Affordable Housing Project Associate (Bilingual) – Co-op Preservation

The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) is seeking a Co-op Preservation Project Associate. Applicants must be English/Spanish bilingual for consideration. The primary function of this role is to work with affordable housing co-op residents to protect and strengthen their housing. The ideal candidate will be passionate about housing justice and eager to learn about the affordable cooperative housing model and other related policy issues.

About UHAB

UHAB empowers low- to moderate-income residents to take control of their housing and enhance their communities by creating strong tenant associations and lasting affordable co-ops. Since 1973, UHAB has helped form hundreds of tenant associations and transformed troubled rental buildings into 1,200 Housing Development Fund Corporations (HDFCs), providing homeownership opportunities for over 25,000 households. With democratic community control at the core of our mission, we work to sustain this thriving affordable housing community for this generation and those to come.

We organize residents to be active participants and decision-makers in shaping their neighborhoods. UHAB’s programs address a full spectrum of affordable housing needs: from building resident power and organizing tenants as community leaders, to developing thousands of units of affordable housing across the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, to making small loans to first-time homeowners, to preserving affordable co-ops through training, education, and technical assistance. UHAB’s programs address the needs of future generations through long-term solutions: developing new affordable co-ops, increasing energy efficiency and introducing renewable technologies, and strengthening housing policy.

About the Preservation Department

The Co-op Preservation staff is a dedicated team that works to support existing low-income housing cooperatives (HDFCs) through technical, organizational, and financial planning assistance, including loan packaging and work-outs for distressed housing co-ops. Each staff member is assigned a portfolio of co-ops to which they provide technical assistance and/or monitoring services, helping to ensure their compliance with lenders’ and City regulations and to support their financial health, democratic governance and overall sustainability for the long term. We currently offer services to all 1,300 HDFC co-ops throughout the City and provide contractual monitoring to over 200.

Responsibilities

What matters most for a candidate coming into this role is not expertise, but having a curious nature and a positive attitude. Our team provides training on various topics relevant to the work and offers support throughout the first year to ensure a strong onboarding process.

The role is made up of two main responsibilities: Technical and Financial Planning Assistance and Ongoing Monitoring.

Technical & Finance Planning Assistance

The Project Associate works with the Director of Co-op Preservation and the Director of Contracts to assess the overall needs of each co-op and develop a strategy to assist, stabilize and improve the each one. This PA will:

• Help boards of directors and shareholders organize effectively to improve the performance of their co-op. Work to identify problems, clarify goals, and implement plans to meet those goals

• Providing assistance to co-op boards of directors dealing with organizational issues, “rent” collection strategies, budget preparation, management, etc.

• Communicating financial relief and strategy to co-op residents, management companies, co-op employees, and regulatory bodies

• Maintaining open lines of communication, positive working relationships, and high levels of trust with building leaders and residents. Ensure that residents are fully aware of the work plan and their role in it

• Providing assistance by telephone and e-mail, offering information and referrals based on specific issues, problems and needs

• Attending meetings at the building to address specific issues and keep board and shareholders informed of progress and tasks that need to be performed

• Offering advisory consultations to board members and shareholders on an as-needed basis. Consultations may be in the office or on-site at the building, as determined to be most appropriate

• Be responsible for creating reports and invoices to enable the organization to bill for services provided under the contracts that support our work.

On-going Monitoring

Most co-ops working with the Co-op Preservation Department have a monitoring agreement. Under the monitoring agreement, the project associate works to ensure that the co-op thrives, stays in good physical and financial condition, stays compliant with government regulations, and is governed democratically by its residents in accordance with its bylaws. In order to meet these goals, the Co-op Preservation Project Associate will be expected to:

• Review and analyze co-op financial records on a quarterly and/or annual basis

• Attend meetings (often in the evening) with co-op residents and leaders on an as-needed basis

• Review all documents pertaining to the sale and transfer of apartments

• Monitor elections of co-op boards

• Respond by phone and email to questions and requests for technical assistance

• Record interactions and visits with the co-op in UHAB’s database

• Perform detailed quantitative analysis

• Prepare budget recommendations

• Draft correspondence for the co-op as necessary

• Compile annual reports

• Provide daily and/or weekly work plans and progress reports, and meet regularly with supervisory staff to discuss work progress and future work and to identify areas for improvement

• Participate in UHAB wide meetings, committees & activities and contribute to improving and promoting the organization

Qualifications

We fully expect that candidates will offer some but not all of the skills needed to do this job. Coaching and on-the-job training will be available to fill skill gaps. However, from the start, we believe that the successful candidate must be able to demonstrate that he or she has certain talents and attributes, including the ability to:

• Fluently speak English and Spanish

• Establish productive trust-based relationships with residents and leaders of limited-equity housing cooperatives

• Establish effective professional relationships with real estate professionals, particularly property managers, bank representatives, and government officials

• Proficiently use Microsoft Office, especially Excel

• Research government regulations and legal documents and interpret them to concerned parties

• Express oneself clearly and persuasively in speech and in writing

• Work both independently and as part of a team

• Maintain positive relationships, even under conditions of some adversity and pressure

• Utilize a problem solving/dispute resolution style that favors flexibility and creativity

Location

UHAB’s work is carried out by over 35 staff members in our main office in Lower Manhattan. This position is hybrid, requiring in-office presence and in-person site visits and attendance at events across NYC, as well as some allowance to work from home.

Salary & Benefits

The salary for this position is $57,500 annually.

UHAB offers a generous benefits package including employer paid medical and dental insurance; long-term disability insurance; a 403b retirement plan; medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts; 3 weeks of paid vacation for new employees and 4 weeks of paid vacation after 2 years of employment; 14 paid holidays, 12 sick days, and 1 personal day per year; and bereavement leave.

We are proud that UHAB’s staff is unionized with RWDSU. The candidate hired into this role will be part of the collective bargaining unit and benefit from the terms and protections of the union contract.

How to Apply

Please email a cover letter and resume to jobs@uhab.org with the subject line: Co-op Preservation PA.

UHAB works with a diverse community of tenants, community members and co-op shareholders and believes that the UHAB Staff should reflect this diversity. Women, people of color, LBGTQ+ people, and people with lived experience of economic and housing instability are encouraged to apply. UHAB is an equal opportunity employer.