Housing Navigator in Bremerton, Washington at Bremerton Housing Authority

POSITION SUMMARY

The Housing Navigator supports BHA’s, the City of Bremerton’s, and Kitsap County’s strategic objectives to provide affordable housing to low-income residents in Bremerton and Kitsap County through increased utilization of our community’s Housing Choice Voucher program by providing housing search assistance and assisting in the implementation of leasing success strategies while providing high-quality customer service to applicants for BHA’s and Housing Kitsap’s housing programs.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Reasonable Accommodations Statement

To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation, each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to help enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential Functions Summaries

General Responsibilities

• Work effectively with people from diverse social, economic, and racial backgrounds.
• Assess customers' housing needs and identify barriers to leasing. Develop plans to eliminate or mitigate barriers. Create intake process and orientation for clients requesting services.
• Work directly with sometimes difficult households which have specific needs (i.e., needing to repair credit or needing to repair tenancy records) and minimize risk of failure in the greater community setting.
• Implement the Renter’s Readiness training program of which they are certified to ensure that applicants are prepared to be excellent tenants.
• Provide participants with listings of potential housing options in alignment with participants’ housing needs and geographic preferences.
• Work closely with the client’s assigned Housing Specialist, and applicable Community Supports to ensure that housing placement is consistent with overall the participant’s service plan. Inform Housing Specialist of any changes in housing status or other housing issues.
• Refer customers to community resources (i.e., emergency shelters, KCR, Renters Ready Class, etc.)
• Partner with the service providers to identify appropriate housing units for clients in the Voucher programs, with the goal of housing clients within 60 days of voucher issuance.
• Assist clients in Voucher programs in their housing search, including applying for apartments, negotiating with potential landlords, and accompanying participants to apartment viewings as needed.
• Assist the household with acquiring the necessary documentation and mitigate issues with credit reports, utility arrears, and unfavorable landlord references as necessary.
• Explain and review the lease agreement with the incoming participant(s).
• Assist households with referrals for the acquisition of furniture and move-in essentials as needed.
• Administer and track program funded financial assistance on an as-needed basis to families to cover expenses such as application fees, moving costs and/or security deposits.
• For certain programs, assist households who relocate with finding another unit that meets their needs to prevent eviction or in response to a housing crisis.
• Participate in on- and off-site staff trainings, workshops, and outreach events as needed. Perform other duties as assigned.

Landlord/Property Management Relation Responsibilities

• Collaborate with landlords via neighborhood outreach, internet search, and networking events, not limited to landlord association meetings and vendor fairs in order to attract and retain landlord partners.
• Build and maintain positive relationships with private landlords and other housing providers to expand BHA’s landlord portfolio.
• Advocate with landlords for participants with such rental barriers as prior evictions, poor credit, and criminal history.
• Refer landlords with concerns to the landlord liaison to address concerns and connect landlords to financial and legal resources.
• Maintain the Available Affordable Listings webpage on BHA’s website.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS

Required Education and Experience

Education: Associates Degree (two-year college or technical school) Required. Field of Study: Social work or related field.

Bachelor's Degree (four-year college or technical school) Preferred, Field of Study: Social work or related field.

Experience:

• 3 plus years of experience working with low-income or subsidized populations or working with issues of homelessness, affordable housing, and/or housing discrimination.
• Experience working in rental housing.
• HUD regulation experience is not required but is preferred.

Bremerton Housing Authority has the discretion to accept any other equivalent combination of education and experience when relevant.

Computer Skills: Experienced user of Microsoft Office programs, including Excel, Word, and Outlook.

Certifications:

• Housing Quality Standards Certificate or be able to acquire within 6 months of employment.
• Certification in Renter’s Readiness training programs or be able to acquire.

Other Requirements: Must possess a valid driver's license for use in Washington State with the continued ability to be covered under the Housing Authority's auto insurance policies.

Required Competencies

Active Listening - Ability to actively attend to, convey, and understand the comments and questions of others.
• Communication, Oral - Ability to communicate effectively with others using the spoken word.
• Communication, Written - Ability to communicate in writing clearly and concisely with proper grammar and sentence structure.
• Customer Oriented - Ability to take care of the customers’ needs while following company procedures.
• Detail Oriented - Ability to pay attention to the minor details of a project or task.
• Goal Oriented - Ability to focus on a goal and obtain a pre-determined result.
• Honesty / Integrity - Ability to be truthful and be seen as credible in the workplace.
• Initiative - Ability to make decisions or take actions to solve a problem or reach a goal.
• Interpersonal - Ability to get along well with a variety of personalities and individuals.
• Organized - Possessing the trait of being organized or following a systematic method of performing a task.
• Persistence - Ability to complete tasks or continue in a course of action in spite of opposition or discouragement.
• Persuasive - Ability to influence others to change position or to adopt a specific point of view.
• Problem Solving - Ability to find a solution for or to deal proactively with work-related problems.
• Research Skills - Ability to design and conduct a systematic, objective, and critical investigation.
• Sales/Promotional Ability - Ability to use appropriate interpersonal styles and communication methods to gain acceptance of a product, service, or idea.
• Tactful - Ability to avoid being offensive when communicating with others, maintain diplomatic relations or good customer services, and show consideration for others with diverse backgrounds.
• Time Management - Ability to utilize the available time to organize and complete work within given deadlines.
• Working Under Pressure - Ability to complete assigned tasks under stressful situations.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Work will be primarily in an office environment at a desk or cubical although a significant amount of time will be working in the field and driving to residential properties, community meetings, tradeshows, etc. The person in this position interacts with key stakeholders and outside resources on a regular basis. The work will be fast paced at times with multiple deadlines. Organizing multiple tasks while gathering and analyzing tedious data will be a common occurrence.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

N (Not Applicable) Activity is not applicable to this position.

O (Occasionally) Position requires this activity up to 33% of the time (0 - 2.5+ hrs/day)

F (Frequently) Position requires this activity from 33% - 66% of the time (2.5 - 5.5+ hrs/day)

C (Constantly) Position requires this activity more than 66% of the time (5.5+ hrs/day)

Physical Demands Lift/Carry

Stand O 10 lbs or less O

Walk O 11-20 lbs O

Sit F 21-50 lbs N

Manually Manipulate F 51-100 lbs. N

Reach Outward O

Reach Above Shoulder O Push/Pull