Statement of Duties

The Housing Intake Specialist will work under the direct supervision of both the Inclusionary Housing Program Manager and Home Improvement Program Manager. The Housing Intake Specialist will be responsible for working with prospective participants seeking assistance through various housing programs, including but not limited to the Inclusionary Housing Program, Home Improvement Program, Closing Cost and Down Payment Assistance, Compliance and Monitoring and those seeking assistance through the Condominium Review Board, the Fair Housing Commission, and the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust. Assistance may occur in person, or by phone or email.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position. This position may include night and/or weekend hours.

• Provide high quality customer service to and serve as a point of contact for all persons seeking initial assistance with housing programs, housing and monitoring compliance, or any Boards or Commissions. Once a household has completed an application, completed any necessary forms or filed a complaint, assistance to the household will be transferred to another member of the Housing Division staff.

• Complete income certifications/re-certifications for applicants for programs or those currently in housing programs.

• Responsible for assign priority status to all applications to the Home Improvement Program (HIP), using the prescreening tool.

• Responsible for managing the Home Improvement Program waitlist.

• Responsible for creating and maintaining client files for the Home Improvement Program.

• Contact property owners who have participated in the Home Improvement Program for feedback about their experience with staff and selected contractor.

• Responsible for collecting all required documents from contractor applying to be a qualified contractor for the Home Improvement Program.

• Assist households with completing program applications, complaints and/or monitoring forms.

• Responsible for data entry as necessary, including but not limited to inputting data into the Initial Tenants Worksheets for the Inclusionary Housing Program.

• Responsible for keeping the Housing Division’s webpage up to date and marketing the various Housing Programs at various community events.

• Assistance as may be necessary under the direction of the Inclusionary Housing Program Manager on any marketing activities including information sessions or lotteries.

• Complete property inspections for the Inclusionary Housing Program to verify unit readiness, comparable unit features to market rate, access to shared amenities, and to confirm layout for marketing.

• Assistance with coverage of the Inclusionary Housing Program general email, staffing the Inclusionary virtual office hours and attendance to other meetings where an Inclusionary Housing Program member might be required to attend.

• Direct households to the appropriate Housing staff or other City Departments.

• Perform other duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: Associate’s Degree and at least three (3) years’ administrative and/or housing experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Special Requirements: Job duties may include attending some evening or weekend meetings and/or community events. Knowledge of affordable housing programs is strongly preferred.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill: 

Knowledge: Some knowledge of and experience with strategies and programs geared toward maintaining and expanding affordable housing opportunities; strong knowledge of Excel and Microsoft Office suite.  Knowledge of affordable housing programs or other housing related knowledge preferred but not required.

Abilities: Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing with other City departments, state and federal agencies, architects, contractors, developers, owners, supervisors, employees, and the general public; ability to exercise good judgment and focus on detail; ability to work as a team member and maintain project timelines; continuous effort to improve operations, decrease turnaround times, streamline work processes, and work cooperatively and jointly to provide quality seamless customer service to the public at-large.

Skills:  This position requires excellent organizational skills with careful attention to detail; strong skills in oral and written communication; and excellent customer service skills.Bi-lingual or multilingual ability in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian-Creole and/or Nepali is desirable.

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements.  Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant.  Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills

Minimal physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment or photocopy paper (up to 30lbs.).

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.

Visual Skills

Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Hours: Full-time. City Hall hours

Salary: $55,204.04 annualized plus benefits

Union: Non-Union

FLSA: Non-Exempt

Date Posted: September 30th, 2024

City of Somerville residents are especially encouraged to apply.

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or apomeroy@somervillema.gov.

Please Note: The below details do not apply to any Mayor Student Jobs programs OR youth workers with the city.

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance

• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation (for non-union positions) union positions vary by contract

• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City

• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna

• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)

• Long term disability through Sun Life

• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual

• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies

• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors

• Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health

• Annual cancer screening & wellness release

• Somerville Retirement Pension System

• Tuition reimbursement

• MBTA pass program

• FREE Blue Bikes membership

• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.

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