Saint John's unprecedented growth rate makes this a stimulating time to be working for the City in a lead role in shaping the future of Saint John. The Housing Officer is an exciting new role to drive an increase in the quality and quantity of available housing within the municipality's neighbourhoods. The role presents the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on one of Saint John's biggest challenges – helping create a safe, warm place to live for all Saint Johners'.

Reporting to the Manager of Housing, the Housing Officer is responsible for leading initiatives and actions within the City of Saint John's Affordable Housing Action Plan (AHAP) and the Housing Accelerator Fund Plan to increase the supply of both market and affordable housing in the city over the next three years. The successful candidate will bring a results-oriented approach and be comfortable both with team building and with a strong degree of independence in driving projects forward.

Key Responsibilities:

-Act as a project champion to identify challenges and propose housing solutions throughout the pre-application, planning and permitting stage of development, with an emphasis on multi-unit residential development and affordable housing.

-Act as the primary municipal contact with the real estate development sector in the application of intergovernmental funding programs and agreements that fund private and non-profit developers.

-Create/co-create and implement municipal programs, such as development incentives to increase the creation of multi-residential development and affordable housing units, including writing policy for new programs.

-Act as an alternate to the Housing Manager on all key files and as back-up during the Manager's absence, with the authority to make crucial decisions without supervision.

-Build stakeholder capacity internally and externally.

-Research and develop a monitoring framework for tracking key housing indicators and measuring impacts of AHAP.

-Spearhead a public education campaign that builds awareness of housing issues and the tools available to stakeholders and residents.

-Act as the major point of contact for a wide stakeholder spectrum, e.g., economic development agencies, non-profits, CMHC, and Housing NB.

-Create policies for programs, strategies and reports on relevant trends, progress, gaps, and opportunities using timely and relevant data, and make recommendations.

-Work with community partners to secure access to surplus and underutilized properties for the development of housing.

-Other related work, as assigned.

Education:

The successful candidate will have an undergraduate degree in business, public administration, community planning/development, economics, real estate finance, engineering, technology, or a related field.

Experience:

-Minimum of four years' experience in the housing field or more generally, related project management in a private consultancy or municipal setting.

-Has executed previous positions with a high degree of independence, demonstrating the ability to drive projects forward with a minimum of oversight and to achieve results.

-Demonstrated ability to gain cooperation and support, and to negotiate changes, through building lasting relationships.

-Assets would include:

oProject management experience, including managing large projects of any kind and/or multiple projects concurrently.

oFamiliarity with the local housing system, or experience working in a similar setting, and knowledge of both private and non-profit sector development.

oFamiliarity with, and a network within, Saint John's non-profit sector.

oKnowledge of land development economics and development finance.

oExperience cultivating proactive positive media positioning through managing relationships and maintaining contacts with media.

Specific skills:

-Excellent interpersonal and communications skills, combining diplomacy with clarity in dealing with the development community, elected officials, and committees.

-Ability to impact and influence through persuasion and advocacy.

-Ability to navigate managing multiple high-level funding projects with strict confidentiality and impartiality.

-High-functioning, positive approach to challenges.

-Demonstrated research, analysis, and report-writing skills.

-Knowledge of stakeholder engagement practices.

-Versatility and agility in circumstances of great variety.

The successful applicant will be eligible to work a compressed work week of 4 days (Monday to Thursday) throughout the trial period of the City's recently adopted Compressed Work Week Trial. This schedule is subject to change.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities in which we live and which we serve. We encourage and support applications from Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minority groups. Candidates who belong to such groups, who are qualified, will be given preference at the time of selection.

Applications will be accepted through our online system only. Qualified applicants should submit a cover letter and resume. The cover letter should demonstrate how their experience and education relate to housing. Please submit to:

City of Saint John
Attn: Hiring Committee
www.saintjohn.ca (careers/employment opportunities)