Rani Dhir was born and brought up in Dundee, completing her education and first degree in Business Management there. She moved to Glasgow to pursue a postgraduate qualification in Human Resources and a further postgraduate qualification in Housing.

She has spent most of her working life serving some of the most deprived communities in Scotland and is a pioneer of community ownership in housing. She is currently Executive Director of Drumchapel Housing Co-operative Ltd, a Registered Social Landlord in Glasgow.

She is also a non-executive director of Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS, chairs the West Dunbartonshire Community Health Partnership and is a Director of the Housing Association Property Mutual insurance company. She is also currently a trustee of two black and minority ethnic-led organisations - PATH (Scotland), which supports training and employment in housing and social services, and Ankur Arts, which supports artists and artistic productions.

She has held a number of other positions in the private, public and independent sectors including non-executive director of Communities Scotland; chair of the Regulation Board for Scotland for all Registered Social Landlords and housing functions of local authorities; non-executive director of Lloyds TSB Scotland Bank; elected Council Member of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations; Board Member of Scottish Homes; Member of the Cities Review Group; Trustee of Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland. She has also assisted a number of other Registered Social Landlords in Scotland both in a voluntary and professional capacity.

She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland.