Program Officer, Affordable Housing Solutions

The Program Officer, Affordable Housing Solutions works within the HQ Resettlement Team and reports to the Director for Resettlement while maintaining a secondary report to the Deputy Director of Development. The Program Officer’s primary responsibility is to ensure medium and longer-term solutions to promote housing stabilization for recently arrived refugees in the US. This includes challenges surrounding refugee housing availability and cost in IRC’s 25 U.S. resettlement locations and new locations under consideration. The goal of the position is to understand the affordable housing issues faced by newcomers in the US, looking at models and strategies to increase viable affordable housing for IRC US field offices. In addition to identifying promising practices and overseeing their implementation, the Program Officer will engage in local and national level training, resource development and partnership-building in order to enact change in the longer-term. This position is cross functional and will work with operations—including supply chain and safety and security, advocacy and resource development.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS 

•Provide technical assistance and training to expand the IRC’s inventory of available, affordable housing for newcomers.This may include conducting affordable housing market surveys in existing and/or new resettlement locations

•Develop technical assistance and training materials for implementation across IRC offices which promote landlord outreach, innovative practices and longer-term affordable housing solutions.

•Collect, share and scale local solutions developed by local offices.

•Investigate opportunities to streamline and make affordable housing acquisition more efficient at the field level (e.g. platforms that make data entry more efficient, mapping tools etc.)

•Assess IRC housing practices, its promising practices as well as its vulnerable areas and provide recommendations and solutions.

•Conduct a landscape analysis of federal and state housing policy and practice, identifying key coalitions, policy priorities and leading voices. Develop recommendations for an IRC refugee housing policy platform and advocacy strategies at the state and federal levels.

•As requested, liaise cross-departmentally with headquarters procurement, safety and security, the national policy team as well as IRC’s philanthropy team to identify and broker longer term affordable and safe housing solutions for refugees in the US.

•Support IRC’s existing philanthropic partnerships including but not limited to Airbnb.

•Support IRC in making the case for and identifying funding for permanent housing and logistics staffing embedded in offices where the IRC resettles refugees.

•Develop a plan for establishing and/or enhancing partnerships to address on-going housing challenges faced by newly resettled refugees and position the IRC as a partner in the affordable housing advocacy space.

•Produce donor reports as required

REQUIREMENTS

•Bachelor’s degree or relevant mix of Associate’s degree, certifications and experience.

•At least two-year’s experience with national low-income, affordable housing program and model or similar, preferred

•Knowledge of low income, immigrant and/or refugee populations preferred

•Experience with state and/or federal policy analysis and advocacy

•Strong project management skills and experience working cross functionally

•Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Office suite, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint

•Strong critical thinking, research, and analytical skills

•Solid organizational skills with the ability to juggle multiple tasks, set priorities, effectively manage time, and meet deadlines

•Excellent written and oral communication skills: the ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and partners

•Ability to work independently and as a team member in a diverse, fast-paced environment.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.