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Agency Description 

Urbane is a community development venture and certified MBE that builds infrastructure that catalyzes community wealth. Our approach centers on strengthening community anchors through a multi-disciplinary approach: research and analytics, business and development advisory, and place-based investing aimed at generating long term prosperity and wealth creation in historically disinvested communities. We envision neighborhoods that are defined by their strengths and experienced as places of opportunity and innovation.

Urbane focuses on strategies that build community capacity. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs, small businesses, and anchor institutions connect to opportunities and networks to stabilize and thrive. Our clients include municipalities, economic development agencies, housing authorities, foundations, financial institutions, real estate developers, community-based organizations, and small businesses throughout the US.

JOB TITLE: Senior Project Manager

STATUS: Full-Time

LOCATION(S): Various NYCHA Campuses - Central Brooklyn, NY

REPORTS TO: Director of Place-Based Investment

Urbane is currently seeking a dynamic, experienced professional to join our team and the Reid Park Rock PACT Partners project. Urbane has a long history working with public housing residents and leadership on a variety of economic and community development initiatives throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. Urbane is a co-developer and lead entity for resident relationship building through NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT), a multi-year process at Reid & Park Rock Consolidated Apartments. In this role, we strive to develop meaningful connections with residents before, during and after the rehabilitation and restoration of over 1,600 units of public housing across Crown Heights, East New York and Brownsville via NYCHA’s PACT Program. We view public housing as vital community assets and community anchors, and residents are the most important stakeholders in the process of preserving these assets while introducing tangible opportunities for community wealth building to residents and community members. The Senior Project Manager (RPR SPM) will ensure the project is responsive to resident insights through an engagement process that is executed with integrity. The RPR SPM will own the project engagement plan, serving as an important process manager and analyst of resident insights to inform ongoing strategy development, programs, services and design questions. This position coordinates across RPR team partners and oversees on-site staff at various Central Brooklyn NYCHA campuses, under the supervision of the Director of Place-Based Investment. Using the Reid Park Rock redevelopment as a prototype, the RPR SPM will be tasked with developing and codifying a framework for future public housing partnerships, resident engagement models, and community wealth outcomes for Urbane’s work in public housing across its portfolio.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

At its essence, this role a) ensures that the team’s activities are tightly coordinated, b) manages key stakeholder relationships and communications, and c) ensures that residents are meaningfully connected to the PACT process and positioned to have agency over future opportunities and resources within RPR communities, and d) builds a knowledge base for future Urbane-initiated public housing investments. The RPR SPM will serve as a primary point of contact for the greater RPR development team, NYCHA, tenant leadership and other key stakeholders. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Beginning with the Reid Park Rock PACT bundle, craft and lead an overarching strategy for Urbane’s public housing work, including the integration of Urbane’s community wealth platform – identifying/coordination of financial health and credit building partners, entrepreneur connection and ecosystem and building, targeted direct service provision, and shared community investment strategy across public housing geographies
• Coordinate across Reid Park Rock PACT Partners teams to meet priorities according to PACT timeline, collaborate on work streams, ensure data is captured and managed appropriately, and that resident relationship building is executed with professionalism.
• Manage Engagement Specialists team stationed in the field, establishing goals and reporting protocols, data management protocols, identifying appropriate trainings and supporting the team to build great tenant relationships.
• Manage third party tenant outreach team activities including canvassing, calls and information distributions.
• Update and manage the resident engagement plan, ensuring thorough coordination with the internal Urbane and RPR PACT Partner teams. 
• Cultivate relationships with Tenant Association Presidents, social service providers and other key stakeholders throughout the PACT conversion and renovation process, ensuring regular and uniform updates and information sharing.
• Manage the execution of a resident needs assessment, including finalizing the survey tool, creating a distribution strategy, coordinating with community partners in dissemination, establishing the data collection and organization infrastructure, analyzing findings and generating insights; support the surveying process through in-person touchpoints as needed.
• Lead the design and execution of learning charrettes and empowerment workshops, working closely with the Urbane team to identify appropriate partners, facilitators, draft activities, codify data and generate insights to advance resident economic stability.
• Oversee the production of engagement events including virtual meetings, on-site meetings and tabling; create run-of-show, prepare presentations and outreach materials, secure translation and interpretation, back-end management of virtual meetings, Q&A coordination
• Attend Tenant Association leadership meetings as needed.
• Manage key communication tools, compose and distribute e-newsletters, monitor and manage project team email, 
• Oversee updates to public process documents including infographics, FAQs, and educational documents.
• Develop summary reports of activities, findings and required follow-ups for the RPR team.
• Oversee the recruitment and onboarding of RPR resident ambassadors or similar roles for ongoing community engagement and feedback.
• Availability for periodic evening and weekend hours to accommodate resident event schedules.

COMPENSATION, BENEFITS & EMPLOYEE SUPPORT:

$90,000 to $100,000, commensurate with experience and skill level.  The Senior Project Manager role is benefits-eligible if working full-time. Full-Time roles include healthcare benefits, 401k matching, generous PTO policies, professional development, paid parental leave and other comprehensive benefits.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND EXPERIENCE

• Applicants are not limited to a particular field of study. Our approach to economic and community development is multi-disciplinary, holistic, and inclusive.

• 5+ years of experience in relevant fields of practice including, but are not limited to, Economic and Community Development, Real Estate Development, Property Management, Market Development, Quantitative Analysis, Public Campaigns/Organizing, Urban Planning and Development.
• Proven experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects, including fluidity with Asana or other project management tools.
• Superb verbal and written communication skills are essential.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish (professional fluency in both languages) highly desired.
• Excellent organizational, leadership, and analytical skills.
• Ability to: work under stress, with interruptions and deadlines; manage workload; prioritize deadlines; collect and analyze information; conduct strategic planning and determine feasibility; and assess business development needs, shortcomings, requirements, and solutions.
• Ability to: utilize IT technology and computer programs and software, including but not limited the Microsoft Suite; prepare reports, plans, presentations, and analyses on business development; conduct various analyses; provide technical assistance.

Some flexibility of schedule is allowed and required. While virtual formats will be utilized on an ongoing basis in response to evolving pandemic conditions, a local presence at the projects sites is required and should be prioritized. 

TO APPLY FOR THIS POSITION

• To apply, please email info@urbane-dev.com with “RPR PM” in the subject line along with your current resume, a brief cover letter/email, a writing sample (individual, not a group report/project), and optionally example(s) of past work product that is deemed shareable. Please note any additional language abilities and level of proficiency/fluency if not readily apparent from your resume.
• Please name all files sent to Urbane beginning with your first and last name (or preferred naming conventions) for easy identification.
• The application process includes several steps, inclusive of initial screens, follow-up interviews with multiple members of Team Urbane, and skills tests to ensure that writing, research, and analysis skills have been accurately represented.

Employment is contingent upon successfully passing a background check which includes references from previous employers. Urbane Development Group LTD, is an equal opportunity employer which recruits, hires, trains, and promotes personnel for all job titles without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected under local, state, or federal laws.

About NYCHA PACT*

NYCHA developments selected to be a part of the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program will receive much needed renovations, residents will have access to employment opportunities affiliated with the repairs, and on-site social services will be enhanced.

Through PACT, developments will be included in the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and convert to a more stable, federally funded program called Project-Based Section 8. This allows NYCHA to unlock funding to complete comprehensive repairs, while also ensuring homes remain permanently affordable and residents have the same basic rights as they possess in the public housing program.

PACT depends on partnerships with private and non-profit development partners, who will be selected based on resident input. Once the property is converted to Project-Based Section 8, NYCHA will lease the land and buildings to the development partners, who will conduct the repairs, serve as the new on-site property manager, and provide enhanced social services and community programs.

NYCHA needs an estimated $40 billion to fully restore and renovate all of its buildings, but the federal government has provided only a fraction of the funding needed for these improvements. We recognize that many of the conditions in NYCHA buildings are unacceptable and unsafe. Renovations are long overdue but necessary to ensure that the day-to-day needs of residents are met and living conditions improve. PACT is a critical tool that, through partnerships with private and non-profit development partners, allows us to not only modernize homes but also provide enhanced community services and amenities.

PACT brings new partners and maintains public control:

• Comprehensive Repairs
  • Development partners bring design and construction expertise; they address all the physical needs at the development.
• Professional Management
  • Property management partners are responsible for the day-to-day operation and upkeep of the buildings and grounds.
• Enhanced Services
  • Partnerships with social service providers help improve on-site services and programming through input from residents.

Developments will remain under public control. After conversion, NYCHA will continue to own the land and buildings, administer the Section 8 subsidy and waitlist, and monitor conditions at the development. Where needed, NYCHA can step in to resolve any issues that may arise between residents and the new property management team.

*Source: NYC Housing Authority