Job Description

Posting number: 27-008

Department: State Housing Finance & Development Authority

Division: Communications

Job classification: Program Manager I

Posting type: Open

Categories: Public Relations, Professional, Community Development, Business, Communications

Summary

About Us

The South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority (SC Housing) helps families across the state by creating safe, decent and affordable housing opportunities. Cultivating partnerships with a broad range of public and private partners, including legislative and governmental officials, helps us form vital connections to support affordable housing initiatives. We are looking to fill the critical position of Housing Innovation and Outreach Manager to support our growing portfolio of initiatives that require cross-sector collaboration, partnerships and coordinated strategies to address the affordable housing needs of South Carolinians. This position will focus on cultivating coordinated affordable housing pathways with a broad range of public and private partners in the healthcare, housing disaster recovery and workforce housing community. It will also explore collaborative partnerships that strengthen and support our Homeownership strategic initiatives, including our hallmark Made it Home Program, which earned a national award for stimulating the development of affordable starter homes throughout the state. As the housing landscape continues to evolve, this position will play a key role in increasing awareness of agency programs and exploring opportunities for innovation, cross-sector alignment and coordination of efforts to maximize affordable housing benefits for citizens.Job Responsibilities

In the role of Housing Innovation and Outreach Manager, you will support the agency’s expansion of homeownership opportunities to various constituent groups in the state. You will cultivate partnerships and establish vital connections that support the agency in expanding homeownership opportunities to South Carolinians seeking the American Dream of owning a home. You will partner with the Homeownership team to explore business development strategies that will close the affordability gap for a growing number of hardworking families who are finding their dream of owning a home out of reach due to rising home prices, high interest rates and other factors. You will be responsible for facilitating discussions with partners to better understand obstacles to homeownership and present them with program options and opportunities.

In this role, you will also consult with the Strategic Communications Director who oversees the Housing Recovery Support (RSF) Function on behalf the SC Emergency Management Division and its network of partners. You will provide guidance, direction, planning and implementation support to facilitate the state’s housing recovery and resiliency planning activities with Federal, state and local partners involved in response and recovery to disaster events. You will review Housing RSF reports tracking housing unmet needs and recovery activities. You will also retrieve, compile and interpret SC Housing data for inclusion in briefings and reports to SCEMD and SC Housing executive leadership throughout the Disaster Life Cycle. You will also serve as the agency’s co-public information officer (PIO) for events, collaborating with the Communications team in messaging to the public using various communication channels during an active event. Alongside the Strategic Communications Director, you may be asked to participate in field visit teams to impacted areas to gather information and assess survivor and community housing needs. You will also join the Communications team and other public and private partners participating in outreach events (Team SC) designed to connect survivors with available resources through a coordinated state effort. Review and/or prepare management reports and recommendations. You will also prepare for and participate in scheduled Recovery Tabletop exercises designed to assess the state’s readiness for various types of disaster events and advise the Strategic Communications Director on mitigation strategies to better support survivors. In consultation with the Strategic Communications Director, you will also be assigned to provide guidance and facilitate subcommittee discussions, decision-making and updates to the state’s Recovery Plan, Post-Disaster Housing Plan and Helene housing recovery plan.

In consultation with the Strategic Communications Director, you will also outreach to key stakeholders and assist the agency in cultivating partnerships with the healthcare community as a part of our strategic plan. You will participate in identified State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) subcommittees and coordinate with agency program staff and the Live Healthy South Carolina partner network to support implementation of collaborative housing strategies that support shared housing objectives in the state’s health plan. You will participate in decision-making and discussion forums that explore the connections between housing instability, housing cost burden and health outcomes. Understanding the multifaceted nature of housing needs will also require that you take a deep dive into related workforce housing issues and facilitate discussions with affected occupations and local communities about their needs and challenges. You will play a key role in ensuring that our agency has a voice and seat at the table in these discussions.

Your ability to build rapport and establish effective working relationships with key stakeholders as a trusted voice of the agency will be critical. You will be responsible for communicating about our agency programs and involvement in these areas with industry leaders, interest groups, trade associations, legislative staff, advocates, media outlets and constituents. You will also work closely with the Strategic Communications Director, Homeownership team and our agency leadership to communicate Homeownership policy proposals and initiatives to lenders, realtors, homebuilders, local public housing authorities (PHA), governmental and community audiences. You will use multiple communication channels and tools to support these discussions. You must also be comfortable engaging in on-the-spot interviews with media agents during outreach events, as necessary.

You will also need to research and monitor industry trends, partner program offerings, as well as other economic drivers impacting cross-sector housing opportunities in the state, and prepare policy briefs, presentations and other material to educate and engage stakeholders in planning for collaborative solutions. You will serve as a resource to agency leadership on emerging trends and best practices in the respective areas, translating this knowledge into actionable marketing and outreach strategies tailored to our various audiences. You will also need to stay informed about housing market conditions, including regulatory and other requirements impacting opportunities for citizens, builders, developers, municipalities, etc. In this role, you will also need to identify market opportunities and assist program teams in bridging gaps through your collaboration with other key stakeholders.

In this role, you will also convene, host and participate in meetings, forums, policy roundtables, podcasts, workshops, conferences and other platforms for collaborative discussion about identified housing needs in our state. As an example, you will work closely with our Homeownership team to evaluate the feasibility of funding models to support service expansion based upon your outreach work. You will also strengthen and rebrand the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Homeownership Program by engaging in targeted marketing to local PHAs. Your work will also involve working with partners to create coordinated strategies for implementing new federal provisions (e.g., the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act) to help families save for homeownership. You will also conduct market research and track industry trends to inform program design and service enhancements. You will also explore mechanisms for cross-sector incentives, such as Teacher Recruitment programs. While the subject matter experts will focus on the technical aspects of lending, buying and program development, you will delve into opportunities for cross-sector collaboration through your outreach work and understanding of partner resources.

Within the Communications team, you will serve as the lead staff for Homeownership business and marketing strategy (in consultation with the Homeownership team) to advertise our products and attract buyers, builders and other industry partners. You will partner with the Communications team to leverage multiple communication channels for messaging to the public. Your role will also include builder and buyer outreach and engagement in diverse community settings. You will also be responsible for Made it Home and other field/site visits to document progress on ongoing Homeownership initiatives for program/website updates and marketing collateral.

You will need to work collaboratively with your Communications team members to ensure that content is written in plain language, and that the delivery of this information is easy to find, easy to access and easy to understand by the public. You will also need to be comfortable with giving interviews on social media platforms and podcasts as the agency plans to leverage all available channels, including digital platforms, to reach a broader audience.

Given the fluctuations in the housing market, you will need to exercise diligence in staying informed about data, metrics, industry trends and other drivers affecting homeownership affordability and availability across the state. You will also serve as a Communications team resource in preparing briefings, reports and other presentations on these issues.

Timely information sharing and follow-up on these external opportunities, as well as seeking guidance and direction on key decision points from the Strategic Communications Director, will be key to your success in this role. Your role will involve a great deal of autonomy, yet accountability to ensure that commitments made on behalf of the agency are appropriately vetted with your department and agency leadership. In addition, trust and transparency is a key part of how we engage and establish and maintain credibility with our partners.

This position may require up to 3-5 days of travel per month, as determined by community engagements. Occasional evening and weekend work may also be required to participate in outreach events scheduled at optimal times for constituents. Evening work may also be required during the legislative session or at peak times for program launch.

In the role of Housing Innovation & Outreach Manager, you will be responsible for:

• Cultivating and managing collaborative partnerships that strengthen and support our homeownership, housing disaster recovery and healthcare strategic initiatives.
• Cultivating coordinated affordable housing pathways and managing relationships and program development with key stakeholders and partners in the healthcare, housing disaster recovery and workforce housing community.
• Researching and monitoring industry trends, partner program offerings, as well as other economic drivers impacting cross-sector housing opportunities in the state, and preparing policy briefs, presentations and other material to educate and engage stakeholders in planning for collaborative solutions.
• Assisting agency leadership in preparing homeownership information for legislative, public and advocacy group hearings, and preparing and presenting information on Homeownership policy, programs and initiatives upon request.
• Designing and implementing communication strategies, including social media, to support positive engagement with the agency’s customer base.
• Making presentations, crafting messages and collaborating with internal and external partners, ensuring that information is easy to find, easy to access, and understandable for diverse audiences.
• Participating in community and partner events to provide for a meaningful exchange of information about homeownership, housing disaster recovery and healthcare-related housing needs, services
• Providing consultation to Homeownership program staff to ensure that messaging is clear and consistent across platforms.
• Convening, hosting and participating in meetings, forums, policy roundtables, podcasts, workshops, conferences and other platforms for collaborative discussion about identified housing needs in our state.
• Participating in a range of outreach events to communicate agency program opportunities to builders, relators, lenders, industry leaders, interest groups, trade associations, health care partners, housing disaster recovery key stakeholders, legislative staff, advocates, media outlets and constituents.
• Serving as the Communications lead staff for Homeownership collaborative initiatives.
• Developing an understanding of how extreme weather and disaster events impact housing stock, insurance costs, property values and recovery from damage and losses.
• Exploring builder considerations and facilitating discussions about new models and pathways to homeownership.
• Collaborating with agency leadership and the Communications team in preparing policy briefs on Homeownership proposals at the Federal, State and local level.
• Promoting Homeownership storytelling on multiple platforms.
• Preparing briefs, reports and publications on Homeownership and collaborative initiatives.
• Educating and informing through Op-Eds, interviews and community presentations.
• Broadening the Homeownership conversation through podcasts, radio spots, and on-the-spot media interviews at outreach events, as necessary.

Examples of duties

Agency Minimum Requirements*:

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Communications, Marketing, Journalism, Public Administration, Public Relations, and at least 5 years of professional experience in housing policy, economic development or a related field.

• Candidates must specifically meet the Agency Minimum Requirements or an equivalent combination of education and experience to be considered for this position. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted to meet the agency minimum requirements. (i.e. 1 year of education = 1 year of related experience)

Additional Requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, to include public speaking.
• Ability to exercise diplomacy and discretion when working with key stakeholders, including the general public, in order to build support for agency programs and initiatives.
• Ability to analyze complex program requirements and summarize those issues for broad audiences.
• Excellent time management and project management skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with time constraints.
• Ability to identify and leverage opportunities to promote community engagement.
• Must have discretion, judgment and the ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive materials.
• Must demonstrate integrity, honesty, trustworthiness and appropriate ethical behavior.
• Proficiency with MS Office Suite.
• Must have a valid SC driver's license and occasional overnight or weekend travel is required.

Must be able to lift and carry files, books and reports weighing up to 20lbs. Must be able to perform filing, desk work and operate general office equipment. Must be able to sit or stand for prolonged or intermittent periods of time while sharing, gathering or presenting information to other staff members or external parties. Employee must be able to perform these tasks with or without reasonable accommodations. SC Housing is committed to a diverse workforce and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, age (40+) or disability, sex (Including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, or gender identity).

Qualifications

Experience working and communicating policy proposals to the executive level to industry groups, governmental officials and/or boards is strongly preferred. Masters degree in Business Administration, Communications, Marketing, Journalism, Public Administration, Public Relations, Social Work or other advanced degree preferred.