Updated: Mar 6, 2023
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) is seeking an Executive Director to succeed our retiring leader, Eric Burmeister.
Position Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Position Start Date: No later than June 1, 2023
Competitive Compensation: $140,000-$170,000 annually.
The complete position description is available at pchtf.org/join-our-team.
About the Polk County Housing Trust Fund
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) has earned a reputation as the “go to” non-profit for all things related to housing affordability in Polk County. Located in downtown Des Moines, the organization provides strategic leadership, expertise, and resources to strengthen area communities through affordable housing. It does this through three areas of actionable focus —comprehensive planning, advocacy, and funding.
About the role of Executive Director
High-profile community position leading critically important conversations to shape perceptions, increase collaboration and expand partnerships leading to more affordable housing.
Be part of a dynamic team improving housing access/opportunity for people in Polk County. If you believe everyone should have access to affordable, safe housing and the opportunity to thrive, we welcome your application for this leadership position.
Key priorities
Builds positive relationships, partnerships and high-level trust with elected and appointed officials, community organizations, funders, and providers to inspire systemic change and improve housing affordability options.
Supports sustainability of funded affordable housing providers and projects, while encouraging innovative solutions and new practices.
Demonstrates a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through continuous development, modeling inclusive behaviors, and proactively managing bias to ensure equitable affordable housing experiences for all.
Leads a positive work culture with clarity around roles and a spirit of collaboration and shared purpose within the team and in the community.
Outstanding communication and persuasive skills backed by strong use of data, problem-solving and understanding of regulations related to housing/community planning.
Provides guidance and recommendations to the Board of Directors in the development and implementation of the Strategic Plan and serves as point for the adherence to financial and accounting policies, practices and budget.
Essential qualifications
Bachelor’s degree with experience in an executive or senior management level position. Advanced degree in a related field of study is preferred.
Experience in at least one of the following areas is required: public administration, housing development, public policy, or community development. Prior experience in non-profit agency administration is preferred.
Ability to lead, support and develop team members within their areas of fundraising, major gifts, grant procurement, marketing, research, planning and community partnerships.
How to apply
A full job description can be found at www.pchtf.org/join-our-team. Please send your resume, a brief cover letter (up to 500 words) that conveys your beliefs around housing affordability and why you feel uniquely qualified to lead PCHTF, and 3 references to: Diana Deibler at diana@deiblerandcompany.com. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination of any kind. The PCHTF is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees with a work environment free of discrimination, harassment and intimidation. All employment decisions at PCHTF are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected class by federal, state or local laws. The PCHTF encourages all applicants.
Each year the Polk County Housing Trust Fund allocates resources for housing development through six separate funding programs, and in addition funds programs and supportive services for people in need of housing through a seventh funding program. It can be a lot to keep track of, so we wanted to summarize two ways you can stay up to date:
First, all information about funding programs including applications, program criteria, and timelines/deadline information can be found at pchtf.org/apply. This also includes all information about the ARPA Special Allocation process currently underway.
Second, PCHTF has updated our email notification service for funding availabilities. You can now sign up to receive e-notifications when funding rounds open. Go to the bottom of PCHTF.org and choose Get our e-mails, or just click here to see the form. Fill out the form and be sure to check Funding Notice List before clicking. Sign up!
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) has awarded Amal Barre of Des Moines a Graduate Fellowship in Housing Justice for the 2022-2023 academic year. The fellowship supports scholarly research and productive community dialogue about how to achieve Greater Des Moines’ progress toward equitable housing outcomes for all people and families living in the community.
Barre has long championed housing access and opportunity in Greater Des Moines. She serves as VP of planning and strategy at Oakridge Neighborhood, a nonprofit housing and human services agency that provides housing and wraparound services in Des Moines’ urban core. She is the founder and project director of unevictIA, a project that cultivates eviction prevention strategies and builds partnerships to reduce barriers to emergency housing support services and affordable housing.
The fellowship supports Barre’s pursuit of her PhD in urban planning at the University of Amsterdam. Her primary research focus is on the impact of urban renewal policy on owner occupied household displacement in historically low-income and minority neighborhoods in Des Moines, Iowa, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, between 1950 and 2022. The research will advance strategies to reduce harmful effects of urban renewal programs in the future.
The Trust Fund gratefully acknowledges grant support of this program by the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation and the assistance of Dr. Jane Rongerude, associate professor of community and regional planning at Iowa State University, to develop the program.