Unity is recruiting for a Group Chair and Board Members of Unity Housing Association.

Unity Homes and Enterprise is a successful, independent, and ambitious BME housing association based in Leeds. In addition to providing decent homes, regenerating neighbourhoods, and delivering housing services, we are driven by our social purpose to provide people living in deprived communities with opportunities to improve their economic life chances. We are proud to call ourselves a BME organisation because we believe tackling racial inequality is as important today as it was when Unity was founded 30 years ago.

We are looking for a new Chair of Board as our current Chair, Shruti Bhargava, is coming to the end of her, very successful, maximum term. So this a great opportunity for a person who ‘gets’ what Unity is all about and can work with a committed and capable board and our excellent Chief Executive and his talented team to create the next phase of our journey.
Ideally you should have non-executive experience and be a strategic thinker. A strong customer and social focus and a good understanding of governance and risk management are also essential.

Unity is a group structure, and our two subsidiaries develop new homes and manage commercial business units respectively, underlining our focus on regenerating communities and enabling people to improve their lives. We want someone who can be an effective ambassador, helping us to form new partnerships and with an ambition for themselves and Unity to be successful.
We are also looking for new board members to continue with Unity’s mission and delivery of the Corporate Plan. We welcome both those with previous non-executive director experience and those who might be interested in taking up their first board position.

Unity is committed to having a diverse workforce since our BME status rests not on the ethnicity of the people who work for us, but on what we do to serve the needs of BAME people in West Yorkshire. Nevertheless, women and people with disabilities are under-represented on our Board so we are particularly interested in attracting applications from these groups.

If you are looking for an exciting opportunity to lead in an organisation that delivers for the communities it serves, Click Here to view our vacancies page where you can download both recruitment packs.

For a confidential conversation with our CEO, please email cedric.boston@unityha.co.uk. The current Chair of the Board Shruti Bhargava is also available for an informal conversation on 28th April and 9th May. Appointments can be made by emailing recruitment@unityha.co.uk

Applications close at 12 midnight on 14th May 2023.