I’m Sam, the Procurement Officer working in the Procurement and Contracts Team, part of the Finance Pod. My team is made up of myself, the Senior Procurement Manager, the Commercial Manager, and the Contracts Officer, and we’re led by our Assistant Finance Director. I’ve been here around five years so far, and I’m excited to show you some of the things I can get up to in a day.
My day starts with checking my personal email inbox, the procurement inbox, and the contract management inbox. I then check my diary for today’s meetings, which can be with colleagues, tenants, or third-party suppliers, so I like to prep myself before joining.
I’m working in the office today; I check the procurement and contract fire safe for any documents that need actioning. There’s a declaration of interest and scoresheet in there, so I scan these and save them on the shared drive. Hard copies are left in the safe for confidentiality.
One of our large contracts is due to expire in 2026. We’ve already had one proactive meeting between teams to kickstart conversations. I take some time this morning to schedule more meetings to discuss the contract and the team's needs.
Next up is our team procurement catch-up meeting - we meet weekly on a Wednesday to discuss upcoming and ongoing procurement work.
I then need to set up a shared OneDrive folder for two teams to allow collaborative working on their upcoming procurement. We’ll be re-procuring this contract as we are approaching the end of its contract life.
It's time to stop for lunch now. I enjoy being in the office so I can catch up with colleagues.
After lunch, I have some contract documents to format. As part of an ongoing project of mine, procurement packs and other associated documents are formatted to be consistent and follow our style guide.
I then take some time to draft an invite and plan the agenda for the first Core Procurement Group meeting of 2025, made up of Red Kite volunteers. These volunteers help us with contract documentation reviews, evaluations, moderations, and clarification interviews when required. We really appreciate the time our volunteers offer to the group as it ensures that we remain tenant-led. I’m excited to get everyone from the group together.
For the last part of my day, I’m assisting the Senior Procurement Manager with his current project on the procurement timeline. He’s creating a new timeline to showcase all our contracts, which will include start and end dates, spend, and status. We currently have a draft version which I’m helping to collate information for.
At 5:30pm, it’s time to log off for the day. Thanks for following me around today.
I’m a Relationship Advisor working in the contact centre at Red Kite. As a team, we’re responsible for managing all incoming contact for the organisation. Of course, we do much more than this. Follow me around for day to see what I can get up to in an average day.
My day starts by checking what tasks I’ve been assigned. Our daily tasks include logging out-of-hours repairs from the previous evening, raising follow-up works from Gilmartins visits, booking the Community Team for Home Checks, and raising subsequent repairs. We may also be assigned Site Inspections for repairs identified during Estate or Health & Safety inspections by the Community Team. I'm on calls and webchats today.
I work in the office three days a week, today being one of those days. We make sure we have in-person cover in the office every day Monday – Thursday, so we’re always available for any tenants coming down to see us.
My target for the day is 30-50 tasks depending on what task I’m assigned. During busier periods such as Christmas, I can do much more than this to keep up with demand. I always aim to beat this target, as do the rest of my teammates. We have individual and team KPIs which I’m eager to achieve. This includes tasks per hour, call answer rate and our internal auditing framework which my managers carry out each month to ensure the team providing the best advice and service possible.
Before I get started, we have our weekly team meeting. This time is used to ask any burning questions, catch up on information from other teams and for our managers to make us aware of any changes we need to keep note of. We are also in constant communication on our Teams chat, so we never miss anything.
My first call of the day was from a tenant who needed to raise a repair. They had a broken window handle on the ground floor, so I get this raised as an emergency repair as the window is stuck open, causing a security risk.
A tenant then called about a lightbulb repair, but as per our repair responsibilities this is something they are responsible for.
I then take a few more calls before a webchat comes through. We have a system that assigns an agent to certain tasks, so when a webchat comes in, no more calls will come through to me. The webchat is a tenant looking to get a copy of their tenancy agreement sent to them. After asking security questions to open their account, I advise them they can pop into the office to collect it when convenient.
My next call is a sheltered tenant who requests a spare key to put in their new key safe, I get this ordered for them and will let them know when their Sheltered Specialist can drop it round. I make a note to call them back.
Over lunchtime I cover reception for the team. A new tenant comes in to collect the keys to their home, I get their Lettings Specialist to carry out the sign up. Another tenant comes in to speak to their Income Specialist about their rent, but I can assist them with this.
It’s then my turn to go on lunch for an hour.
After lunch I take a call about a complex repair. There has been a major leak in a home. I liaise with the Repairs Team to ensure that we visit as soon as possible and carry out the repairs needed. This tenant may need to be offered a temporary move into a different home, so I make my manager aware so this can be prepared. I keep the tenant informed at all times.
My manager then asks me to change my dedicated task for the day, I’m now working on emails – specifically relating to damp, mould and condensation (DMC). I spend a couple of hours sending proactive texts to tenants experiencing DMC and booking in for a Technical Repairs Specialist to attend their home to carry out a survey and root-cause any issues.
After this, I help clear messages from tenants and customers on social media. I work with my line manager to respond to messages, as some are ongoing conversations that she has dealt with previously. Once these are cleared, I jump back on calls to ensure all calls are answered within a timely manner before it’s the end of the day.
At around 5:15pm it’s time for me to log off. Every day is different, so I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.
My role as an Assistant Home Safety Specialist within the Home Safety team specifically focuses on two things: water hygiene and our lifts.
Each morning, without fail, I look at all the open gas and electrical safety check cases. Each case is individual, and I ensure that everything progresses correctly. These safety checks must be completed to make sure our homes are safe for our tenants and their families.
At around 9.30am it’s time for my first meeting. This one is with our lift contractor – Jackson Lifts. I’m responsible for managing this monthly meeting. It’s great to touch base with our contractor regularly to ensure the service is running as expected.
After my meetings, I always check over my emails to make sure I don’t miss anything important. When I got back to my desk today, I had a message from the Council for Registered Gas Installers about a new type of unsafe plug that we’re seeing in the market more often. These are called clover leaf plugs, and we don’t want our tenants to use them in their homes due to the dangers.
Next on my list is a home visit as I’m helping a tenant sort out issues with his gas provider so that we can get his gas supply reinstated. The appointment is at 4pm, so I’ll leave around 3.40pm.
There were a few repair issues that needed reporting at the block of flats. I also had a chat with one of our leaseholders who let me know about a few other things that needed looking into. I noted it all down and will be getting this to the repairs team tomorrow so we can sort this out. If you spot us out and about at one of our schemes, we’re always happy to help, just say hi!
It’s 5pm which can only mean one thing, home time! I’ll be back in the office tomorrow, ready to do it all again and keep our tenants safe.
I’m Alan, Deputy CEO of Red Kite. I lead the Insight & Strategy Pod, Feedback Pod, People Pod, Employee and Tenant Experience, Resident and Community Engagement team and Communications team.
Follow me around for the day...
My day kicks off with a thorough review of Board papers, which takes about an hour. This is followed by preparing for an upcoming meeting by reviewing the agenda.
Next, I dive into a webinar on tenant engagement strategies. It's a fantastic opportunity to learn from other organisations and ensure we remain cutting edge.
After the webinar, I turn my attention to committee effectiveness papers and some data analysis.
Now it’s time for lunch. I spot a tenant in reception and want to check she’s OK and has been seen to. She says, “You’re all so lovely here, you're about the 20th person to stop and ask me as they walk by - no-one has ignored me!” I apologise and say it must be frustrating having people constantly asking, but she replies, “No, it's great, everyone cares.” This really puts a smile on my face and gives me a chance to reflect on what a great organisation we have here. That’s my favourite thing about working here, we’re genuinely a tenant-led organisation and we’re all here for the right reason: we’re passionate about making a difference. People will always go the extra mile to help – it motivates me for the rest of the day.
Next, I review historic transfer documents to assist the Finance Team with our investment programme. I also follow up on actions from a meeting held yesterday.
Later, I have a quick call with a consultant about sector intelligence, which provides valuable insights. Following this, I review the latest regulatory judgements to stay informed and then look at the Board and committee schedule for 2025.
Thank you for following me around today. Tomorrow promises to be just as exciting, and I can’t wait to see what it brings!
I’m one of the Income Advisors in the Income team. I love working here, everyone’s so supportive. My job is really fulfilling, I love being able to help our tenants overcome financial struggles and support them through difficult times.
My main responsibility is income collection. I do this by making proactive contact with tenants, initiating conversations and developing achievable payment plans. I always make sure I’ve exhausted all possible ways of contacting our tenants. I usually start by making a phone call, but if I can’t get through, I’ll send an email, a written letter or in some cases, ask the Community team to make an in-person visit.
The cost of living crisis has sadly impacted many of our tenants, so it’s my job to find solutions when people are struggling with payments - I’ll usually set up a payment plan. This is when we agree an amount a tenant will pay towards their arrears on top of their net rent. Our tenancy agreements state that tenants need to pay their rent in advance, so this is always the goal. I also send bespoke letters to tenants after manually checking accounts and signpost tenants to different teams to ensure they get all the support needed.
Recently, I came across a tenant who had unexpectedly lost her job. She already had a payment plan in place with us to pay off arrears, but because she’d lost her job she could no longer make the payments. As we caught it early, and the tenant was brilliant in keeping in touch with me, we were able to get her back on track. First, I amended her payment plan, so she only had to pay her net rent to avoid falling into more financial hardship. I referred the tenant to Helping Hand and advised her to apply for a discretionary housing payment whilst looking for a new job. I had to provide Helping Hand with evidence of the arrears, and I’m glad to say her payment was approved. She now has a new job and has cleared her arrears in full. The tenant has also continuing to make further payments as and when she can, on top of her net rent, so she can get her account in advance.
Today, as always, when I first logged in, I checked my inbox for any new emails and replied to them. I then had a catch up with my team. We do this once a week and use the time to talk about current projects and specific cases, and to ask one another questions.
Once this was finished, I downloaded the low/medium responsive arrears list to filter out tenants I need to make proactive contact with. Each day I change the order in which I contact tenants. Sometimes I’ll start with the tenants who have the highest arrears, sometimes I’ll start with those who have the lowest. This ensures that everyone is contacted, and no one slips under the radar.
After this, I checked my diary and called any tenants I’d agreed to contact – sometimes I spend all day on the phone! If I can’t get through to tenants, I always send letters and emails too.
I then had a catchup with my colleague. We work very closely together and manage over 1,800 rent accounts between us. It’s important we touch base often, so nothing is missed or duplicated. He’s also able to offer me some great advice – he’s a fountain of knowledge as he’s been here for years!
At 5pm I finished for the day and was ready to get home to my husband and two children. Thanks for taking the time to read about my role and what I get up to in an average day.
I’m Amy, the Knowledge Specialist here at Red Kite and I’d love to show you what I get up to in a typical day. I love working for an organisation that truly cares about its tenants and community.
Before we begin, I should tell you that I'm part of the Knowledge team, which oversees KnowledgeSphere (KS) - a library of content that covers everything you need to know as an employee here. It has policies, procedures, processes, FAQs and more.
Policies are the framework. Procedures explain how to follow these policies with step-by-step instructions. Processes guide staff through specific tasks, and FAQs address common questions with quick answers.
My responsibilities as Knowledge Specialist include:
- Supporting content reviews to ensure KS remains engaging, informative, and accurate
- Collaborating with colleagues to address knowledge gaps
- Assisting staff with drafting and revising procedures.
Today, as always, I started my day by checking my emails in my personal and KS inboxes. I make sure to prioritise any tasks that have come in and prep for my upcoming meetings.
This morning, I worked on a process that needed to be updated. I worked with members of different teams to all come together and harness the different knowledge we all have. When I work on content for KS it’s always important to include subject matter experts every step of the way – we’re lucky to have a lot of these here!
After I’d done with that, one of our Community Specialists came over with some fire alarm testing instructions for one of our schemes. We take safety and compliance seriously here so it’s important that instructions such as these are kept up to date.
I then got a call from another member of staff needing a document from me as the one available was still on our old branding, so I quickly sorted this out for her.
After stopping for lunch, I spent the afternoon updating another important process to make sure all the information in there was accurate.
At around 5.30pm I logged off for the day. As you can see, my days are always busy and filled with a variety of tasks.