Director, CDBG- DR

City of Philadelphia • Philadelphia, PA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

This position administers the City of Philadelphia’s CDBG Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program grant allocations, including its $163.2M grant related to Hurricane Ida in 2021 and all associated projects, plans, and activities. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocated this CDBG-DR funding to help the City recover from Hurricane Ida. HUD’s CDBG-DR grant program is designed to help communities address unmet needs resulting from Presidentially declared disasters while promoting long-term resiliency. This full-time grant funded position performs a variety of complex, high level program/project management, federal grant compliance and oversight tasks, convening and leading a cross-departmental team including direct reports. This is a full-time, grant-funded position that is funded for approximately three years. Working hours are generally 37.5 hours per week.

Requirements

• Experience with federal grants, grant audits, disaster recovery funding, and budgeting
• Proficient in navigating complex systems, including government bureaucracy, procurement, contracts, and policy processes
• Experience working within government and with elected officials, constituents, and advocacy organizations
• Ability to work independently and with a team to achieve goals
• Ability to problem-solve and think creatively to produce solutions
• Proven track record in establishing and sustaining collaborative and effective working relationships with leadership, direct reports peers, staff, consultants, service providers, and vendors
• Ability to communicate effectively – verbally and in writing – with a variety of stakeholders
• Written Communication - write in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.
• Strong public presentation skills and experience, strategic thinking, and high professional ethics
• Experience identifying relevant performance and outcome metrics and using the information for improvement and evaluation purposes
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint) and Adobe Suite applications

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with government accounting and budgeting systems and processes preferred, but not required
• Experience and/or deep understanding of working with the City of Philadelphia, its neighborhoods, and governmental structure along with a background in government, the non-profit sector, or comparable settings.
• Experience with HUD CDBG, CDBG-DR, and/or CDBG-MIT or FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance (e.g. HMGP, FMA, BRIC) or related federal grant administration experience is highly desired for this position.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and manage expansive CDBG-DR project team, including direct reports, key stakeholders in other departments, and consultants, to achieve project goals.
• Develop and lead diverse teams to facilitate and ensure the advancement and successful completion of all program components, projects and activities.
• Oversee the work of consultants, contractors, and technical staff.
• Provide leadership in development and maintenance of inter-team communication between City staff, consultant staff, and CDBG-DR partners and stakeholders.
• Work collaboratively with all program partners and stakeholders to ensure program goals, timelines and performance measures are met.
• Promote the CDBG-DR program by making presentations, writing reports and updates and conducting and coordinating meetings and other forums.
• Alongside colleagues in City government, manage and coordinate correspondence with HUD including monitoring responses (both HUD and Office of Inspector General (OIG)).
• Ensure that the City achieves its CDBG-DR-related requirements, including milestones established by HUD, along with any related audit and compliance requirements.
• Develop project scopes, schedules, budgets, work breakdown structures and resourcing plans identifying critical paths and milestone objectives.
• Manage and track program progress against its scope, schedule and budget and ensure goals, objectives and deliverables are met.
• Develop and implement recovery plans for off-schedule and unanticipated eventualities.
• Ensure program objectives, goals, and timelines are achieved and that regulatory requirements are met pursuant to specified federal grants’ requirements.
• Prepare and coordinate undertaking CDBG-DR Action Plan Amendments with staff and consultant(s), assuring compliance with all HUD requirements.
• Serve as administrator for specific activities set forth under federal rules related to CDBG-DR funding, including but not limited to acquisition of property.
• Track CDBG-DR activities and report the data in the Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting (DRGR) system.
• Establish and sustain robust City infrastructure for this and any future City CDBG-DR work.
• Make recommendations to other senior leaders in Finance regarding strategic resourcing related to cross-departmental CDBG-DR work.
• Assist in establishing, implementing, and monitoring organizational policies and procedures in an effective and efficient manner.
• Work with staff to develop systems to ensure consistent, high-quality project management.
• Other related work as needed.

Benefits

• City employees get unlimited FREE public transportation all year long through SEPTA’s Key Advantage program.
• The City offers its employees 8 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents.
• Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
• Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Generous retirement savings options are available
• As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
• The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director