Associate Commissioner for External Affairs

New-York-City-Department-of-Housing-Preservation-; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) seeks an Associate Commissioner for External Affairs to drive external communications and government relations. You will lead cross‑agency collaboration, coordinate with senior leadership, and advance HPD's housing agenda with policymakers and stakeholders.

The role requires senior team leadership, strategic thinking, and exceptional written and verbal communication to influence public discourse and policy.

Qualifications

• Senior-level experience in external affairs or communications within government or large organizations.
• Deep knowledge of New York City government, affordable housing, urban planning principles.
• Strong leadership, project coordination, and stakeholder management.
• Ability to produce high-quality materials for diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute external affairs and communications strategies for the agency, including events, brand building, press relations, digital media, campaigns, and stakeholder management.
• Oversee public relations activities and messaging across media, web content, and social channels.
• Prepare the Commissioner for meetings, engagements, and external appearances; represent the Commissioner at external events as needed.
• Manage New York City’s affordable housing legislative agenda at city, state, and federal levels.
• Collaborate with policy makers, advocates, and planners to align housing policy with external positioning.
• Ensure readiness for public hearings and respond to inquiries from public and officials.
• Foster a strong team culture based on equity, inclusivity, collaboration, and responsiveness.

Skills

Team management

Project management

Policy expertise

Communication skills

Judgment

Collaboration

Education

Master's degree in urban planning, urban studies, public policy, real estate or related field

Job description

About the Agency: The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) oversees housing standards across all 3.7 million homes in New York City. As the nation’s largest municipal housing agency, HPD is responsible for building and preserving affordable housing, protecting tenants from harassment and displacement, and holding landlords accountable across the five boroughs. Under Commissioner Dina Levy and the Mamdani Administration, HPD is pursuing an ambitious housing agenda focused on the needs of New York’s tenants. With a broad set of tools including standards enforcement, tenant resources, and the creation of new affordable housing, HPD is committed to making New York City a more affordable place for renters and homeowners alike.
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Your Team

The Office of External Affairs advances and promotes the agency's priorities in support of HPD's mission. It is comprised of two divisions: the Division of Government Affairs and the Division of Communications. The Division of Government Affairs works with City, State, and federal elected officials, as well as agencies, policy makers, advocates, and other stakeholders to assess, craft, and secure legislative changes needed to implement HPD’s goals of creating and preserving affordable housing and protecting the quality and safety of the City’s housing stock.
The Division of Communications oversees all public relations for the agency and is responsible for crafting a proactive strategy to promote agency initiatives, programs, and accomplishments to the media, our partners, our staff, and the public. The division manages interactions with the press, social media channels, the agency’s website, internal communications, and digital and print materials.

Your Role

As a senior official within the agency, you will be responsible for making sure your office and senior leadership work together to execute the Commissioner’s, Deputy Mayor’s, and Mayor’s initiatives and policy objectives. In close coordination with external agency partners, you will also be responsible for facilitating improved communication, coordination, and collaboration within your team, among other teams at the agency, and with external stakeholders.

Your Responsibilities

In coordination with leadership from the Chief of Staff and Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs, the Associate Commissioner will:

• Develop and execute robust external affairs and communications strategies for the agency, including for public events, brand building, press relations, digital media, issue-based campaigns, and legislator and general stakeholder relationship management.
• Manage creative production and message consistency of the launch of any advertising, traditional media coverage, web content, and social media efforts.
• Oversee all public relations activities and formal communications materials generated by the agency, including press releases.
• Ensure the Commissioner is fully prepared for meetings, speaking engagements, and other public appearances and/or represent the Commissioner at external meetings and events as required, fostering positive relationships with key stakeholders.
• Manage New York City’s affordable housing legislative agenda at the city, state, and federal levels. Identify hearings and bills that relate and impact the agency’s ability to deliver on our agenda.
• Collaborate with policy makers, advocates, and planners to assess and craft housing policies for managing the agency’s external positioning on any relevant non-housing legislation or policies.
• Ensure the agency is adequately prepared for public hearings and respond to inquiries from the general public and elected officials to execute on successfully advancing those goals.
• Build and sustain strong team culture based on equity, inclusivity collaboration, and responsiveness.

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Exceptional team- and project-management skills, including ability to execute. Proven ability to: manage multiple teams and complex projects with multiple internal and external stakeholders; receive direction and anticipate next steps; think through, communicate, document, organize, and execute on project goals and keep other team members on schedule. Ability to manage up, down, and across teams. Attentive to the details, organized, and able to follow through.
• Subject-matter expertise. Knowledge of New York City government, affordable housing, urban planning principles and processes; basic understanding of real estate development principles; masters degree in urban planning, urban studies, public policy, real estate or a related field; substantial professional experience in a related field.
• Outstanding communication skills. Extremely strong written, verbal, and presentation skills. Proven ability to produce high-quality materials in a variety of formats for internal and external audiences.
• Good judgment. Ability to analyze a situation, understand what is needed, understand when additional input is needed, flag or resolve issues as necessary, and escalation when appropriate.
• Collaborative and creative spirit. Excited to be part of a team, to work with others to solve problems creatively and get quality work done. Ability to hear, take, and give feedback effectively and productively; to motivate peers to get the job done.

Minimum Qualifications

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of experience in one or more of the following areas: community organization, social work, urban development projects, real estate, public administration, or a related field, of which two years must have been in a field directly related to neighborhood improvement such as housing, community organization, urban renewal or planning, or real estate. A Law Degree or graduate work in an appropriate field may be substituted for up to two years of the general experience required; or
2. Education and/or experience equivalent to "1", including part-time and/or volunteer experience.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/.

Residency Requirement

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.