Community Development and Grants Specialist

Community Development and Grants Specialist

Location:  310 Court Street, Clearwater, FL  33756

Schedule: This position would have a flexible work schedule that includes remote work.

The position involves professional community development work implementing housing and community development programs and activities. The position will work independently in administering aspects of grant administration, grant compliance, loan portfolio management, and/or community development initiatives. Grants include US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs such as CDBG, HOME, ESG and the Florida State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program.  

Responsibilities of the position may include ensuring grant compliance with federal and state regulations, administering community development programs, assisting in development of plans and reports, performing loan portfolio management functions, conducting research, and providing technical assistance to nonprofits related to funding applications and awards. Duties include loan portfolio management; assisting with preparation of annual plans and reports; subrecipient monitoring; and community relations.  Employees in this class are expected to handle all phases of assigned responsibilities to promote community development, grant program compliance, expand community resources, and project development; sometimes training, leading and monitoring volunteers and others.

What Would You Do?

• Assists in preparing written documents such as subrecipient contracts, annual plans, and performance reporting to HUD with clearly organized thoughts, proper sentence construction, punctuation, and grammar.
• Participates in the review of community development program applications; coordinates with non-profit agencies, funders and others to ensure compliance with federal and state grant regulations.
• Evaluates loan applications, calculates annual household income and makes loan underwriting decisions for loan modifications and workouts.
• Assists with preparing, executing, and monitoring subrecipient contracts.
• Sets up projects and enters related data in US Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS).
• Loan portfolio management including generating portfolio monitoring reports and ensures compliance of the monthly Action Due Report, the County Interest report and continued use grant compliance requirements; performing initial setup for loans being serviced and processes satisfactions and releases of liens; negotiating portfolio management workout strategies with borrowers, prepares necessary security instruments and submits a to superiors; establishes and maintains tracking systems for all portfolio-related documents and oversees the storage of physical and electronic documents in a secure manner; monitors expiring insurance policies and requests renewal certificates; answering inquiries concerning loan portfolio matters; confers and coordinates with County Attorney’s Office, title companies, other various county departments and borrowers regarding portfolio matters.
• Provides technical assistance to subrecipient entities and applicants for funding.
• Assists in preparing required periodic reports related to CDBG/HOME/ESG programs.
• Examines and reviews grant applications, plans, reports and reporting requirements for compliance issues; coordinates with non-profit agencies, funders and others to ensure compliance with federal and state grant regulations.
• Prepares preliminary drafts and edits materials related to area of assignment.
• May direct technical or support personnel on planning or functional projects.
• Prepares desk procedures, including manuals, for effective grants management and cross training purposes.

• Ensures maintenance of proper grant audit trails and manages and maintains department record keeping and project management files, relevant to materials appropriate to assigned activity or section.

   

What Do You Need To Have?

• 6 years of paraprofessional and professional experience working with federal grants, preferably CDBG, HOME and ESG, in affordable housing, community development programs, grant administration, real estate finance, mortgage lending, or community development work as described.
• Associates Degree with major course work in social services, business, finance, housing administration, public administration, urban planning, government, law, engineering, design, economics geography, statistics or a related field plus 4 years of paraprofessional and professional experience in affordable housing, grant administration, real estate finance, mortgage lending, or community development work as described.
• Bachelor’s degree with major course work in social services, business, finance, housing administration, public administration, urban planning, government, law, engineering, design, economics geography, statistics or a related field plus two (2) years of paraprofessional and professional experience in affordable housing, grant administration, real estate finance, mortgage lending, or community development work as described.
• Master’s or higher-level degree with major course work in social services, business, finance, housing administration, public administration, urban planning, government, law, engineering, design, economics geography, statistic or a related field.
• An equivalent combination of education, training and/or experience. 
• Possession and maintenance of a valid State of Florida Driver’s License upon hire with eligibility based upon evaluation of a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) driving report.

• Assignment to work a variety of work schedules including compulsory work periods in special, emergency, and/or disaster situations.

   

Highly Desirable

• Community development and/ or affordable housing grant management experience; including knowledge of the federal and state grant programs (CDBG, HOME, ESG, SHIP).
• Knowledge of HUD’s consolidated planning process.
• Experience with HUD’s Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS).
• Ability to interpret federal and state regulations for community development programs.
• Ability to participate in programmatic and housing programs, analyze information and formulate substantive recommendations.
• Experience or special skill sets in such areas as income calculations, project finance, public involvement, etc.

• Technical skills related to data and document management, data analysis, use of graphic tools to create professional documents, etc.

   

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge and proficiency in the principles, practices and methods of grants administration, grants compliance and community development planning, including federal and state grant regulations, generally accepted standard accounting principles and the Super Circular.
• Knowledge of real property development including realty, mortgaging, insurance, title searches, property descriptions, permitting and assessments.
• Knowledge of housing requirements of low- to moderate-income families and of public and private agencies rending social, economic and other assistance.
• Knowledge of real estate practices, procedures and laws.
• Knowledge of requirements of forms, content, and recording necessary to validate documents involved in real estate transactions.
• Ability to conduct preliminary negotiations.
• Ability to understand and perform mathematical calculations typical of real estate transactions.
• Self-starter, ability to work independently and as well as collaboratively in a small team.
• Capacity to prioritize multiple tasks to meet deadlines.
• Knowledge of research techniques and data gathering.
• Knowledge of housing, building and energy codes and land development regulations.
• Knowledge of basic personal computer skills, including use of a personal computer and database programs.
• Ability to understand and interpret technical documents related to property (mortgages, maps, plats, easements and surveys).
• Ability to present ideas and findings clearly and concisely in written, oral and graphic form.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other department representatives, outside agencies, and the general public.
• Ability to interpret plans and specifications.
• Ability to function highly as a member of an assigned team working on the same program or project.

• Ability to organize and carry out studies or projects.

   

Our benefits rank among the top in the area!

• Looking for a strong retirement? We have you covered as members of the Florida Retirement System (FRS) with investment and pension options.

• We have deferred compensation programs and wellness centers to name a few perks. Check out these and more!

   

Want To Learn More?

Please review the full classification description with the Physical/Mental Demands, Working Conditions, and Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities at the below link. 

Community Development Specialist 3, C27