Assistant Director - Housing (Unclassified)

Our diverse and inclusive workforce of more than 7,000 employees play a key role in the success of San José, the heart of the Silicon Valley. All City of San José employees work together as one team to make San José a vibrant, innovative, and desirable place to live and work. Visit here to learn more about our One Team Leadership Values and Expectations, including quality and excellent customer service and here to learn more about San José.

The City of San José is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants for all job openings will be considered without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or any other consideration made unlawful under any federal, state or local laws. The City of San José is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at 408-535-1285, 711 (TTY) , or via email at CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov .

About the Department

The City of San Jose

Known as the “Capital of Silicon Valley,” the City of San José plays a vital economic and cultural role anchoring the world’s leading region of innovation. Encompassing approximately 181 square miles at the southern tip of the San Francisco Bay, San José is Northern California’s largest city and the 13th largest city in the nation. With nearly one million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world, including major tech headquarters like Cisco, Adobe, Zoom, Samsung, and eBay, as well as start-ups and advanced manufacturing. The City of San José has twice been named “The Most Innovative Large City in America” by the Center for Digital Government.

San José’s quality of life is unsurpassed. Surrounded by the Diablo and Santa Cruz mountain ranges and enjoying an average of 300 days of sunshine a year, residents have easy access to the beaches along the California coast, including Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Carmel; Yosemite and Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada; local and Napa Valley wine country; and the rich cultural and recreational life of the entire Bay region. San José has received accolades for its vibrant neighborhoods, healthy lifestyle, and diverse attractions from national media, including Business Week and Money magazines. For more information about the unparalleled quality of life in San José, please visit https://www.sjeconomy.com/why-san-jose.

The Envision San José 2040 , General Plan is the City’s policy document and blueprint for long-term growth and development. The Plan embodies the City’s “more urban future” and targets new development in growth areas, including Downtown, North San José, and Urban Villages. San José is powered by one of America's most highly educated and productive populations. More than 40% of the workforce has a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 25% nationally. Forty percent of San José residents are foreign-born, and 50% speak a language other than English at home.

San José is proud of its rich cultural diversity, ecosystem of talent, infrastructure, research and creation, and global connections.

City Government

The City of San José is a full-service Charter City and operates under a hybrid Council-Manager form of government. The City Council is comprised of 10 Council Members elected by district and a Mayor elected at-large. The City Manager, who reports to the Council, and her executive team provide strategic leadership that supports the policy-making role of the Mayor and the City Council and motivates and challenges the organization to deliver high-quality services that meet the community’s needs. The City actively engages with the community through Council-appointed boards and commissions.

The City’s priorities are guided by five City Council Focus Areas, which bring greater organizational emphasis, resource prioritization, and regular governance-level reporting to make notable progress on a limited number of strategic areas impacting the community. The current City Council Focus Areas are Increasing Community Safety, Reducing Unsheltered Homelessness, Cleaning up Our Neighborhoods, Building More Housing and Growing Our Economy.

In addition to providing a full range of municipal services, including police and fire, San José operates an international airport, a municipal water system, a regional wastewater treatment facility, over 200 neighborhood and regional parks, and a library system with 24 branches.

The City also oversees convention, cultural, and hospitality facilities, including the San José McEnery Convention Center, Center for the Performing Arts, California Theater, Mexican Heritage Plaza, and the SAP Center at San José -home of the National Hockey League’s San José Sharks.

City operations are supported by approximately 7,000 full-time equivalent positions and a total budget of $6.2 billion for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. San José is dedicated to maintaining the highest fiscal integrity and earning high credit ratings to ensure the consistent delivery of quality services to the community. Extensive information regarding San José can be found on the City’s website at www.sanjoseca.gov .
The Housing Department

The City of San Jose’s Housing Department’s mission is to strengthen and to revitalize the community through housing and neighborhood investments. The Housing Department has a budget of $251M, approximately 128 FTEs, funded over 21,000 affordable units and incentive over 3,000 market-rate units, oversees the Rent Stabilization Program providing administrative oversight to over 96,000 units, and is implementing innovative programs to achieve housing abundance, while striving to bring unsheltered homelessness in San Jose to functional zero through the implementation of an expansive shelter system comprising of over 2,000 units owned and operated by the City of San Jose, and achieving throughput to permanent housing.

The Housing Director reports to and serves as a key advisor to the City Manager. The Housing Director stewards the Housing Element of the Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan; leads housing production under the City Council Focus Areas for Building More Housing and Reducing Unsheltered Homelessness. The Department is led by the Director of Housing, Erik Solivan, a dynamic, credible voice and champion for housing production. The City is committed to creating a workplace that is welcoming, equitable, and is supportive of all of its employees.

Position Duties

The Assistant Director reports to the Director of Housing, and works closely with him, the two Deputy Directors, the Housing Department’s Leadership Team, and the City’s management team in implementing the City Council Focus Areas and the Housing Department’s Roadmap which provides priorities for the City and the Housing Department. The Assistant Director will initially have five direct reports (including the two Deputy Directors) and will directly oversee the Administrative Office, including Finance, Budget and Human Resources and the Grants Division.

The Assistant Director is responsible for the overall administration and operations of the Housing Department, including the budget, Human Resources, Technology, Emergency Response, and Communications, and ensures that systems, processes, and communications flow smoothly across the Department.

With so much recent growth, a priority for the Assistant Director is to ensure workflows are efficient, staff is well informed of Department priorities, trained, and supported.

The Assistant Director will be an energetic, self-directed, forward-thinking implementer and leader who has a keen eye for details, is very organized, an excellent writer, and understands or is curious about regulations. The Assistant Director has a high legal, ethical and moral compass, and one who thrives in a fast-paced, often-changing, very busy environment and supports the implementation of policy and programs.

Additional Information
You can find additional information regarding the Housing Department and the Assistant Director position by click on this link.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in public administration, public policy, urban studies, economics, sociology, or a closely related field is required. A Master’s degree is preferred.
Experience: A minimum of seven (7) years of increasingly responsible professional experience at a senior level with administrative, policy and program work in a public serving organization, including five years of management and supervisory experience in an executive role.
Compensation
The current salary range for Assistant Director is $184,968.42 to $298,804.74 (this includes a 5% non-pensionable compensation increase).The actual salary will be depend upon the qualifications and experience of the selected candidate.

In addition, the City provides an excellent array of benefits, (e.g. retirement, vacation and executive leave, etc.), which can be found in the Unit 99 Benefit and Compensation Summary:

https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/21323/638338116006430000

For more information on employee benefits, visit the City’s benefits website:

https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/human-resources/benefits

Other Qualifications

The Assistant Director is responsible for the day-to-day administration of these areas:

• With the Administrative Officer and Leadership Team, direct and participate in the preparation, implementation, and monitoring of the operating budget; review processes for assuring that progress is being made toward approved goals.
• Ensure the Housing Department workflows, administrative policies and procedures are current; all employees are familiar with and trained in the City’s policies as well as those of the Housing Department; ensure new employees have the tools they need to effectively do their jobs and understand programs they will be implementing; ensure Deputy Directors and Division Managers understand their role in onboarding; ensure the Department is welcoming to everyone.
• With the Director, implement performance reviews; encourage professional development; foster an environment that motivates and recognizes staff.
• Understand the Race, Equity and Inclusion work plan; advance mission by using racial equity tools to address racial disparities in services to the public and workforce; monitor the progress toward meeting both external and internal goals.

Administration

• Develop and oversee annual work plans, programs, and projects as directed and aligned to, the City Council priorities and Focus Areas.
• Ensure that program implementation is consistent with the funding sources and that spending deadlines are met.
• Oversee the creation and distribution of work, support systems, internal reporting, and processes to create better accountability and quality of work.
• Monitor and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery methods and procedures, identify opportunities for improvement, and direct the implementation of change; track service delivery quality and timeliness.
• Represent the Housing Department on the Emergency Management Team that is responsible for developing policies and plans in response to an emergency or disaster.
• Ensure that the Disaster Housing Plan is completed and updated as needed.

Communications and External Relations

• Serve as a representative of the Housing Department at meetings, conferences, and other public functions; support the Director in City Council relations.
• Engage collaboratively with community leaders, non-profit leaders in the administration of the City’s Shelter System
• Coordinate the execution of shared activities with the County of Santa Clara
• Contribute to the overall quality of the Department’s memorandums, reports, and website.

The Ideal Candidate

The Housing Department seeks an accomplished and self-directed leader to manage the day-to- day activities of a fast-paced environment, ensure work flow and staff are directed and supported, and communication flows smoothly across the department while promoting a productive, accountable, welcoming, and engaging culture.

Executive success in the City of San José is defined by an ability to model and sustain work that delivers on the City Manager’s One Team Leadership Values and Expectations .

Candidates will be highly effective communicators, trusted partners, implementers across divisions, and approachable leaders. They will demonstrate confidence, be empathetic, people-centered and results-oriented. They will be politically astute, creative, and a problem solver. They should work well in a fast paced and fluid environment and are comfortable operating in ambiguity. They should possess senior management experience with a successful record of achievement in leading change, assessing organizational cultures and being an active contributor to a highly skilled executive team. They will further develop an environment that creates a sense of belonging, breeds trust, and a culture of positive movement forward. They should be articulate, persuasive, and passionate about the Department’s mission.

They will be able to quickly learn the City of San Jose’s processes, systems, and priorities, and become known as a team player. They will champion justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. They will demonstrate appreciation of the value of input from a range of voices and the ability to ensure that all people feel respected and heard. This person will have strategic agility, drive for results, and demonstrate outstanding leadership skills. There should be a leader who promotes a cooperative work environment by allowing others opportunities to train on new skills, ask for help when needed, and learn from mistakes.

Candidates have experience and/or the ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with staff, the elected officials, community members most impacted by housing instability and homelessness, neighborhood groups, community-based organizations, grantee partners, affordable housing funders and developers, and other partners. They will possess outstanding verbal and written communication skills with the ability to make effective presentations to diverse audiences in multiple languages with the assistance of interpreters. They should have demonstrated experience building cohesive and successful partnerships with ethnically diverse groups.

While the role carries significant operational and administrative responsibility, a candidate with demonstrated experience in housing and community development systems is desirable. This includes familiarity with affordable housing finance, homelessness response systems, federal and state housing programs (e.g., HUD, HOME, CDBG), and the regulatory and funding environments that shape local housing delivery. Experience working with developers, service providers, regional partners, and community stakeholders—particularly those most impacted by housing instability—is highly valued. This experience will enable the Assistant Director to effectively support the Director and Deputies in advancing the City’s housing production, preservation, and homelessness response goals.

Selection Process

To be considered for the opportunity, please submit your completed application, resume and cover letter by June 26, 2026. Candidates whose background and qualifications best match the position will be invited to move forward in the selection process.

If you have questions about the duties of this position, the selection or hiring processes, please contact Anthony Vu at Anthony1.Vu@sanjoseca.gov.

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

You must answer all job-specific questions to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Applicants are expected to write their own essays/responses.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

AI and the Hiring Process

We recognize that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming part of daily life and can be a valuable tool for learning, research, and professional growth. We encourage candidates to use AI responsibly as a support in preparing application materials, live assessments, and interviews. However, we value authenticity, accuracy and truthfulness. Application responses and interview answers must reflect your own knowledge, skills, and experiences. While AI can supplement preparation, it cannot replace the originality and judgment we look for in our employees. This ensures fairness, transparency, and equity for all applicants in the hiring process.

The City of San Jose offers a wide range of core health benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Disability, and Savings Plans. Please visit the City's benefits pagefor detailed information on coverage, cost, and dependent coverage.

For information on the City’s Retirement Plan(pension for full-time employees), please visit the Office of Retirement Services website. You will be able to view information based on different Sworn/Federated job classification.

In additional to the benefits above, there is an additional perks siteto explore further benefits of working for the City of San Jose like paid leave, educational reimbursements, and holiday pay are specific to the job classification and union membership.

Closing Date/Time: 6/26/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

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• City of San Jose

• 408-535-1285

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