Director of Project-Based Contracts for the Division of Housing Stability

Job Description

About the Agency:

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation Development (HPD) promotes quality and affordability in the city's housing, and diversity and strength in the city’s neighborhoods because every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable place to live in a neighborhood they love.

- We maintain building and resident safety and health
- We create opportunities for New Yorkers through housing affordability
- We engage New Yorkers to build and sustain neighborhood strength and diversity.

Your Team:

The Office of Housing Access and Stability (HAS) consists of the divisions of Housing Opportunity, Tenant and Owner Resources, Housing Stability, Budget and Program Operations, and Program Policy and Innovation. The mission of the Office is to ensure fair, efficient, and transparent access to affordable housing. The Office provides subsidies, placement services, and tools that connect New Yorkers to affordable housing and ensures vulnerable households in subsidized housing have the support they need to remain safely housed. Housing Access is committed to expanding housing choices, affirmatively furthering fair housing, and stabilizing the financial health of buildings.
The Division of Housing Stability plays a critical role in helping New Yorkers stay housed and thrive in their homes. We work at the intersection of housing finance and human services to make sure that formerly homeless New Yorkers entering affordable housing and the owners who house them have the resources and support they need for long-term housing stability. The Division oversees a significant portfolio of project-based rental assistance, including Continuum of Care (CoC) rental assistance, Section 8 Project-Based Vouchers (PBV), and NYC 15/15. We also lead HPD’s Housing Retention and Stabilization programs and represent HPD on the NYC Continuum of Care Steering Committee.

Your Impact:

As Director of Project-Based Contracts, you will lead the work that makes thousands of affordable homes financially sustainable and accessible to New Yorkers who need them most. You will oversee the award and management of millions of dollars in project-based rental assistance across a complex portfolio that includes supportive housing serving some of New York City’s most vulnerable residents. Your work will shape how HPD allocates scarce resources, brings new housing into service, strengthens the performance of existing contracts, and responds to changing housing needs and regulations.

This is an opportunity for a strategic, creative, and highly collaborative leader who enjoys turning complex challenges into workable solutions and who wants to see the direct impact of their work on housing stability across New York City.

Your Role:

Reporting to the Assistant Commissioner of Housing Stability, the Director leads a team of up to five staff responsible for managing the critical path from project selection and financial closing through construction completion, contract execution, and ongoing contract performance. You will lead, collaborate and problem-solve across HPD teams and City government to remove barriers, improve processes, and ensure timely delivery of project-based rental assistance. You will partner closely with other HAS teams, HPD Development, Asset Management, Legal, Tech, developers, and property managers. You will have a significant opportunity to shape how the unit operates, establish policies and procedures, set priorities, and build systems that make the work more effective.

Responsibilities:

- Shape HPD’s project-based rental assistance strategy. Work with HAS leadership and the Offices of Development and Asset Management to identify current and long-term PBV and NYC 15/15 needs and develop strategies for allocating available resources.
- Lead competitive funding opportunities. Design and manage periodic public competitions for Section 8 PBV and NYC 15/15 rental assistance, including coordinating selection committees and ensuring fair, effective, and timely award processes.
- Bring housing subsidies online. Lead the critical path from award through compliant contract execution and renewal, working across teams to identify and resolve barriers that could delay contract execution.
- Strengthen the performance of existing contracts. Partner with sponsors to maximize utilization of contracted units and address challenges through contract amendments, renewals, performance reviews, and other tools.
- Turn policy into practice. Keep the team ahead of changes in federal, state, and local requirements and translate evolving regulations and policies into clear, workable procedures.
- Use data to drive decisions. Routinely analyze performance dashboards and other data to identify trends, anticipate problems, allocate resources, and continuously improve the team’s operations.
- Build and develop a strong team. Set clear goals and expectations, create thoughtful workplans and performance measures, coach staff, recognize strengths, and provide meaningful feedback and opportunities for professional growth.
- Build relationships and solve problems across organizational lines. Bring together colleagues, City agencies, developers, owners, and other partners to navigate complex issues and move projects forward.

Necessary skills:

- Strong leadership and people-management skills
- Collaborative and creative orientation toward program design and problem solving
- Ability to lead through change and adapt to evolving requirements and priorities
- Collaborative customer-service orientation, including the ability to provide clear guidance, communicate proactively, and built trust with internal and external partners
- Exceptional project management, organizational, analytical, and time-management skills
- Excellent presentation, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- Comfort with technology, including Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Visio) and other analytical, process or flowchart, and other tools and data systems
- Knowledge of Section 8 and other rental subsidies, and federal, state, and local housing laws and regulations

Only those candidates with a permanent Administrative Staff Analyst title or who are reachable on the existing civil service list will be considered.

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF ANALYST - 10026

Qualifications

1. A master's degree from an accredited college in economics, finance, accounting, business or public administration, public health, human resources management, management science, operations research, organizational behavior, industrial psychology, statistics, personnel administration, labor relations, psychology, sociology, human resources development, political science, urban studies or a Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school, and two years of satisfactory full-time professional experience in one or a combination of the following: working with the budget of a large public or private concern in budget administration, accounting, economic or financial administration, or fiscal or economic research; or in management or methods analysis, operations research, organizational research or program evaluation; or in personnel or public administration, recruitment, position classification, personnel relations, labor relations, employee benefits, staff development, employment program planning/administration, labor market research, economic planning, social services program planning/evaluation, or fiscal management. Eighteen (18) months of this experience must have been in an executive, managerial, administrative, or supervisory capacity. Supervision must have included supervising staff performing professional work in the areas described above; or

2. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of professional experience in the areas described in “1” above, including the 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative, or supervisory experience, as described in “1” above; or

3. An associate degree or completion of 60 semester credits from an accredited college and six years of full-time satisfactory full-time professional experience as described in “1” above, including the 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative, or supervisory experience, as described in “1” above; or

4. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent approved by a state’s department of education or a recognized accrediting organization and eight years of full-time satisfactory full-time professional experience as described in “1” above, including the 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative, or supervisory experience, as described in “1” above; or

5. A combination of education and/or experience equivalent to “1”, “2”, “3”, or “4” above. College education may be substituted for professional experience at the rate of 30 semester credits from an accredited college for one year of experience. However, all candidates must have a high school diploma and at least two years of experience as described in “1” above, including the 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative, or supervisory experience, as described in “1” above.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.