Senior Vice President, Affordable Housing Operations

Collective Residential•Chicago, IL

About The Position

Collective Residential is building a centralized Affordable Housing Operations platform that will unify operations, leadership, best practices, and oversight across a growing portfolio of affordable housing communities and management companies. The SVP, Affordable Housing Operations will be a key member of the senior leadership team responsible for building and leading this platform as the company grows primarily through acquisition. The initial portfolio is expected to encompass approximately 7,000+ units, with significant opportunity for continued expansion. This is a builder and enterprise leadership role—not a day-to-day compliance position. The SVP will evaluate the operating structures of acquired companies, establish the appropriate organizational model, set standards and expectations, and implement best practices across the growing portfolio. The leader will work closely with portfolio company and property leadership, while providing centralized oversight of affordable housing operations and compliance.

Requirements

10–15+ years of progressive leadership experience in affordable housing property management, operations, asset management, or a related field, including significant senior/executive-level responsibility.
Demonstrated leadership experience across affordable housing portfolios, with strong working knowledge of LIHTC, HUD programs, Section 8, HOME Funds, bond-financed housing, and other applicable programs.
Strong operational leadership skills with a track record of building, restructuring, integrating, or scaling teams and operating platforms.
Experience evaluating organizations and recommending improvements to structure, staffing, processes, systems, and accountability.
Experience with Yardi or comparable property management/compliance systems.
Exceptional communication, judgment, relationship-building, and change-management skills.
Comfortable operating in a matrixed environment, influencing portfolio company leaders while establishing centralized standards and accountability.

Nice To Haves

Experience with acquisitions, M&A integration, multi-company environments, shared services, or other complex organizational integrations strongly preferred.
Ability to provide senior-level compliance oversight without being focused on day-to-day compliance administration.
Strong relationships with, or experience engaging, HUD, state housing finance agencies, syndicators, investors, external auditors, and affordable housing developers.

Responsibilities

Build and lead a centralized affordable housing operations function across the portfolio, establishing organizational structure, staffing model, accountability, and leadership cadence for a growing, multi-state portfolio.
Play a central leadership role in integrating affordable housing operations from acquired companies—assessing structures, teams, systems, and processes, and recommending the best operating model.
Develop scalable operating standards, policies, procedures, reporting, and performance expectations across the portfolio.
Provide senior-level oversight of affordable housing compliance across LIHTC, HUD, Section 8, HOME, bond-financed, and other federal/state housing programs—leadership and oversight, not day-to-day file reviews or routine compliance administration.
Establish a framework for identifying, monitoring, and addressing compliance and operational risk; serve as senior advisor to executive leadership on affordable housing regulatory matters.
Represent Collective Residential with HUD, state housing finance agencies, syndicators, investors, auditors, and other key stakeholders.
Evaluate and improve systems, data, reporting, and technology, including Yardi and comparable platforms.
Provide operational and compliance leadership for acquisitions, preservation, repositioning, and other strategic growth initiatives.
Serve as the connective point between corporate leadership, portfolio company leadership, regional/asset management teams, and property-level operations.