Helping Dwell Housing Trust grow their impact through the right people
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Recruiter of choice
supporting Dwell Housing Trust since 2024 -
150% fulfilment of scope
as a strategic workforce partner, placing three critical hires -
Highly targeted shortlists
155+ applicants assessed and refined to four candidates per role
Their story
Dwell Housing Trust is a not-for-profit community housing provider committed to delivering affordable, quality homes for people who need them most.
Working closely with Government and community partners, Dwell focuses on building safe housing alongside strong support networks that help individuals and families thrive. Their work relies heavily on collaboration with stakeholders, funding partners, and local communities to continue expanding the availability of housing and services.
Based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Dwell’s mission is driven by purpose. Every hire they make plays a role in strengthening the organisation’s ability to support people across the community.
The challenge
When Dwell’s CEO stepped into the role, she was navigating several strategic priorities — including recruiting a newly created leadership position responsible for stakeholder engagement and partnership development.
This role would be critical to Dwell’s future growth, helping build the partnerships needed to secure funding and support the organisation’s long-term impact. However, defining the role itself was challenging. The CEO knew the outcomes she needed, but key questions remained around:
- What the role should be called
- The experience and competencies required
- How the position would sit within a small, purpose-driven team
At the same time, Dwell faced common hiring constraints within the not-for-profit sector. Compared with private organisations, salary and incentive structures are often less competitive, particularly for partnership and sponsorship roles.
This meant the recruitment process needed to appeal to candidates motivated by purpose, not just remuneration.
Following a recommendation from an existing Talent client, Dwell reached out to Talent to help shape and deliver the hiring process.
The solution
Talent partnered closely with the CEO to provide end-to-end recruitment support, beginning with shaping the position itself.
Working together, we helped define the role, develop the position description, and provide salary benchmarking advice so the CEO could confidently present the proposal to the Board for approval.
Once approved, Talent led the full recruitment process from market search and candidate engagement through to final placement.
Across the partnership we have supported Dwell with several roles, including:
- Partnerships and Engagement Manager
- Tenancy Manager
- Tenancy Administrator / Coordinator
Purpose-led attraction
Because Dwell operates in the not-for-profit sector, the attraction strategy focused strongly on the purpose and impact of the work. Highlighting Dwell’s mission, community outcomes and long-term impact helped attract candidates motivated by making a difference.
Targeted search and shortlisting
Using a combination of search tools including LinkedIn and Seek, Talent reviewed a large applicant pool and refined it to highly targeted shortlists.
In total, 155+ applications were received, assessed and refined to carefully selected shortlists of four candidates per job brief and a total of three placements made, enabling Dwell to make confident hiring decisions.
Cultural and community alignment
Team fit was critical. With a team of around 12 people working closely together, we invested time in understanding Dwell’s culture and values.
For several roles, particularly in tenancy management and administration, cultural competency was also key. Dwell required candidates who could work effectively with diverse communities, particularly Māori and Pasifika tenants.
Talent used targeted search strategies to identify candidates with experience working with and within these communities and collaborated with Dwell on adapting the interview process to better support culturally inclusive engagement. This included recommending a more informal panel format designed to help candidates from diverse cultural backgrounds to engage more comfortably.
The result
Talent successfully delivered three placements across two briefed roles, exceeding the original scope of the engagement and strengthening Dwell’s internal capability across both strategic and operational functions.
This approach ensured Dwell gained not only strong individual hires, but also a team that reflected the organisation’s values and community focus.
One standout example from the recruitment process was the candidate we placed as their Partnerships and Engagement Manager. Returning to the workforce after maternity leave, this candidate considered withdrawing from the process due to illness and the demands of caring for a young baby. Talent provided additional support, including arranging a virtual interview, to help her stay in the process where she quickly stood out as a strong fit for the role and the team.
Today, Talent continues to support Dwell as their trusted recruitment partner, helping them build the team needed to grow their impact across the Wellington region.
