The Role of the Chief Executive Officer

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the key leadership position within Ability Housing providing holistic leadership for the organizations’ triple bottom line: high-quality supportive housing for residents, organizational sustainability in a healthy workplace environment, and performance of the real estate portfolio. Key roles include but are not limited to:

Strategy

• Works with board of directors and leadership team to develop and implement the agency’s strategy including considerations of sustainable quality, growth, risk, and stability
• Consistently considers and evaluates projects, needs, and environmental changes that may occur five to ten years in the future
• Develops and maintains contingency strategies to adjust operational activities when needed

 Cultivates Key Relationships

• Acts as the principal public relations officer, representing the organization, generating community awareness, and building collaborative stakeholder relationships
• Cultivates and sustains strategic relationships with elected and administrative policy makers, major customers, governmental agencies, and financial entities
• Strives for relationships to be collaborative and mutually beneficial first, but able to tactfully maintain mission-critical positions when needed
• Cultivates relationships with major funders that focus on high-level, strategic, and long-term goals and issues
• Coordinates with the fund development team and is personally involved with major funding requests

 Operational Guidance and Accountability

• Develops annual business plans with the agency’s leadership team to ensure efficient, sustainable and high-quality delivery of mission, and performance of the organization and portfolio
• Works with the leadership team to refine or develop critical measures of performance and risk, and uses these to proactively monitor, improve, protect, and, if needed, correct, the organization’s performance with clients, internally, and in the real estate portfolio
• Holds accountability for overall organizational coordination and performance

 People and Culture

• Builds a strong team that works well together and has coordinated and complementary expertise
• Ensures consistent implementation of trauma-informed values and practices at every level of the team—from community-facing roles to leadership positions
• Establishes and maintains effective communications throughout the organization
• Evaluates and, if needed, improves the organization structure for a healthy and productive workplace

Competencies 

The CEO must possess a broad and flexible range of leadership and management competencies including but not limited to the following.

• Build, develop, motivate, and delegate to high performing teams
• Develop and sustain positive relationships across a diverse array of partners, supporters, and critics
• Understand and bring a proactive and critical approach to monitoring the full range of organizational interactions and performance
• Possess a strong working knowledge of organizational finances and cash flow
• Pose critical questions in positive and compelling ways to improve performance and mitigate risk
• Possess strong integrity and ethics
• Serve as a strong advocate for the organization’s cause, mission, and vision through exceptional verbal and written communications and with the ability to support fundraising efforts
• Possess or acquire the knowledge essential to supportive housing development such as trauma-informed practices, low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL), and Affordable Housing Program (AHP), etc.

 Experience and Education

Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of executive leadership and managerial experience, preferably in a nonprofit setting
• Minimum of 10 years building and leading teams
• Minimum of 10 years financial experience including budgeting, monitoring performance, cash flow analysis, risk analysis, and scenario planning, preferably in a nonprofit setting
• Experience working with governmental agencies and funding is preferred
• Experience in supportive housing is preferred
• Experience with land acquisition, development and construction of multi-family properties is preferred
• Experience with financing for multi-family development for less-than-market-rate housing is preferred

Education

• Minimum of bachelor's degree in business administration, non-profit management, or other related field. Master's degree preferred 

To Apply

To apply, please send your cover letter and resume to Julia@GainClarity.net. Your cover letter should specifically address why you are passionate about working in affordable housing in Florida.

 Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, with priority for those submitted by November 7, 2025. We will reply to all applicants. 

For more information about Ability Housing, please visit www.abilityhousing.org. Inquiries can also be directed to Julia@GainClarity.net.