Associate Director of Technical Assistance

Company: Homeword
Location: Washington
Posted on: May 24, 2025

Job Description:

Associate Director of Technical AssistanceCommunity Progress is the only national nonprofit dedicated to helping people transform vacant spaces into vibrant places. Our team provides urban, suburban, and rural communities looking to revitalize vacant properties with the tools and resources needed to address those properties at the policy and systems level. Since 2010, we have delivered customized, expert guidance to leaders in over 300 communities and provided hundreds of hours of free educational resources as well as leadership programming to help policymakers, practitioners, and community members across the country return properties to productive use. Learn more at www.communityprogress.org/about .About the Technical Assistance TeamThe nine-member Technical Assistance team at Community Progress is made up of former public sector practitioners, attorneys, and urban planners who are passionate about revitalizing communities by addressing vacant properties at the policy and systems scale. We take great pride in technical work that is transformative work. We partner primarily with local governments and land banks to assess and reform their policies and practices with a strong focus on racial equity and community impact. Drawing on our decades of legal and executive experience, we help communities tackle code enforcement, delinquent property tax enforcement, land banks, vacant land stewardship, data and market analysis, and comprehensive planning. We lead with curiosity and care-listening closely, challenging thoughtfully, centering residents, and supporting implementation efforts. We bring creativity, joy, and mutual respect to our work and to each other.Our team has provided expert technical guidance to more than 350 communities in over 35 states. Some examples include:

• In St. Louis and Louisville, we helped local partners review their code enforcement policies and practices specific to deteriorated properties through the lens of racial equity.
• In West Virginia and Missouri, we worked alongside a diverse coalition to draft and win statewide reforms to property tax laws to reduce vacancy and support vulnerable homeowners.
• In New York, Georgia, and Nebraska, we helped land bank leaders design and incubate innovative programs that have become models for the national field of practice.
• We published national resources to uplift and support best practices of vacant land transformation across the country that advances community resiliency and health.
• In Puerto Rico, our seven-year partnership with a local nonprofit has resulted in a significant boost in local capacity and knowledge to address vacant properties, new island-wide laws to help stabilize neighborhoods, and new local land banks to support disaster recovery efforts.A catalogof our work can be found at communityprogress.org/publications.Job SummaryThe Associate Director will lead small project teams to deliver expert technical assistance to local governments and land banks that supports neighborhood revitalization by addressing vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties. Whether leading or supporting technical assistance engagements, the Associate Director will:
  • Build trust with public sector partners in diverse communities across the US
  • Manage and work alongside a team of lawyers and community development professionals committed to advancing justice for people living in historically disinvested communities
  • Support public servants and residents in diagnosing legal and policy barriers to revitalizing vacant properties
  • Deliver clear, actionable recommendations through written products such as policy briefs, reports, and strategic plansCommunity Progress focuses on supporting communities-whether in historically segregated neighborhoods of major cities, or in small rural towns hollowed out by factory closures-that have been routinely devalued by the public and private sectors, resulting in large inventories of vacant properties. The Associate Director will support this reparative work by designing technical and legal solutions-as well as compelling narratives that support them-to make communities more resilient, help residents build wealth, and eliminate barriers to opportunity and disparities between residents.Through this work, the Associate Director will gain national expertise, a diverse network of impressive changemakers and partners, and ultimately a reputation of prominence in the broader field of community development.Skills/ExperienceQualifications and ExperienceThe ideal candidate is a skilled manager, creative thinker, and persuasive communicator with senior professional experience in community development, local government, or land banking.QualificationsThis is not an entry-level role. Members of the Technical Assistance Team bring years of professional experience to the work, and some had served nearly a decade or more in senior leadership or executive positions in the public sector before joining the Technical Assistance Team.Candidates should meet one of the following criteria:
    • At least 8 years of professional experience in the public, nonprofit, or private sectors with a focus on community development or closely related field, in which 4 of those years involved a strong focus on VAD properties or neighborhood revitalization in local government or a land bank; or
    • At least 12 years of professional experience in community development fields-such as housing security, public health, environmental justice, resilience, or urban planning-that intersected with VAD property challenges.Core Competencies and AttributesSkilled Manager and Creative Thinker: In each technical assistance engagement, the Associate Director will manage research into understanding the drivers, scale, and nature of VAD properties in each community. Relying on the project team's conversations with stakeholders, legal research of local and state policies, and a review of current data and practices, they will help develop locally appropriate recommendations that build consensus and excitement toward implementation. The Associate Director will scope projects, manage budgets, ensure timely deliverables, and independently balance multiple priorities and dynamic workplans.Creative Problem-Solver and Collaborator: The Associate Director thrives on solving complex problems and navigating competing legal, financial, political and social dynamics to shape actionable local solutions. The ideal candidate is a diplomatic relationship-builder who can engage stakeholders who share opposing points of view and diverse political perspectives. They will proactively identify innovative policies to address VAD properties and explore new approaches.Persuasive and Effective Communicator: The Associate Director will craft concise, compelling written deliverables-such as memos, policy briefs, reports, presentations, or strategic plans-that set local leaders up for success in addressing VAD properties. They will also lead or support in-person and virtual workshops and presentations that demystify key systems like code enforcement, delinquent property tax enforcement, land banks, and vacant property reuse.Mission Alignment: Candidates should bring lived and/or professional experience with the issues facing disinvested communities. They will be aware of how decades of unjust policies and practices have left some communities with more than their fair share of boarded-up homes and vacant lots, and be committed to uncovering and disrupting those systems to help residents see their neighborhood's bright future.The salary range for this role is $110,000 - 125,000 commensurate with experience and qualifications. To qualify for the higher end of this salary range, a candidate would need to demonstrate significant experience and executive leadership working directly on VAD properties in either local, county, or state governments; public entities like land banks; or non-governmental firms specialized in community development and neighborhood revitalization.Additionally, the Center for Community Progress provides an excellent and comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401k match, professional development, access to flexible spending or health savings accounts, and generous personal time off benefits.This Community Progress has a strong remote work culture and will consider candidates who are fully remote or hybrid with one of our offices in Washington DC, Flint, Chicago, or Atlanta. The anticipated tentative start date is September 1, 2025.How to ApplyInterested applicants must submit a cover letter hat articulates your experience working with local government entities and understanding of the issues Community Progress works on, resume, and two writing samples that demonstrate your ability to clearly communicate complex topics to non-technical audiences by 5:00pm EST, Friday, June 20. We reserve the right to accept applications submitted after this date but will remove the posting once the position has been filled. Please apply using the form on our Jobs page at www.communityprogress.org .Not sure if we are the right fit for you? Let's talk! You can reach out to learn more about the position and our team by emailing us at hiring@communityprogress.org .Additional InformationEqual Opportunity EmploymentThe Center for Community Progress (Community Progress) does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, or sex in administration of its programs or activities, nor does it intimidate or retaliate against any individual or group because they have exercised their rights to participate in actions protected, or oppose action prohibited, by 40 C.F.R. Parts 5 and 7, or for the purpose of interfering with such rights. Community Progress' Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is responsible for coordination of compliance efforts and receipt of inquiries concerning non-discrimination requirements implemented by 40 C.F.R. Parts 5 and 7.We envision a future where all people live in strong, healthy, just communities where widespread vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties no longer exist. Our mission is to foster strong, equitable communities where vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties are transformed into assets for neighbors and neighborhoods.ProgramsSince 2010, Community Progress has provided urban, suburban, and rural communities battling systemic vacancy with the policies, tools, and resources needed to address the full cycle of property revitalization.We are the only national nonprofit dedicated to tackling vacant properties and drive change by uncovering and disrupting the unjust systems that perpetuate entrenched vacancy and property deterioration.
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