Cooperative Housing Specialist

COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE•Maine, ME

5d•$30 - $33•Remote

About The Position

The Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) is seeking a Cooperative Housing Specialist for its New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) program. CDI is a non-profit organization focused on building a cooperative economy in the Northeast through education, training, and technical assistance. The NEROC program supports manufactured-home communities owned and governed by their residents as cooperatives (ROCs). The Specialist will guide, train, and assist ROCs in Maine with ongoing management and governance, helping board members understand their roles and responsibilities to effectively manage their cooperatives as resident-owners. The role also involves fostering a sense of empowerment and community spirit among co-op leaders and members. CDI is a virtually based organization that values flexibility, independence, continuous learning, and an intentional organizational culture with transparent and accountable practices.

Requirements

Flexible availability that includes days, evenings, and occasional weekends.
Access to reliable transportation.
Strong relational and interpersonal communication skills, and discerning judgment.
Highly organized and self-managing.
Ability to pay close attention to detail, plan ahead, prioritize, and meet tight deadlines.
Proven ability to learn quickly, process a lot of information, and apply it on the job.
Able to work well under pressure and handle difficult interpersonal conflicts skillfully.
Works collaboratively, self-motivated, flexible, enthusiastic.
Shows a strong commitment to the cooperative mission of CDI and affordable housing mission of NEROC.
Comfortable working remotely and independently (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Computer literate and familiar with programs used in remote work including video platforms, cloud storage, and office applications (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Culturally sensitive to working with diverse groups of people (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Experience with meeting facilitation (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Able to assist and advise clients while developing their leadership skills, meeting people where they are while nurturing self-sufficiency (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Familiarity and comfort with democratically run organizational structures, management, policies and best practices (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Experience in coping skillfully with challenging behaviors or conflict situations (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Strong grasp of fiscal management, strategic planning, and general business practices (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Working understanding of budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Comfort with public speaking (must be gained within 3-6 months if not present at hire).
Must reside in Maine.

Nice To Haves

Cooperative business or project management in community or economic development.
Group facilitation and coaching groups through autonomous decision-making.
Real-estate finance, property management, or contractor negotiations.

Responsibilities

Provide technical assistance to resident-owned manufactured housing communities, following the ROC USA business model.
Assist with board meetings and periodic member meetings, including coaching on agenda preparation, running efficient meetings, parliamentary procedures, democratic dynamics, task management, and minutes/financial reports.
Train and coach boards on using co-op bylaws, community rules, and business policies related to member applications, committee structures, rules enforcement, and management practices.
Help ROCs find resources for their business and coach on problem-solving.
Assist ROCs with all aspects of their financial and loan compliance duties.
Collaborate to deliver training on best practices related to the ROC model, including cooperative principles, democratic processes, member/director rights and responsibilities, communication skills, work systems, financials, budgeting, and asset management/capital work.
Participate in the organizational work of NEROC to help the program run well.
Communicate with officials, attorneys, engineers, and other professionals about clients' needs.
Help clients line up resources for infrastructure and infill projects and liaise with their project managers, or occasionally provide project management.
Perform required internal and external reporting, including to CDI funders and client lenders.
Help struggling cooperatives identify problems and develop a plan of action.
Assist with acquisition work as needed throughout Maine.
Perform other tasks and special projects as assigned.