Senior Program Officer, Housing Development

Position Description

LISC Phoenix is seeking an experienced affordable housing development professional who is passionate about building equitable communities. The successful candidate must have extensive experience with affordable housing finance with a commitment to community-based development, an ability to originate and underwrite loans, and a desire to share knowledge by providing technical assistance to nonprofit developers. The candidate must have the capacity to simultaneously work on multiple tasks, set priorities for a challenging workload, take initiative to problem solve, pay attention to detail, and follow-through in a timely manner with high standards for accuracy and efficiency. This is a full-time, hybrid position based in Phoenix, AZ. Occasional travel throughout Arizona will be required, and limited other travel.

Responsibilities

The Senior Program Officer for Housing works with the Executive Director to develop and execute a program of strategic housing investments to advance the goals of the LISC Phoenix strategic plan.

Principal areas of responsibility will include:

• Subject Matter Expertise: Serve as the subject matter expert for all aspects of affordable housing finance and development in the LISC Phoenix office. Share that expertise with funders and partners to advance LISC Phoenix’s housing strategy.
• Strategic Planning: Develop and operationalize strategies for LISC Phoenix to increase affordable housing production and preservation in Arizona through access to capital, technical assistance, and capacity building for nonprofit developers.
• Partner Capacity Building: Serve as a trusted advisor to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and other mission-oriented non-profit and for-profit partners to provide high-value technical assistance for real estate development and related community development strategies for neighborhood revitalization in urban and rural/suburban Arizona. Lead capacity-building activities for nonprofit housing developers and community partners including organizational assessment, technical assistance and training. Lead the implementation of the Housing Developers Training Institute (HDTI) including, but not limited to, recruiting and vetting participants, managing and supporting training consultants, facilitating cohort meetings, and sharing best practices in community development and affordable housing development.
• Project Investments: Originate a pipeline of investments to successfully meet LISC Phoenix’s lending goal. Assess project feasibility as well as borrower financial capacity by conducting due diligence reviews, originating and underwriting loans that meet LISC Phoenix’s program goals. Work with national LISC Lending and Legal staff to manage the closing and asset management process. Identifying projects for access to green capital.
• Grants Management: Actively manage and monitor a portfolio of affordable housing investments and grants by administering grants/contracts between LISC and community-based organizations through the lifecycle of the contract including drafting, monitoring compliance, evaluating performance, processing payment requests, and maintaining contractual records. Prepare reports and presentations for funders, investors and the LISC Phoenix Local Advisory Committee as needed.
• Internal relationships: Maintain internal relationships with LISC Housing and other national and local staff and National Equity Fund.
• Outreach and Resource Development: Strengthen and expand external relationships with state funding agencies (such as ADOH), county and municipal housing departments, private financial institutions, and other program partners. Align affordable housing initiatives to advance LISC Phoenix priorities across sectors, partners, advocates, health institutions, local government, and other stakeholders in affordable housing. Represent LISC in affordable housing collaborations. Collaborate with National and local staff to attract new funding sources and engage institutional partners. Raise the visibility of affordable housing activities by generating project and partner success stories that support office-wide communications strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, preferably in urban planning, community development, economic development, or related field.
• At least 5 years of experience in affordable housing development, preferably in the non-profit sector.
• Strong understanding of and experience using affordable housing development financial programs, including but not limited to Low Income Housing Tax Credits and federal and state tax credit and subsidy programs.
• Experience in lending with demonstrated capacity to originate and underwrite loans and analyze quantitative and qualitative information.
• Knowledge of financing products for real estate development, such as predevelopment, acquisition, construction, bridge and permanent loans; lines of credit; and tax equity.
• Demonstrated understanding of neighborhood revitalization and affordable housing issues; familiarity with Arizona’s urban neighborhoods, suburbs, and rural communities preferred.
• Highly motivated, solution-oriented, individual who is self-directed, able to successfully balance multiple priorities, and be flexible. Follow-through, attention to detail, and strong written and verbal communication skills are required.
• Demonstrated ability and desire to share knowledge by providing technical assistance to local organizations with varying levels of experience in housing development.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically to develop and implement program goals.
• Ability to coordinate with multiple internal and external parties to meet project guidelines.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice, and dedicated to embedding these values across all programmatic activities.
• Flexibility to effectively collaborate and provide high level of customer service to clients and colleagues, present information, and write cohesive reports for audiences with varying degrees of expertise.
• Excellent computer skills including competency in full Microsoft Office suite.