Executive Director, Portfolio Management and Conversions

City of New York•New York City, NY

About The Position

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation (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. HPD is entrusted with fulfilling these objectives through the goals and strategies of Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness, Mayor Adams’ comprehensive housing framework. To support this important work, the administration has committed $5 billion in new capital funding, bringing the 10-year planned investment in housing to $22 billion the largest in the city’s history. This investment, coupled with a commitment to reduce administrative and regulatory barriers, is a multi-pronged strategy to tackle New York City’s complex housing crisis, by addressing homelessness and housing instability, promoting economic stability and mobility, increasing homeownership opportunities, improving health and safety, and increasing opportunities for equitable growth. The Office of Development (OOD) leads the agency’s effort to create and preserve affordable housing in collaboration with other HPD offices as well as other city, state and federal agencies. The OOD is comprised of eight divisions that administer a range of programs. These divisions include Portfolio Management & Conversions, New Construction Finance, Special Needs Housing, Building and Land Development Services (BLDS), Homeownership Opportunities and Preservation, Preservation Finance, Compliance and Enforcement, and Housing Incentives. The Division of Portfolio Management & Conversions (PMC) manages development projects after closing with an initial loan to manage rent restructuring and conversion to permanent financing, to deploy rental assistance to tenants prior to project stabilization, to ensure projects’ adherence to program and accounting requirements, and to facilitate timely completion. As a relatively new division in the OOD, PMC administers multiple programs areas including Conversions & Rental Assistance, Requisitions, and Construction Monitoring & Completions. Program Areas within the Division: The Conversions team oversees the conversion of construction loans to permanent financing, a critical checkpoint for HPD to ensure that development teams have adhered to program requirements, and to set up these projects for long-term success for decades to come. The unit also oversees rent restructuring, a process through which HPD resets rents in a project in accordance with various laws, regulations, and program policies, and which is a critical tool to ensure housing affordability and long-term project stability. All of this involves managing due diligence requirements, managing multiple external stakeholders to overcome barriers to achieving these milestones, establishing new rent-stabilized rents, and close coordination with a broad array of HPD staff. The Rental Assistance team plays a key role in ensuring tenants in HPD-financed affordable housing are able to access rental assistance, and that projects reach rental achievement targets in a timely manner in order to convert to permanent financing. This work includes direct outreach and assistance to tenants, reviewing tenant income certifications for projects that provide preferential rent offers, and close coordination with the Division of Tenant and Owner Resources around the provision of rental assistance to eligible households. The Requisition unit is responsible for the financial administration, implementation, and close-out of HPD’s construction loan for six (6) moderate rehabilitation loan programs within the Division of Preservation Finance; LIHTC-Yr.15, GHPP, MHRP, PPP, PLP and HUD. This team is responsible for processing construction requisition packages for payment, and processing construction change orders for projects whose construction is monitored by BLDS. Requisitions is the liaison between the loan programs, BLDS, partner lenders, construction loan servicers, HPD Fiscal Affairs, HPD Legal, owners/borrowers, and contractors for these matters throughout the construction period. The Construction Monitoring & Completions team is responsible for monitoring the portfolio of HPD-assisted affordable housing projects during construction to track and report out on construction progress, to identify, troubleshoot, and resolve significant construction and completion issues that could adversely impact project budgets and timelines, and to establish, track, and facilitate achievement of project completion targets. This growing unit coordinates closely with the Division of Building and Land Development Services (BLDS), OOD’s Executive Operations team, and other teams in PMC to support projects’ timely completion, ensure compliance with BLDS and Program policies, and support projects’ efficient deployment of subsidy in support of HPD’s mission. Your Impact: The Division of Portfolio Management & Conversions seeks an experienced professional with strong leadership and management abilities to oversee its Conversions, Rental Assistance, and Construction Monitoring and Completions programs. Under the supervision of the Assistant Commissioner, the Executive Director will oversee these related but distinctive teams and program areas which track and ensure expeditious completion of a broad array of HPD projects, deploy tenant-based rental assistance to households and projects in the pipeline, and manage conversion of construction loans to permanent financing. The Executive Director will oversee a diverse array of program and financing models, with an expanding pipeline consisting of both new construction and preservation – and rental and homeownership – projects financed by the Divisions of Preservation Finance, Homeownership Opportunities and Preservation, Special Needs Housing, and New Construction Finance. In addition to developing expertise in these program models, this role will coordinate with senior staff in these divisions and the Executive Operations team to ensure that primary management of HPD’s affordable housing projects is efficiently transitioned from the teams that originate their construction financing to their respective teams in PMC, and finally to HPD’s Office of Asset and Property Management (APM) thereafter. Your Role: As Executive Director, you will lead the continued development, implementation, and innovation of policy goals and project milestones for the Division. Under the direct supervision of the Assistant Commissioner of Portfolio Management and Conversions, you will also oversee personnel-related matters for the Conversions, Rental Assistance, and Construction Monitoring and Completion teams, supervise and support managers on those teams, and provide mentorship and support to both managers and staff consisting of two Directors, two Deputy Directors, and thirteen project managers and coordinators. You will also work closely with PMC’s Requisitions team as you develop and improve upon the Division’s policies and procedures. This will require you to coordinate closely with HPD leadership outside of the Office of Development, including in Legal, Asset & Property Management, Credit and Underwriting, and Budget, in support of HPD’s mission. As Executive Director, you will also work on implementing agency policy goals in the Division’s program areas and take part in ongoing program improvements and policy development. You will represent the Division at relevant internal and external meetings to convey the department’s position on Conversions, Rental Assistance, Construction Monitoring and Completions, and other strategies relevant to its areas of practice. This is a critical leadership role in a relatively new division that facilitates and ensures the stable, long-term financing of a growing pipeline of HPD projects, the successful and timely completion of these projects, and housing affordability for some of New York City’s most vulnerable individuals and families.

Requirements

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of full-time satisfactory professional experience in the development, design, construction, appraisal, financing, negotiation or disposition of real estate or in real estate law, or in urban planning, design or renewal, or analytical or coordination work related to housing programs; at least 18 months must have been in an executive, administrative or managerial capacity or supervising professional personnel performing work in the fields noted above; or
Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" above.
Graduate study in the field of urban studies, city planning, business or public administration, finance, architecture, engineering or other related fields may be substituted for up to one year of the required experience on the basis of 30 credits equaling one year of experience.
Graduation from an accredited law school may be substituted for one year of the required experience.
All candidates must have three years of work experience including at least 18 months of executive, administrative, managerial or supervisory experience as described in "1" above.

Nice To Haves

Strong managerial experience, a record of achieving results in a fast-paced environment, experience managing programs as well as program development and implementation, strong financial analysis skills including financial modeling and financial statement analysis, and be detailed-oriented, self-motivated, and able to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines.
Strong verbal and written communication skills and have a track record of proven and successful relationship management.
Strong management experience, a proven track record of closing transactions, a strong financial background (including underwriting experience)
Knowledge of real estate development, affordable housing finance and lending, affordable housing construction, financial administration of housing development, and knowledge of HPD development programs,
Knowledge of and experience in tenant-based rental assistance such as Section 8,
Demonstrated analytical skills, and ability to work effectively with others to obtain results promptly.
Candidates with Masters in Real Estate Finance, Business Administration, Public Administration or Planning and related fields are strongly preferred.
Knowledge of PowerPoint preferred.

Responsibilities

In collaboration with the Assistant Commissioner, oversee completion, permanent conversion and rent restructuring of, and deployment of tenant-based rental assistance to, the Division’s portfolios of projects.
Provide support to Division and Office leadership on a variety of policy and process matters, in addition to goal setting and tracking of program-specific milestones.
Develop and evaluate program- and practice area-specific requirements and procedures to ensure efficient use of resources, enhance program/unit impact, and accomplish City and agency goals.
Develop and oversee intake and close-out/handoff policies and procedures for your program areas.
Oversee and support the Director for Conversions in managing the Conversions pipeline and establishing new procedures to ensure efficient use of City resources, timely and high-quality closings and rent restructuring processes.
Support the Deputy Director for Rental Assistance in managing the Rental Assistance portfolio of projects and households, and establish new policies and procedures in coordination with Conversions leadership to ensure timely, targeted, and effective outreach to households and subsequent submission of applications for rental assistance.
Oversee and support the Director for Construction Monitoring and Completions in managing and developing that program’s processes and procedures to effectively track and facilitate completions of HPD projects.
Assist staff as needed to proactively manage projects, troubleshoot, make appropriate recommendations, and ensure all necessary approvals.
Manage and direct staff, including establishing appropriate productivity measures, supporting staff in achieving programmatic and agency goals, promoting collaboration among staff, promoting high achievement and morale, ensuring consistent and high-quality work, overseeing staff in their performance of their responsibilities, and evaluating staff.
Manage administrative functions as needed, such as setting productivity goals, tracking/reporting, compliance, and budget forecasting. Supervise and support administrative staff.
Respond in a timely manner to requests for information and oversee the production of detailed reports, memoranda, presentations, and written correspondence regarding projects, programs, new initiatives, or other special projects, as needed.
Act as a liaison with developer teams, financial institutions, tenant or community groups, and other governmental agencies to ensure understanding, buy-in, and achievement of the Division and agency goals.
With support from the Director of Operations, coordinate and provide direction on personnel matters for the Division. Ensure Director of Operations is providing support to Division Directors in the interview process, as well as closely coordinating with HPD Human Resources and HPD Budget on all Division hiring needs.
Ensure the dissemination of policy information from the various areas of the agency to the Division. Information could include but not be limited to new data entry and reporting rules, policy initiatives, and current events related to housing.
Help communicate priorities, needs, and challenges impacting teams throughout the Division.
Lead special projects, including development and implementation of intra- and inter-division initiatives and strategies.
Represent the Assistant Commissioner on behalf of the agency or agency at internal and external meetings.
Collaborate with other HPD divisions to achieve agency goals, as well as to identify, monitor and/or resolve project, program, and policy issues.
Strong facility with Excel and Word required.
In addition to the tasks described above, the individual hired will be expected to take on additional tasks as time allows which may include tracking workflow and assisting with team projects.
Staff must be able to handle both financial modeling and external client relationships.