The Challenge
Eastlight had not had a Chief Customer Officer position within its executive structure for several years. At the same time, the organisation had reshaped its Housing Directorate and introduced a neighbourhood-based operating model designed to bring services closer to residents, strengthen local accountability and ensure services reflected the needs of individual communities.
For the model to succeed, Eastlight needed an executive leader capable of connecting strategy with frontline delivery. The organisation required someone with genuine housing management expertise, not simply customer service experience. The successful candidate would be responsible for ensuring neighbourhood services, customer operations and resident engagement worked together to deliver a consistent customer experience while maintaining strong performance and regulatory compliance.
The appointment would play a critical role in embedding the new operating model, strengthening resident influence and ensuring customer insight shaped decision-making across the organisation.
The Solution
Neemar Search worked closely with Eastlight's Executive Team to understand both the strategic intent behind the role and the leadership capability required to support the organisation's evolving neighbourhood model.
The search focused on senior housing leaders with significant experience across housing management, customer services, neighbourhood operations and organisational performance. Particular attention was given to identifying individuals who could demonstrate a track record of improving customer outcomes while leading large operational functions and embedding service improvements at scale.
The successful candidate needed to understand the realities of frontline housing services while possessing the strategic capability to influence executive decision-making, shape culture and support organisational change.
Using a targeted executive search process, Neemar engaged a carefully selected market of housing leaders who could demonstrate both operational credibility and a commitment to resident-focused services.
The process concluded with the appointment of Dave Lockerman as Chief Customer Officer.
The Outcome
Dave Lockerman joined Eastlight Community Homes with more than 25 years of social housing experience spanning frontline delivery, operational management and executive leadership.
Throughout the process, his commitment to resident-focused services and deep understanding of housing operations stood out. A values-led leader, Dave has built his career around improving customer experience, raising performance and ensuring services remain focused on the people they serve.
Prior to joining Eastlight, Dave held a number of senior leadership positions at Stonewater, including Director of Housing Operations and Customer Experience Director. As Director of Housing Operations, he was responsible for a broad portfolio serving 40,000 homes and 90,000 customers. Across these roles, he led major service improvement programmes, customer voice initiatives, lettings transformation, income services and organisational change programmes, including stock transitions and mergers.
At Eastlight, Dave leads housing management services across the Neighbourhood and Operations teams, with responsibility for customer services, income management, lettings and empty homes, leasehold services and intensive housing support.
His appointment re-established executive ownership of customer services and housing management while creating stronger alignment between resident insight, neighbourhood delivery and organisational performance.
The Impact
The appointment of Dave Lockerman reintroduced housing management leadership at Executive Team level at a pivotal moment for Eastlight.
As the organisation continued embedding its neighbourhood-based operating model, the role provided dedicated executive accountability for ensuring services remained local, responsive and shaped by resident needs. Dave's appointment strengthened Eastlight's ability to connect customer insight, neighbourhood performance and strategic decision-making, helping ensure that resident voice remains central to how services are designed, delivered and improved.
For Eastlight, the appointment was about more than leadership succession. It was about creating the executive capacity needed to make a resident-led neighbourhood model successful in practice while ensuring housing management expertise remained central to organisational performance, service quality and community outcomes.
Candidate Testimonial
"Let’s be honest, executive job hunting can be pretty painful mix of platitudes and corporate nonsense. Working with Tom Neely and Eliot Jeffries at Neemar Search was the exact opposite. I’ve always been skeptical of the phrase 'trusted advisor' in recruitment, but these guys might have actually ruined my cynicism.
"From my first informal enquiry right through to landing my Chief Customer Officer role, it felt like a genuine, human conversation. Tom and Eliot didn’t just pitch a job; they took the time to understand how I tick and what actually motivates me, while giving me the real, unvarnished truth about the organisation and its culture.
"The level of preparation and feedback I received at every single stage was fab. Instead of just cheering from the sidelines, they gave me the kind of coaching and insight that allowed me to actually perform at my best. The whole process felt fair, inclusive, and crucially BS free.
"Executive search is supposed to be about finding the right fit for everyone involved, but few agencies actually pull it off without the usual corporate fluff. Neemar Search did. If you want a team that treats you like a person rather than a placement fee or if your organisation needs an honest, human approach to finding senior leaders give Tom and Eliot a call. 100% would work with them again".
Dave Lockerman, Chief Customer Officer
Client Testimonial
"Neemar led the recruitment of a critical role for Eastlight Community Homes, the Chief Customer Officer. The outcome was the recruitment of Dave, a great fit for the organisation.
"I was impressed by Neemar’s understanding of the brief and their reach – we ended up with a terrific long-list and the quality of the short-list was extremely high. Tom spent the time to understand what we wanted and why, which directly drove the positive outcome.
"In Neemar, Tom has built a hugely credible offer in a short period of time, built on his professionalism, understanding and accessibility. I would heartily recommend Neemar".
Dan Jones – Interim Chief Executive
