Housing Services Program Manager
Job Description
Position Title: Housing Services Program Manager
Employment Status: Full-Time, Exempt
Reports To: Executive Leadership
Department: Housing Services
Location: Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area
Position Summary
The Housing Services Program Manager provides leadership, supervision, and day-to-day management of a comprehensive housing counseling and homeownership services department. This position is responsible for ensuring high-quality client services, regulatory compliance, staff performance, program growth, accurate reporting, and the successful delivery of housing education, counseling, financial capability, and homebuyer assistance programs.
The ideal candidate is an experienced housing professional who understands the homebuying and mortgage lending process and is comfortable working directly with clients, lenders, real estate professionals, government agencies, community partners, and funding organizations.
This is a hands-on management position. The successful candidate must be able to manage staff and programs while also possessing the technical knowledge necessary to guide clients and partners through the homeownership process, including mortgage readiness, underwriting requirements, down payment assistance, documentation, closing preparation, and post-purchase responsibilities.
Essential Duties and ResponsibilitiesProgram Leadership & Management
- Manage the daily operations of the organization's housing counseling, homebuyer education, financial capability, and homeownership assistance programs.
- Supervise housing counselors, program staff, and other assigned personnel.
- Establish departmental goals, work plans, performance expectations, and measurable outcomes.
- Monitor staff productivity, client pipelines, counseling activity, program closings, education participation, and other key performance indicators.
- Conduct regular staff meetings and individual performance reviews.
- Identify operational challenges and implement corrective actions and process improvements.
- Assist executive leadership with the development and implementation of annual departmental goals and organizational strategic priorities.
- Develop strategies to increase program participation, successful homeownership outcomes, and departmental revenue.
Housing Counseling & Client Services
- Ensure clients receive comprehensive and timely housing counseling consistent with applicable program requirements and organizational standards.
- Provide oversight of pre-purchase counseling, financial capability counseling, rental counseling, foreclosure prevention, post-purchase counseling, and other approved housing counseling services.
- Review client files and counseling documentation for completeness, accuracy, quality, and compliance.
- Ensure clients receive individualized assessments and written action plans when required.
- Assist staff with complex counseling cases and provide technical guidance regarding mortgage readiness, credit, budgeting, debt management, affordability, and barriers to homeownership.
- Maintain the ability to provide direct counseling or client assistance when staffing or program needs require it.
Homebuyer Education
- Oversee the organization's homebuyer education program, including in-person, virtual, and other approved delivery methods.
- Ensure education curricula remain current and compliant with applicable standards.
- Coordinate instructors, schedules, registration, participant documentation, certificates, and reporting.
- Identify opportunities to expand homebuyer education and financial capability programming.
- Develop relationships with lenders, real estate professionals, title companies, insurance professionals, inspectors, and other industry partners who can support educational programming.
Down Payment & Homebuyer Assistance Programs
- Manage multiple down payment assistance and homebuyer assistance programs administered on behalf of governmental, financial institution, philanthropic, and other partners.
- Maintain a working knowledge of the eligibility requirements for each program.
- Ensure staff can clearly communicate program guidelines to clients, lenders, Realtors, and other partners.
- Review applications and documentation for program eligibility and completeness.
- Coordinate with lenders, processors, underwriters, title companies, real estate professionals, and internal staff to facilitate timely closings.
- Monitor funding commitments, reservations, closings, reimbursements, and available program balances.
- Ensure required documentation is obtained and retained for each transaction.
Mortgage & Underwriting Knowledge
The Housing Services Program Manager is expected to develop and maintain strong technical knowledge of the mortgage lending process and be capable of explaining the organization's homeownership products to lending partners.
Responsibilities include:
- Understanding conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, and other commonly utilized mortgage products.
- Understanding debt-to-income ratios, loan-to-value requirements, credit standards, reserves, assets, income documentation, and basic mortgage underwriting principles.
- Reviewing lender documentation associated with homebuyer assistance transactions.
- Identifying potential eligibility or underwriting concerns before closing.
- Working collaboratively with lenders to resolve documentation and program compliance issues.
- Conducting lender training and technical assistance sessions regarding the organization's homebuyer and down payment assistance products.
- Providing lenders with step-by-step guidance regarding application, eligibility, documentation, underwriting, approval, funding, and closing requirements.
Compliance & Quality Assurance
- Ensure programs operate in accordance with applicable federal, state, local, funder, and organizational requirements.
- Maintain knowledge of HUD housing counseling requirements and other applicable program standards.
- Conduct periodic internal file reviews and quality-control checks.
- Ensure required disclosures, counseling documentation, action plans, income documentation, and program-specific records are maintained.
- Monitor corrective actions resulting from internal reviews, audits, monitoring visits, or funder reviews.
- Assist with preparation for monitoring visits, audits, program reviews, and organizational assessments.
- Protect confidential client information and ensure staff follow organizational privacy and data-security policies.
Data, Reporting & Performance Management
- Ensure timely and accurate entry of client and program information into the organization's client management and reporting systems.
- Monitor departmental dashboards and key performance indicators.
- Review program reports for accuracy prior to submission.
- Track metrics including, but not limited to:
- Counseling households served
- Homebuyer education participants
- Counseling outcomes
- Mortgage-ready clients
- Down payment assistance applications
- Homebuyer assistance closings
- Foreclosure prevention outcomes
- Financial capability outcomes
- Program revenue
- Partner referrals
- Client pipeline activity
- Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual departmental reports for executive leadership.
- Assist with preparation of reports required by government agencies, funders, financial institutions, and other partners.
Business Development & Revenue Generation
A significant responsibility of this position is helping the department expand its reach and financial sustainability.
The Manager will:
- Develop an annual departmental business and revenue plan.
- Identify opportunities for fee-for-service counseling and education.
- Strengthen lender and Realtor referral relationships.
- Develop partnerships with employers, financial institutions, municipalities, housing organizations, and community organizations.
- Identify opportunities for new homebuyer assistance and financial capability programs.
- Participate in community presentations, workshops, conferences, and outreach activities.
- Work with executive leadership to identify potential grants, contracts, sponsorships, and earned-revenue opportunities.
- Monitor departmental revenue and expenses against established goals.
Staff Leadership
The Housing Services Program Manager is expected to create a professional, accountable, client-focused departmental culture.
The Manager will:
- Provide ongoing coaching, training, and technical assistance to staff.
- Establish individual performance expectations.
- Monitor workloads and caseloads.
- Identify training needs and recommend professional development opportunities.
- Ensure appropriate cross-training within the department.
- Address performance concerns promptly and professionally.
- Encourage continuous learning and professional certification.
- Promote collaboration between housing services, lending, real estate, property management, development, and administrative departments.
Community & Partner Relations
- Represent the organization at community meetings, housing events, lender meetings, conferences, and professional organizations.
- Develop strong relationships with banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, real estate professionals, government agencies, housing authorities, nonprofit organizations, and other community partners.
- Conduct presentations regarding homeownership programs and services.
- Provide technical assistance and training to lending and real estate partners.
- Develop referral networks that increase participation in housing counseling and homeownership programs.
- Maintain a high level of professionalism when representing the organization externally.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in business, finance, housing, social services, public administration, nonprofit management, real estate, or a related field preferred. Relevant professional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
- Minimum of three years of experience in housing counseling, mortgage lending, homeownership programming, affordable housing, financial capability, real estate, community development, or a related field.
- Prior supervisory or program management experience strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated understanding of the homebuying and mortgage lending process.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to interpret program regulations, policies, contracts, and funding requirements.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills.
- Ability to manage multiple programs and deadlines simultaneously.
- Experience working with clients from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office and client/database management systems.
- Ability to analyze program data and prepare management reports.
Preferred Qualifications
- HUD Certified Housing Counselor or ability to obtain certification within an established period following employment.
- Experience with HUD-approved housing counseling programs.
- Experience administering down payment assistance or homebuyer assistance programs.
- Experience working with mortgage lenders and loan underwriters.
- Knowledge of FHA, conventional, VA, USDA, and affordable mortgage products.
- Experience with Salesforce, HomeKeeper, or similar client management systems.
- Experience with financial capability or credit counseling.
- Experience developing departmental budgets, revenue plans, or fee-for-service programs.
- Experience conducting professional training or presentations.
- HECM counseling certification or willingness to complete required training.
- Bilingual English/Spanish capabilities are a plus.
Core Competencies
Successful candidates should demonstrate:
Leadership: Ability to establish expectations, supervise employees, hold staff accountable, and develop a high-performing team.
Technical Knowledge: Strong understanding of housing counseling, mortgage lending, homeownership assistance, and the homebuying process.
Client Service: Commitment to providing respectful, timely, and solution-oriented assistance.
Accountability: Ability to manage deadlines, reporting requirements, compliance obligations, and departmental performance.
Communication: Ability to clearly explain complex housing and mortgage requirements to clients and professional partners.
Problem Solving: Ability to identify barriers and develop practical solutions for clients, staff, and programs.
Business Development: Ability to build partnerships, generate referrals, identify new opportunities, and contribute to departmental sustainability.
Continuous Learning: Willingness to maintain current knowledge of housing regulations, mortgage products, legislation, technology, and industry trends.
Performance Expectations
Performance will be evaluated based on the Manager's ability to:
- Meet annual counseling and education production goals.
- Increase successful homeownership outcomes.
- Maintain timely and accurate client documentation.
- Meet reporting and compliance deadlines.
- Successfully administer homebuyer assistance programs.
- Maintain strong relationships with lenders and community partners.
- Develop staff knowledge and performance.
- Expand departmental referral networks.
- Increase earned and contracted program revenue.
- Maintain satisfactory monitoring and quality-control results.
- Demonstrate working knowledge of applicable housing and mortgage programs.
- Provide executive leadership with timely and accurate program information.
Working Conditions
This position primarily operates in a professional office environment but may require attendance at community events, workshops, lender meetings, closings, training sessions, and other off-site activities.
Some evening or weekend hours may be required for homebuyer education classes, community events, or special programs.
Local travel may be required.
Equal Opportunity
The employer is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to qualified applicants and employees without regard to legally protected characteristics. Reasonable accommodations will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter describing their relevant experience, qualifications, and interest in theHousing Services Program Manager position.
Job Type: Full-Time
Experience: Housing Counseling – 2 years preferred
Certification: HUD Housing Counselor Certification – preferred
Work Location: In Person
Compensation:
Commensurate with experience.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $55,000.00 - $68,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- 403(b) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Experience:
- Housing Counseling: 2 years (Preferred)
License/Certification:
- HUD Housing Counselor Certificate (Preferred)
Work Location: In person
