Director of Coordinated Access Network (Program to Address Homelessness)

The full job description covers all associated skills, previous experience, and any qualifications that applicants are expected to have.

We Love What Makes You Unique

Your perspective fuels our mission-driven work at United Way of Greater New Haven. We are committed to building a team that is inclusive across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and lived experience.

As an organization, we are committed to addressing systemic racism and injustice in our community, our partnerships, and our practices.

Who We Are Looking For

• Are you passionate about ensuring community access to basic needs and the dignity of having a safe place to live?
• Are you an experienced nonprofit or community leader who believes in the power of collaboration, in advocating for the rights of our entire community, and in leveraging best practices from the landscape of housing and basic needs providers?
• Are you a highly skilled team manager who enjoys designing effective collaboratives, coaching the best out of a team and partners, and would relish the chance to inspire a regional initiative?
• Are you excited at the prospect of using your strategic leadership skills to identify creative housing solutions that unite community partners around the goal of preventing and ending homelessness?

If so, the Director of the Coordinated Access Network (CAN) position may be perfect for you. This position leads the Greater New Haven Coordinated Access Network (GNH CAN), a collaborative housed at UWGNH, to prevent and end homelessness for individuals, families and youth experiencing homelessness in a nineteen-town region.

The Director will work with partners and stakeholders to realize the GNH CAN mission : to make homelessness rare, brief and a one-time experience.

What you’re great at :

• You are passionate about our UWGNH mission and align with our values. We want a leader who cares deeply about the issues of homelessness and affordable housing and will use this passion to drive our work and further our mission.
• You are a community-centered leader who has a think-outside-the-box mindset.
• You have experience leading initiatives and programs related to homelessness and affordable housing and bring the determination, creativity, and voice of working with those experiencing homelessness into the work.
• You are an adept project manager who embraces complex, multi-faceted initiatives while being attentive to the details. You see the value in collective impact approaches, ensuring project collaborators are informed and engaged at every step and are clear on their responsibilities and roles.
• You effectively organize time (yours and others’) as well as project documentation and messaging. You are always looking for better and more impactful ways of doing things and can map out effective timelines and delegate responsibilities.
• You are a strong communicator. You are comfortable with public speaking, and you can persuasively present ideas and programs to a variety of audiences.

You have strong writing skills that translate into work products such as emails, requests for proposals, and presentation outlines.

Your communication skills (which includes good listening skills!) also help you build productive relationships with staff and partners.

You are a creative problem-solver and strategic thinker. You have a positive attitude towards problem solving and enjoy creating solutions to challenging problems.

You can research and use data to identify program improvements, and you don’t get easily discouraged or flustered when programs or initiatives take unexpected paths or hit roadblocks.

You’re a team player. You work well with other staff, both within your department and cross-functionally across the organization.

You proactively assist colleagues when you see the need. And, you have experience contributing to a positive organizational culture that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

• You are an agile administrator efficiently managing operations, contracts, budgets, resources, and communications but with an eye for continuous improvement and growth always looking for funding opportunities to support and expand services.
• You use your voice and power to advocate for others on your team, for UWGNH, for our GNH region, and ultimately for the clients served by the CAN.

What You Need

• At least 7 years of experience in non-profits related to providing basic needs services to those experiencing a housing crisis and / or homelessness.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field from a 4-year college or university required; Master's Degree preferred.
• Depth of knowledge of the challenges faced by clients seeking housing and a human-centered approach to supporting clients and providers to navigate the housing system.
• Significant experience leading collaborative or systems-change initiatives.
• Experience with group facilitation, coaching, and training team members and partners.
• Experience in public speaking with strong presentation skills.
• Ability to lead in a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work environment.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Proven track record in setting priorities, analytical skills, and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent relationship-building skills and ability to work with diverse stakeholders.
• Proficient with MS Office365 and demonstrated comfort in learning new software / online tools as needed.
• Ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to use data to inform decision-making.
• Experience managing budgets.
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, and dedication to the mission and values of UWGNH.
• Valid driver's license and reliable transportation required for local and statewide travel.

United Way staff are currently working hybrid, with at least two days per week in our office in New Haven.

The salary range for this position is $80,000-$85,000 annually.

Please submit a cover letter and resume.

About United Way

United Way of Greater New Haven brings people and organizations together to create solutions to Greater New Haven’s most pressing challenges in the areas of Education, Health, and Financial Stability grounded in racial and social justice.

We tackle issues that cannot be solved by any one group working alone. We operate according to these organizational values.

United Way is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! Studies have shown that marginalized communities - such as women, LGBTQ+ and people of color - are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification.

United Way of Greater New Haven is dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace that fosters a sense of belonging so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider applying.

You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!

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