Director And Community Development

Summary

• Are you a collaborative leader who can build trust, support staff growth, and guide a team through growth and change?
• Can you turn ambitious affordable housing plans into action while working closely with internal teams and consultants to reposition housing for the future?
• Do you excel at building strong relationships with community stakeholders to advance shared housing and development goals?

The vibrant and progressive Town of Chapel Hill invites you to apply for its Director for Housing and Community Development
. The Director provides executive leadership and leads a mission‑driven team dedicated to creating "a vibrant and inclusive community where all residents have access to affordable housing and opportunities to thrive."

This role offers an opportunity to provide steady, strategic leadership, guide staff through change, and foster a high‑performing, collaborative culture. The Director will lead both public and affordable housing challenges, support affordable housing redevelopment projects, and help expand housing opportunities in line with the Town’s vision of a Complete Community.

The Town's mission is Learning, Serving, and Working Together to Build a Community Where People Thrive. Our values Equity, Safety, Professionalism, Ethics, Communication, and Teamwork) are the basis for our choices and are reflected in our behavior and decisions every day. As a result, residents have consistently rated Chapel Hill as "high performing" in biennial community surveys. In the past three years, the Town has transitioned to a five‑year budget outlook aimed at ensuring organization‑wide sustainability and economic resiliency.

The Town consistently wins awards for its annual budget and financial report. The Town operates under a Council‑Manager form of government, with the Town Manager reporting to a nine‑member Town Council, led by the Mayor. Chapel Hill's strategic focus for the future is guided by the community vision established in the Chapel Hill 2020 Comprehensive Plan, refined with our 2023 Complete Community framework.

The Town prides itself on equitable community engagement, offering multiple ways for the community to become involved, share input, and stay informed through the Community Connections Strategy and Engagement Study Implementation, Advisory Boards and Commissions, and state‑of‑the‑art communication tools such as an open data web platform and social media to community surveys.

The Affordable Housing and Community Development Department includes two divisions focused on providing affordable housing and building community. The Department’s affordable housing division, led by an Assistant Director, oversees implementation of the’s affordable housing initiatives including created through the Council’s affordable housing zoning policies, of housing on Town‑owned land, federally funded Community Development Block Grant program, transitional housing and an employee housing program.

The team uses a combination of federal and local funds to carry out the Council’s vision. Our team works collaboratively with Town departments, community partners, the development community, and affordable housing advocates to achieve the Council’s affordable goals Chapel Hill is one of the in North Carolina that manages a Public Housing program. The Town’s public housing units are located within 11 communities throughout Town, and one in Carrboro.

We’ve recently completed an evaluation prioritized development of a Public Housing Repositioning Plan this calendar year. Hiring an Assistant Director to manage day‑to‑day operations Public is a key priority for the Director. Reporting the Town Manager, the Director of Housing and Community Development serves as the Town’s chief housing leader, providing strategic direction across affordable and public housing, as well as community development initiatives.

The Director must have a strong working knowledge of federal, state, local housing laws and funding programs, fair housing requirements, and best practices in housing development, finance, neighborhood revitalization, and urban planning, with a focus…