About the Department

The City of Jersey City is seeking a Director of Housing Preservation to serve in a senior leadership role within its housing team. This position is responsible for overseeing housing enforcement efforts citywide and managing a team of approximately 25 staff within the Housing Preservation division. The Director plays a key role in advancing housing stability, affordability, and safety for tens of thousands of residents in one of New Jersey’s largest and most densely populated municipalities. Reporting to the Director of the Department of Housing, Economic Development, and Commerce, and working closely with the Mayor’s Office and the City’s Law Department, the Director of Housing Preservation leads the implementation and enforcement of critical housing regulations. Core responsibilities include oversight of the City’s rent control ordinance, adjudication of rent disputes and housing violations, regulation of short-term rentals, identification and acquisition of vacant and abandoned properties, and administration of lead paint inspection and remediation programs. In addition to managing divisional operations, the Director serves as a key policy advisor on housing-related issues, regularly representing the Administration before the City Council and engaging with community stakeholders.

Position Duties

Job Duties:
• Provide day-to-day leadership and direction to division staff, including inspectors, administrative
personnel, and hearing officers; manage hiring, performance evaluations, disciplinary matters, and
professional development within a civil service environment.
• Develop and manage the division’s budget, including tracking and maximizing fee and fine revenues,
managing expenditure categories, and presenting budget proposals and performance reports to
departmental leadership.
• Identify and pursue operational improvements, including technology upgrades, workflow efficiencies,
and enhanced public-facing services.
• Serve as a subject-matter resource and liaison to the City Council, the Mayor’s Office, and external
stakeholders including tenant advocacy organizations, property owner groups, and community groups.
• Administer and enforce Ordinance Chapter 260 governing rent-controlled properties, including
maintaining a current registry of all 1–4-unit and 5+-unit residential properties.
• Make legally defensible determinations as to which properties are exempt from rent control, applying
applicable state and local law and case precedent.
• Manage a docket of petitions from tenants and landlords, including allegations of illegal rent
overcharges and failures to maintain required services; conduct hearings and issue written
determinations.
• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of the City’s rent registry as a public resource and enforcement tool.
• Administer and enforce Ordinance Chapter 255 governing short-term rental (STR) properties, including
eligibility determinations, licensing, and compliance monitoring.
• Investigate unauthorized STR operations; issue summonses, fines, and cease-and-desist orders to noncompliant operators.
• Coordinate with platforms, property owners, and City legal staff to ensure effective and consistent
enforcement of the STR regulatory framework, including the rent control linkage provisions under
Ordinance 25-125.
• Maintain and regularly update the City’s registry of vacant and abandoned properties in compliance
with applicable state and local law.
• Conduct or oversee field inspections to assess property condition, vacancy status, and rehabilitation
potential.
• Collaborate with the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA), the Division of Tax, the Department of
Law, and the Mayor’s Office to support the City’s property acquisition strategy, including referrals
under the Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act, tax foreclosure monitoring, and potential land
banking designations.
• Maintain a comprehensive record of all properties in foreclosure and coordinate with lenders, courts,
and the city law department as appropriate.
• Oversee and enforce the City’s lead remediation program in compliance with N.J.A.C. 5:28A, which
requires inspection of all pre-1978 properties to determine Lead Safe status.
• Manage the inspection pipeline, track compliance, and escalate enforcement where owners fail to
meet obligations.
• Coordinate with the Hudson County Health Department and state agencies, and pursue available
federal and state grant funding to support remediation activities for income-qualified households

Minimum Qualifications

Required Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning, Public Policy, Law, Finance,
Management, or a related field required. Graduate or professional degree (J.D., M.P.A., M.U.P., M.P.P.) strongly
preferred.
Required Experience: Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in housing regulation,
tenant protection, housing code enforcement, land use, urban planning, or closely related municipal or
nonprofit practice, of which at least two (2) years involved supervisory or management responsibility.
Substantial equivalent experience at the senior level of private-sector real estate practice or policy advocacy
will be considered.

Other Qualifications

Essential Skills:
• Commitment to tenant rights and faithful administration of the law, combined with the analytical rigor
to make defensible, legally grounded decisions in contested adjudications.
• Proven ability to manage and motivate a team in a government or similarly structured environment,
including navigating civil service rules, union agreements, and personnel challenges.
• Substantive knowledge of housing law, including rent stabilization frameworks, housing code
enforcement, landlord-tenant law, and property registration requirements. Specific familiarity with
New Jersey’s statutory and regulatory framework is helpful but not required.
• Strong organizational and analytical skills—the ability to manage multiple complex workstreams,
establish and monitor performance metrics, and make data-driven decisions.
• Clear, persuasive written and oral communication skills, including the ability to write legally defensible
adjudicatory determinations and present complex regulatory issues to the City Council, external
stakeholders, and the general public.
• Exceptional professional integrity and judgement.
• Comfort operating in a resource-constrained environment with a large, diverse mandate;
entrepreneurial instincts for leveraging available authorities, partnerships, and grant opportunities to
expand the division’s impact.