The Department of Community and Human Services values diverse perspectives and life experiences. The Department encourages people of all backgrounds to apply, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, veterans, and those with lived experiences.

King County's Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) provides equitable opportunities for people to be healthy, happy, and connected to community.

Are you passionate about working upstream to advance equity and social justice in affordable housing planning and policy? Do you thrive on working through real world challenges to help housing policy implementation succeed? Are you motivated to apply your expertise in affordable housing or planning in pursuit of dismantling the enduring legacy of systemic racism in King County? Are you skilled at bringing order to ambiguity? King County's Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) is looking for you!

DCHS’ Housing, Homelessness, and Community Development Division (HHCDD) program is looking for a Equitable Affordable Housing Planner Project/Program Manager (PPM III) to support DCHS's efforts to develop the housing element of the King County Comprehensive Plan update and help staff the King County Affordable Housing Committee (AHC). The AHC functions as a point of coordination and accountability for affordable housing efforts across King County and supports equitable implementation of the Regional Affordable Housing Task Force’s Five Year Action Plan.

The Equitable Affordable Housing Planner reports to the Housing Policy and Special Projects Manager of HHCDD’s Planning, Policy, and Special Projects Team and is responsible for managing the day-to-day tasks of updating King County’s housing element and supporting the work of the AHC to strengthen the affordable housing focus of other King County jurisdictions’ comprehensive plans. This includes Identifying, compiling, and maintaining resources to aid planners in understanding the local history of racially exclusive and discriminatory land use and housing practices and strategies to address them. It also includes working with the Regional Affordable Housing team to implement the affordable housing accountability framework resulting from Growth Management Planning Council's Motion 21-1. 

WHO MAY APPLY: This position is open to all qualified candidates that meet the minimum qualifications.

REQUIRED MATERIALS: Candidates who wish to be considered for this position must submit an online King County application and respond to the supplemental questions. Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the requested and relevant information in the online application and supplemental questionnaire. Applications and/or supplemental questionnaires that state, “see my resume” are considered incomplete and will not be considered to be competitive.

WORK SCHEDULE/CONDITIONS: This position is exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and is not eligible for overtime. Typical hours are Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm. This position is represented by PROTEC17.

Teleworking Requirement 
 The work associated with this position will be performed through a combination of teleworking complemented with onsite work and meetings as needed. Employees will have access to shared workspaces at various King County facilities. Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.
  

Employees will be provided with a County issued laptop and must maintain a workspace with an internet connection (access may be supplemented in some situations) where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours. Please note that when an employee conducts work that is likely to bring them in contact with another individual, safety precautions are required, including the wearing of masks in some situations. King County is doing its part to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and remains committed to reducing our carbon footprint.
    
 King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely. The individual selected for this opportunity will be joining an innovative and progressive team that is redefining how we work as we transition to the department's hybrid environment.  

RECRUITER:  Annette Coleman; ancoleman@kingcounty.gov

Address Racial Disparities and Inequities in Housing

• Lead Policy, Planning and Special Projects team efforts around leveraging planning and policies to address racial disparities and inequities in housing access.
• Propose, design and implement strategies that build the capacity of jurisdictional staff to understand the legacy of discriminatory housing and land use policies and practices in their jurisdiction and assess and redress them.
• Identify, compile and maintain resources to aid planners in understanding the local history of racially exclusive and discriminatory land use and housing practices and strategies to address them.
• Apply an equity and social justice mindset to all aspects of the work in partnership with PPSP team members, other division and department staff and internal and external stakeholders.

Develop and Monitor King County’s Comprehensive Plan Housing Element

• Manage the 2024 update to the King County Comprehensive Plan Housing Element in coordination with the Housing Policy and Special Projects Manager and Regional Planning Team.
• Ensure alignment of the Housing Element to the King County Countywide Planning Policies.
• Work across DCHS and with other County departments to ensure alignment and consistency in housing-related plan elements and reports.
• Develop and execute a strategy for tracking implementation of King County’s Comprehensive Plan Housing Element, preparing necessary reports and advising division leadership on areas for improvement.

Strengthen Comprehensive Plan Housing Elements

• Partner with the Regional Affordable Housing Implementation Manager and Housing Interjurisdictional Team staff to strengthen jurisdiction’s housing elements, as guided by the King County Affordable Housing Committee.
• Partner with the Regional Affordable Housing Implementation Manager in championing robust implementation of the Housing Chapter of the Countywide Planning Policies.

Other Duties

• Together with Regional Affordable Housing team, support Committee work to monitor progress toward increasing housing affordability countywide.
• Lead or support other Policy, Planning and Special Projects activities, as assigned.

• A Bachelor's degree in urban planning, public administration or related field and at least four years of experience working in affordable housing or local or regional housing or land use planning. Additional housing-related experience may be substituted for the degree on a year for year basis.
• Knowledge of housing or land use planning practices under a statewide or regional comprehensive planning framework.
• Knowledge of the history of racially exclusive and discriminatory land use and housing practices in the United States.
• Experience developing and communicating strategies to address racial disparities in access to affordable housing.
• Experience researching best practices; gathering qualitative and quantitative data; assessing the effectiveness of a policy or planning action; and analyzing, synthesizing and creating recommendations and staff reports.
• Experience developing or reviewing housing-related policies or plans.
• Evidence of strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to clearly synthesize and present complex material verbally or in writing to diverse audiences.
• Highly organized with a demonstrated ability to succeed in a fast-paced dynamic environment, work on several tasks simultaneously, organize and prioritize work quickly in response to changing needs and meet deadlines.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a diverse team.

DESIRED EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

• Knowledge of the history of racially exclusive and discriminatory land use and housing practices in King County, particularly outside of Seattle
• Familiarity with King County-specific affordable housing issues.
• Knowledge of planning practices under Washington State’s Growth Management Act.

Forbes recently named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.

Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play.

Guided by our "True North", we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles--we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

King County Executive Branch employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are the successful candidate for the position you applied for, the County will send you a conditional offer letter.

As a condition of employment, prior to a final offer of employment, you will be required to:

• submit proof of vaccination, or
• have an approved request for medical or religious exemption and an approved accommodation. Philosophical, political, scientific, or sociological objections to vaccination will not be considered for an exemption or accommodation.