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ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW 

The Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD) is a Public Development Authority (PDA) committed to creating, owning, and stewarding permanently affordable, mixed-income social housing that is publicly financed, publicly controlled, and free from market speculation. As we lay the foundation for this transformative model, guided by international examples and rooted in public accountability, we are building a team to define a new standard for equitable, sustainable, and community-centered social housing development in Seattle. Our goal is to expand access, strengthen the social fabric of our city, and ensure housing that is affordable forever and inclusive by design for current and future generations. 


POSITION OVERVIEW 

The Sr. Manager Operations reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer and manages SSHD’s operations function and team, turning the COO’s approved operating priorities into consistent, accountable execution. The Sr. Manager Operations builds the operating routines, tools, workflows, and cross-functional coordination needed to support a growing portfolio, implement the social housing model, prepare for property acquisitions and transitions, and ensure that commitments move from decision to completion. 


This is a hands-on management role for an operator who can establish structure in a rapidly evolving public development organization. The Sr. Manager Operations does not replace the COO’s enterprise leadership or the day-to-day responsibilities of third-party property management, asset management, finance, compliance, resident governance, communications, human resources, information technology, or real estate development. The Sr. Manager Operations connects those functions, manages implementation, identifies gaps, and escalates matters requiring director or executive judgment. 


POSITION DETAILS 

Job Title: Director of Operations 

Department: Operations 

Reports To: Chief Operating Officer 

Direct Reports: Yes 

FLSA Status: Exempt 

Pay: $135,000 - $161,000 

 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 


Operational Infrastructure and Management Systems  

  • Develop and maintain SSHD’s operational calendar, annual work plan, decision log, policy inventory, standard operating procedure library, and implementation trackers. 
  • Establish clear operating rhythms, including cross-functional meetings, dashboards, action-item ownership, deadlines, escalation protocols, and executive follow-up. 
  • Translate approved policies and executive decisions into workflows, templates, training, controls, and measurable deliverables. 
  • Identify process gaps, duplicated work, unclear ownership, and operational risks; recommend and implement practical improvements. 
  • Support implementation and adoption of enterprise work-management and information systems in partnership with the COO and future CIO; serve as a business-process owner rather than the technology owner. 

Portfolio Growth and Acquisition Readiness  

  • Manage the operating-readiness workstream for acquisitions, new developments, property transitions, and lease-up activities after strategic direction and transaction parameters are approved. 
  • Maintain integrated readiness plans covering property-management onboarding, staffing, vendor mobilization, resident communications, compliance, leasing and waitlist workflows, building operations, security, emergency preparedness, insurance coordination, and opening-day requirements. 
  • Coordinate owners, consultants, property managers, and internal departments so operational dependencies are surfaced early and completed on schedule. 
  • Facilitate post-acquisition and post-launch reviews and ensure lessons learned are incorporated into future playbooks. 
  • Support the long-term evaluation and stand-up of internal property-management capacity while preserving clear accountability for current third-party property managers. 

 

Property Management and Vendor Coordination  

  • Monitor third-party property-management compliance with approved work plans, service expectations, reporting requirements, management agreements, and escalation protocols; route performance concerns to the COO and Asset Management. 
  • Coordinate recurring property operations reviews and maintain follow-up on occupancy, delinquency, work orders, incidents, security, resident communications, building conditions, and other operating indicators. 
  • Track high-priority incidents and corrective actions across property management, vendors, counsel, insurance, communications, and internal staff while preserving the decision rights of the accountable function. 
  • Support vendor scopes, procurements, onboarding, performance monitoring, renewals, and closeout in partnership with Finance and the designated procurement lead. 
  • Ensure vendor and consultant deliverables are integrated into SSHD operations rather than remaining stand-alone reports or recommendations. 

 

Social Housing Program Implementation  

  • Coordinate implementation of the approved social housing operating model, including resident-facing materials, internal playbooks, affordability progression processes, internal and external waitlist administration, eligibility workflows, and staff training. 
  • Partner with Compliance, Asset Management, Finance, Resident Governance, Communications, legal counsel, and property management to operationalize approved program rules. 
  • Maintain implementation controls, readiness checklists, exception-routing procedures, and records showing how policies are being applied. 
  • Track operational impacts and patterns and elevate policy questions, financial tradeoffs, resident impacts, or legal risks that require COO or executive-team decisions. 
  • Support consistent implementation of resident services referrals, restorative-justice processes, resident governance commitments, and housing-stability procedures without assuming the technical ownership of those functions. 

 

Organizational Operations  

  • Manage day-to-day administrative operations, including office operations, shared operational calendars, records and workflow management, business continuity, and cross-department logistics. 
  • Partner with Human Resources on onboarding and offboarding operations, role clarity, training logistics, and implementation of organizational policies. 
  • Partner with Finance on purchasing workflows, invoice and contract routing, budget tracking for assigned operating initiatives, and internal controls. 
  • Coordinate emergency-response and continuity plans and help ensure staff understand roles, escalation paths, and documentation expectations. 
  • Hire, supervise, coach, and evaluate operations staff; set team priorities and assignments; establish service standards; and recommend staffing changes as the portfolio and headcount grow. 
  • Own the operations team’s work plan and results, and approve routine operating expenditures within delegated limits. 

 

Performance, Risk, and Executive Support  

  • Prepare concise operational dashboards and decision-ready briefing materials for the COO and, as requested, the executive team. 
  • Maintain an operational risk and dependency log and follow up with responsible owners on mitigation plans. 
  • Distinguish routine operational issues from matters requiring legal, financial, policy, reputational, resident-impact, or executive review and escalate promptly. 
  • Analyze operating data and trends, recommend corrective action, and verify that approved corrective actions are completed. 
  • Serve as the COO’s delegate on implementation matters within defined authority; do not make policy, financial, personnel, legal, or external commitments beyond delegated authority. 


MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor’s degree in business, public administration, real estate, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience; five or more years of progressively responsible experience in operations, housing, property management, public administration, real estate, nonprofit management, or a related field, including at least one to two years leading people or complex programs. 
  • Demonstrated ability to build operational systems, standard operating procedures, accountability structures, and performance dashboards in a growing or changing organization. 
  • Experience coordinating multiple departments, vendors, consultants, and senior stakeholders around time-sensitive deliverables. 
  • Strong judgment regarding escalation, decision rights, confidentiality, resident impact, and organizational risk. 
  • Excellent project management, written communication, meeting facilitation, analytical, and follow-through skills. 
  • Ability to organize incomplete information, clarify ownership, and move work forward without overstepping functional expertise or delegated authority. 
  • Commitment to racial equity, public accountability, housing stability, resident dignity, and SSHD’s social housing mission. 


PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS 

  • Experience with affordable housing, social housing, multifamily operations, property transitions, acquisitions, lease-up, or third-party property-management oversight. 
  • Knowledge of housing compliance, waitlist or leasing administration, resident engagement, public procurement, contract administration, emergency management, or organizational change. 
  • Experience implementing work-management, document-management, property-management, or enterprise information systems from a business-operations perspective. 
  • Experience working in a public development authority, government, mission-driven real estate organization, or similarly regulated environment. 


OTHER REQUIREMENTS 

  • Must pass a background check. 
  • Ability to adapt to shifting priorities and take on additional responsibilities as the role and organization evolve. 
  • As a condition of employment, employees of Seattle Social Housing Developer are generally prohibited from residing in housing that is owned, developed, operated, or managed by SSHD, except where SSHD has approved a limited operational exception.  
  • Must reside in King County. 


OUR CULTURE OF CONSTRUCTIVE CLARITY 

We are carrying out a bold mandate, which requires us to be exceptionally honest and clear with one another. We actively value different perspectives and expect our team members to share constructive disagreements and challenge ideas during our planning stages. We know that brilliant minds process and share information differently. Whether you prefer to speak up in a meeting, share written feedback after digesting a proposal, or discuss ideas one-on-one with your manager, we welcome and support your communication style. What matters most to us is that we don't ignore unresolved issues. Once we have weighed all viewpoints and made a decision, we align and move forward as a unified team. If you value transparency, structured feedback, and committing to shared goals, we would love to have you join us. 


BUILDING EQUITY THROUGH HOUSING AND HIRING 

As part of Seattle Social Housing's overall commitment to racial equity, we work for affordable housing development that is grounded in justice. We see the hiring of this position, and all positions, as an opportunity to be a more equitable and racially just organization. 


Seattle Social Housing is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. People of color, Native and Indigenous people, trans and LGBQIA people, people with disabilities, and other individuals who bring critical perspectives from historically marginalized communities are strongly encouraged to apply. 


Application Notice 

We do not have a set closing date for this position. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and the posting will be removed once we have identified a strong pool of qualified candidates. We encourage you to apply early.