lasting difference.

Desirable skills

• Knowledge of Homes England funding and Registered Provider development would be advantageous, together with relevant professional qualifications such as MRICS or MRTPI.

Why Orbit?

Choosing us means being rewarded in every sense.

Here’s what you can expect to enjoy with us.

A rewarding experience that works for you

We strive to create an inclusive experience with benefits and wellbeing programmes designed to help you, and your loved ones, to thrive. For a better work life balance, we offer flexible working opportunities for many roles.

A place to progress

From training programmes to professional qualifications, we provide opportunities to learn and develop at every stage of your career. Whether you’re a student, graduate or experienced professional we’ll support you to grow.

For leaders, our tailored development journeys are designed to stretch and strengthen your leadership skills. As well as practical training, we give you access to renowned business schools and experiential programmes for greater breadth and depth of learning.

A purpose to feel proud of

We’re proud to make a difference to people together. We’re values-driven with a commercial focus on performance - because the more profit we make, the more we can achieve for people.

What brings us together is a passionate belief in progress and people.

Read more about the values and purpose that drive us on our careers website.

How we hire

We aim to make our hiring process simple and fair:

1. Online application
2. Interview(s)
3. Decision and offer

We put the safeguarding of our customers, colleagues and contractors at the heart of everything we do and as such, certain roles will be subject to a DBS check.