Salary: $51.88 - $77.82 Hourly
Location : Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 5th Ave., Seattle, WA
Job Type: Classified Civil Service, Regular, Full-Time
Job Number:
Department: Office of Housing
Opening Date: 09/01/2026
Closing Date: 9/22/2026 4:00 PM Pacific

Position Description
We are looking for a Rental Housing Program Manager who will oversee funding awards of over $110M and lead a team of three staff members, including two underwriters and a project manager, responsible for implementing the City's Rental Housing Program. In this role, you will develop and implement a multi-year funding strategy to prioritize projects that improve affordability, sustainability, and racial equity. You will optimize the allocation of City resources by aligning rental housing investments with other public funding sources, such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and state housing funds. You will also enhance the efficiency and impact of the Rental Housing Program by streamlining the funding application, underwriting, and award processes, developing new tools and data-driven approaches to better evaluate project feasibility, long-term affordability, and equity outcomes, and proactively addressing financial challenges in existing projects by facilitating loan restructures, debt buy-downs, and other strategic interventions to stabilize at-risk developments.

Job Responsibilities

The Rental Housing Program Manager position leads a team of three staff members (two senior project managers and a project manager) and is responsible for implementing the City's Rental Housing Program.

The top 3 priorities of this work are:

1. Program Oversight & Strategic Leadership:

1. Leading, supervising, and developing a team responsible for underwriting, closing, construction administration, disbursements, and project closeout, including assigning work, managing workload, providing technical guidance, and ensuring high-quality and timely work products.
2. Planning and managing the City's competitive rental housing funding process, including application review, underwriting, staff recommendations, and implementation of awards.
3. Ensuring funded projects are financially feasible, comply with applicable funding requirements, and support long-term financial and operational sustainability.

2. Project & Pipeline Management:

1. Overseeing the negotiation and structuring of City financing for affordable housing investments.
2. Overseeing the team's management of funded projects from award through underwriting, loan closing, construction, disbursement, and closeout, ensuring projects meet City requirements and advance toward completion on schedule.
3. Overseeing the assignment and administration of City, state, and federal funding sources and ensure compliance with applicable program requirements.

3. Stakeholder Engagement & Policy Implementation:

1. Coordinating across Office of Housing teams and other City departments to resolve project issues, implementing program requirements, and supporting timely execution of affordable housing investments.
2. Maintaining effective working relationships with affordable housing developers, lenders, investors, public funders, community stakeholders, and other partners.
3. Representing the Rental Housing Program in meetings with external partners, public forums, and interdepartmental initiatives.

The top 3 work goals are:

1. Leading the Rental Housing Program and Team - Managing staff workload, performance, and professional development while ensuring consistent, high-quality underwriting, closing, construction administration, disbursement, and closeout work.

2. Successfully Administering OH's Competitive Funding Processes - Managing the competitive funding process from application through award and implementation, ensuring timely, consistent, and well-supported funding recommendations aligned with OH priorities, racial equity goals, and available resources.

3. Ensuring Effective Program Execution and Accountability - Improving processes, tools, tracking, and coordination across the project lifecycle to support timely closings and construction, effective use of City resources, compliance with funding requirements, and successful project delivery.

Qualifications
You will be most successful if you have demonstrated experience in affordable housing finance involving public and private sources, community redevelopment, real estate finance, or other related areas. A commitment to listening, creating space for diverse perspectives, and the pursuit of affordable housing for all must be at the center of your professional practice. The ability to communicate at all levels tactfully and effectively will also contribute to your success. Specifically, you'll be prepared to take on this role with a combination of the following:

Experience in:

• Overseeing complex housing finance transactions

• Affordable housing finance and policy, including underwriting, loan structuring, and regulatory compliance
• Private and public funding sources, such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME, and CDBG

Knowledge of and Skills in:

• Collaborative, team-driven leadership and project management
• Demonstrating a commitment to public service and ensuring housing access for low-income and historically marginalized communities
• Building and maintaining strong internal and external relationships
• Professional writing and presentation skills, including conducting information sessions

The ability to:

• Navigate political, financial, and community dynamics to advance equitable and sustainable housing solutions
• Maintain professionalism in controversial, complex, and public situations
• Explain technical information to a non-technical audience
• Work with a diverse population

Additional Information
This Civil-Service position is FLSA-exempt (not eligible for overtime). It is classified as a Manager 1, General Government and is non-represented.

Pay: The full pay range for this discretionary pay position is $51.88 - $77.82 per hour or $108,325.44 - $162,488.16 annually, based on 2088 hours per year. The pay range identified for this specific role is $71.14 - $73.89 ($148,540.32 - $154,282.32 annually, based on 2088 hours per year).

Working Schedule: This position offers the flexibility of a hybrid work schedule. Employees will be expected to be in-office three days a week.

Hiring Timeline: First-round interviews for this position are tentatively scheduled for October 14-19, 2026. Second interviews are tentatively scheduled for October 26-30, 2026.

Benefits - The City of Seattle offers a comprehensive benefits package including vacation, holiday, and sick leave as well as medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents. More information about employee benefits is available on the City's website at: Please select an option under the "Most Employee Benefits" heading.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Please submit your application at no later than 4:00pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. To be considered for this position, in addition to completing your application fully, please attach:

• A PDF of your current resume which illustrates your related skills, experience, and abilities
• Cover Letter explaining your interest in this opportunity with the Office of Housing and capability to perform in this role

We encourage you to review the , which may be used as a resource as you prepare to apply and interview for positions with the City of Seattle.

Who Can Apply: This position is open to all candidates who demonstrate alignment with the skills and experience described above.

Questions: If you have questions please contact Sandra Wong at [email protected]
01

Describe your knowledge of and experience with affordable housing finance, underwriting, and lending.
02

Describe your experience leading and managing people.
03

Describe your experience implementing racial and social justice principles to programs or projects.
04

This position offers the flexibility of a hybrid work schedule. Employees will be expected to work in-office a minimum of three days a week. Please confirm your understanding and ability to meet the needs of this role.

• Yes
• No

05

This job advertisement requested you attach both a cover letter and resume to your application. Have you attached these documents?

• Yes
• No

Required Question