The Housing Division (HD) partners with local governments, Tribes, housing authorities, nonprofits, and other organizations to develop and preserve affordable housing, promote individual and family self-sufficiency, and reduce adult and youth homelessness.

This position works within the Housing Division (HD), in the Office of Apple Health and Homes/Permanent Supportive Housing (AHAH/PSH) Unit. The AHAH/PSH unit is responsible for increasing the capacity of permanent supportive housing opportunities for persons with persistent disabling conditions.

This position reports to the Subsidy Team Supervisor of AHAH/PSH and is committed to expanding the capacity and quality of permanent supportive housing (PSH) options. Evidence-based Practice PSH is a specialized service area that is gaining significant attention and investment from the Governor and Legislature and this position will be focused on providing training and technical assistance to community partners and managing subsidy program grant agreements with these goals in mind.

This position supports the Office of AHAH/PSH’s work by developing and maintaining cooperative relationships with government, businesses, property managers, service organizations, community organizations and/or government officials to increase the capacity and quality of PSH. Primary areas of responsibility include: Providing technical assistance to housing providers and property managers in PSH. Assisting with draft legislation to identify gaps in the implementation of AHAH, presenting at statewide, regional, local or national conferences. Developing, coordinating and conducting workshops or seminars focusing on evidence-based practices of PSH to local, state and national audiences. Developing and maintaining program policies, procedures, guidelines, objectives, and funding applications in support of grants; analyzing program, grantee, and fiscal performance; developing and maintaining relationships with grantees; conducting risk assessments and monitoring; and providing technical assistance to grantees to meet the program requirements and ensuring accountability for funding. This position will manage capacity grant funds allocated by the Legislature by contracting with ‘By and For’ organizations, organizations interested in partnering with or providing FCS services.

Required Position Qualifications:
Seven (7) years of combined professional level experience and/or education that involves community, trade or economic development with a focus in implementing or providing PSH using the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) or equivalent model and:
o One (1) or more years (full-time equivalency) of professional-level experience must include developing and/or delivering training or presentations.

Lived experience with housing instability and/or experience navigating and receiving services from public systems such as homeless and housing services systems, foster care, the criminal legal system, or behavioral health system may substitute for one (1) year of education beyond high school equivalency and/or professional-level experience.
• What is lived experience? Lived experience is relevant expertise derived from the accumulated personal life and professional experiences of an individual. Experience can be gained through life events, volunteer role/capacity, any experience gained outside of professional paid and unpaid experience, academic or a combination of experiences.

Examples of how to qualify:
• 7 years of experience
• 6 years of experience and one year of lived experience
• 6 years of experience and one year of education
• 5 years of experience, one year of education, and one year of lived experience
• 5 years of experience and two years of education
• 4 years of experience and three years of education
• 3 years of experience and four years of education

Required Position Competencies:
• Ability to work well under stress and meet tight deadlines.
• Proficient verbal and written communication skills to clearly and succinctly document and describe processes, procedures, performance measures, and results.
• Ability to track, organize, and maintain individual workload timely and efficiently.
• Proven ability to collaborate and seek out and utilize diverse perspectives in program and policy development.
• Committed to continuous quality improvement on homeless housing program access and outcomes for people most impacted by homelessness.

Preferred/Desired Qualifications:
• Experience working in a policy, administrative, or direct service role to serve vulnerable individuals or individuals with disabling conditions experiencing homelessness or housing instability.
• Demonstrated high level of interpersonal communication skills — two way communication, information sharing, gathering, and using stakeholder feedback.
• Understanding of the intersection of race and gender as it relates to efforts to address homelessness.
• Understanding of the drivers of homelessness/chronic homelessness and the role of trauma and its impact on individuals experiencing housing instability.
• Experience in grants management, including monitoring budgets, developing grantee risk assessments, and/or performing compliance monitoring of contracts.
• High level experience using computer and web applications, such as Excel, Word, Internet Explorer, and other applications and databases.
• Strong ability to meet budget, grant, and reporting deadlines with high degree of accuracy.
• Strong understanding of interpreting, writing, and applying detailed policies and procedures.
• Experience analyzing data from homeless systems, ability to research, evaluate and draw conclusions from data and support recommendations with facts and analysis in alignment with rules, laws, policies and procedures.
• Research and Analytical Skills/Abilities: Ability to research, evaluate and draw conclusions from data from the Homeless Management Information System (or similar client-level databases); support recommendations with facts and analysis; interpret and apply rules, laws, policies and procedures
• Familiarity and/or experience with state contracting procedures and systems.
• Familiarity and/or experience working with or for Human Service oriented non-profit agencies.
• Knowledge of specific housing and fiscal data systems, such as the Department of Commerce’s Contracts Management System (CMS).

To be considered for this position the following are needed:

• A complete and detailed online application.
• A cover letter (enter online).
• At least three professional references (enter online).

Work from Anywhere in Washington State
This position may be located anywhere within Washington State though occasional travel to a Commerce office building or in-state travel to attend events or meetings will be required. If selected, you will need to travel to pick up equipment and receive instruction. Many Commerce employees work remotely or have a hybrid schedule.

This recruitment may be used to fill future vacancies over the next 60 days.

Technical support is provided by NEOGOV, 855-524-5627 (can't log in, password or email issues, error messages). DES job seeker support may answer general questions regarding the recruiting system at careershelp@des.wa.gov.

Our Commitment to Equal Opportunity
The Washington State Department of Commerce is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, veterans or people with military status, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. Persons needing accommodation in the application, testing, or interview process or this job announcement in an alternative format may email Human Resources at Human.Resources@commerce.wa.gov. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing may call through the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.

Department of Commerce also offers a competitive benefits package including: medical and dental insurance benefits, retirement and deferred compensation plans, 11 paid holidays each year, 14-25 vacation days per year (depending on length of employment), 8 hours of sick leave per month (if full time employed), bereavement leave, an employee assistance program, as well as other benefits. Please see the Benefits Tab for more details.