Housing Consultant - City of Toronto, Toronto

The opportunity

Housing Consultants supervise a team responsible for the administration and oversight of a portfolio that provides housing options and supports for diverse communities through funding partnerships. Housing Consultants lead the effective delivery of housing and homelessness programs and services, working in an environment that values continuous improvement, capacity building and innovation.

Day-to-day

• Leads the delivery of various funded programs and initiatives in accordance with Divisional needs
• Manages relationships with community service providers, including monitoring and evaluating the quality-of-service delivery to ensure that the City's interests, including improved outcomes for clients, are met.
• Leads complex projects in a fast-paced, high-profile environment working with staff teams, other City divisions and governments to develop, implement and manage programs and services related to housing and homelessness.
• Supervises, motivates and trains assigned staff teams in all aspects of day-to-day operations, encouraging effective teamwork, high standards of work quality and organizational performance, continuous learning and innovation.
• Oversees and monitors the legislated or contractual requirements of service providers and ensures compliance and financial accountability by developing and implementing risk management strategies, including assessing operational and financial performance data, planning and conducting operational reviews and preparing written reports and recommendations for improvement.
• Makes recommendations/implements remedial action plans for service providers that fail to meet their legislative or contractual requirements.
• Oversees contentious issues/serious occurrences; eg: public/political issues regarding housing and homelessness services, ensuring follow-up documentation, corrective action and implementation of preventative strategies.
• Communicates with applicants, tenants and other stakeholders in a constructive manner, demonstrating tact and diplomacy and taking appropriate action to mediate and de-escalate situations as needed.
• Facilitates capacity building and continuous improvement in the community housing sector by providing advice and direction to service providers in areas of program administration, financial administration, governance and property management.
• Develops, designs and delivers training and presentations on legislative or operational issues to stakeholders.
• Works with auditors, engineers, legal representatives and service provider staff on service delivery or compliance issues.
• Develops and recommends options for policies, management practices, performance and quality measures, and budget submissions to improve the delivery of the division's programs and services.
• Demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation by participating in appropriate professional development and learning opportunities.
• Develops and manages planning tools, and project/approval tracking mechanisms for quality assurance, risk management, budget and compliance purposes.

Who we're looking for

• Post-secondary education in a discipline relevant to the position or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
• Considerable experience in project management with a demonstrated ability to manage complex projects, in a fast-paced, high-profile environment.
• Considerable experience in stakeholder relations with a high level of ability to influence and negotiate outcomes effectively.
• Considerable experience in the administration and delivery of housing, housing benefits, grants to non-profits or similar programs that require working within a legislative (or similar) accountability framework.
• Experience managing, coordinating, and motivating staff, conducting performance appraisals and managing labour relations matters
• Experience working with and interpreting financial and non-financial data, with ability to use the data to assess program-related outcomes against established performance measures.
• Excellent critical thinking skills with the ability to take initiative and problem solve.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to summarize information into clear and concise messages and prepare and deliver presentations, coupled with political acuity.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment.
• Strong interpersonal and conflict resolution skills to deal with sensitive issues with diplomacy, tact and political acuity.
• Ability to work effectively with electronic spreadsheets, word processing, and presentation software.