Community Development Jobs in Seattle, WA (NOW HIRING)

Salary : $128,655.36 - $158,149.20 Annually
Location : City Hall: 25 West Main St., Auburn, WA
Job Type: Full-Time
Department: Community Development
Division: Planning
Opening Date: 04/15/2026
Closing Date: Continuous
FLSA: Exempt
Bargaining Unit: UNAF
Position Details
This position is open until filled, with a first review date of May 4, 2026.
To be considered for the first screening, your application must have been received
before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, May 3, 2026.
The City of Auburn Community Development Department is seeking a SKHHP Executive Manager. This position is a premier leadership opportunity to drive regional, collaborative solutions for affordable housing and homelessness, directly shaping the future of South King County communities. Based in Auburn, this role offers high-level influence, working with elected officials to manage substantial funding, implement strategic plans, and advance regional solutions.
SKHHP is a collaboration involving King County and ten South King County cities, which include Auburn, Burien, Covington, Des Moines, Federal Way, Maple Valley, Kent, Normandy Park, Renton, and Tukwila. SKHHP is governed by an Executive Board made up of the member jurisdictions' mayor, city manager, administrators, or their designated representatives.
REQUIRED SKILLS

• Communication - Strong public speaking and professional writing skills, including experience engaging with elected officials and public, private, and non-profit partners.
• Collaboration - Proven ability to foster partnerships among municipal governments, non-profits, and stakeholders.
• Leadership - Demonstratable people leader skills such as active listening, collaboration, clear communication, and support of team members.

Primary Duties
In this role you will:

• Oversee the administration of SKHHP, including support to both an Executive Board and community Advisory Board.
• Advocate for affordable housing solutions across South King County.
• Provides technical assistance and expertise in data collection, analysis, land use policies, and regulations related to preservation and development of affordable housing, and anti-displacement.
• Oversee the administration of the SKHHP Housing Capital Fund.

In this unique role, the SKHHP Executive Manager must coordinate with the SKHHP Executive Board, senior level staff and councils from member jurisdictions to ensure that SKHHP activities remain aligned with the housing policies, goals, and priorities of each member jurisdiction. The incumbent is required to positively and effectively interact and communicate with individuals of diverse cultural, social, and economic backgrounds.
While these duties may be a primary focus of this job, the full job description includes a more comprehensive list of responsibilities. Click here to review the class specification.
Minimum Qualifications
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR...

• Bachelor's degree in Land-Use Planning, Community Development, Urban Planning, Public Policy, Architecture, or closely related field, (or documented experience that establishes sufficient competency in those areas)

AND

• Four (4) years of equivalent work-related experience with at least two (2) years of experience in a supervisory capacity.

OR

• any equivalent combination of education, experience, and training that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

WE WOULD LOVE IF YOU HAVE...

• Demonstrates experience in urban planning, land use issues, and/or affordable housing finance and development including, but not limited to, comprehensive plans, land use codes, and regulations, especially as they relate to housing; real estate financing/project feasibility analysis and development for affordable housing; administering, monitoring, and/or developing land use codes and regulations as they relate to housing; and collecting, analyzing, and reporting of reliable and valid data (both qualitative and quantitative).
• Demonstrates experience working closely with elected officials and senior governmental staff.
• Ability to analyze regional housing trends and data to make sound policy recommendations.

REQUIRED LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS
Possesses and retains valid state driver's license during tenure of employment, without impending loss at time of appointment.
Additional Information
WHY CHOOSE THE CITY OF AUBURN?

• Competitive salary
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision plans with employee premiums paid by the City
• Employer contributions to the State Retirement System pension plans
• 12 days of paid vacation per year
• 11 paid holidays per year
• 2 paid floating holidays of your choice per year
• VEBA (tax-free health savings account)
• Optional Flexible Spending benefit plan
• Deferred Compensation plan options
• Employee Wellness Program
• Employee Assistance Program
• And more!

For more information about what benefits the City provides, please visit:
COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Team Auburn values diverse perspectives, life experiences, and welcomes applications from people who will help us consistently demonstrate the values of equity, respect, and partnership. The department encourages people of all backgrounds to apply, including Black, Indigenous, and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, and veterans. Individuals interested in joining our team must be committed to racial, social, and economic equality for ALL people in our community.
The City of Auburn is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer. No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.
To learn more about the Inclusive Auburn initiative, please visit:
READY TO APPLY?If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, or would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process, please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS
The City of Auburn is dedicated to building an inclusive, informed city, with opportunities for all. In alignment with that goal, the City has adopted an anonymous application process that prevents hiring managers from seeing personal identifiers, including names, addresses, and other similar information. This eliminates the possibility of unintentional or implicit bias during the initial screening of applications. For that reason, hiring managers will not be viewing any attachments to your application, including a cover letter or resume, during the initial screening.
Please make sure to submit a complete, detailed, and updated job application, and thoroughly answer the supplemental questions prior to the submission deadline! You must meet the minimum qualifications to move forward in the screening process.
Please note that if you are selected to move forward after an interview, a background check, driving abstract review, and reference check will be completed before an official job offer will be made.
COMMUNICATION FROM THE CITY OF AUBURNWe primarily communicate via e-mail during the recruitment process. E-mails from auburnwa.gov and/or governmentjobs.com should be placed on your safe domain list to ensure you receive notifications in a timely manner. As a precaution, you may also want to check your junk e-mail folders.
CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions, please contact Chardae Gillespie, HR Coordinator, at
Please visit our Employee Benefits webpage for details:
01
Thank you for your interest in joining Team Auburn!Hiring managers will not be viewing any attachments to your application, including a cover letter or resume, during the initial screening. Please make sure to submit a complete, detailed, and updated job application. When applying for this position, you must thoroughly complete the sections of your application, and provide a thorough response to each of the supplemental questions. Failure to do so may result in elimination from further consideration.We do encourage you to upload a resume and/or cover letter as they can be reviewed after the first initial screening and have been invited to skills testing or interviewing.Have you read and understood the information listed above?

• Yes
• No

02
Please indicate your highest level of education completed:

• High School Diploma
• Associate's Degree in unrelated field
• Associate's Degree in Land-Use Planning, Community Development, Urban Planning, Public Policy, Architecture, or closely related field
• Bachelor's Degree in unrelated field
• Bachelor's Degree in Land-Use Planning, Community Development, Urban Planning, Public Policy, Architecture, or closely related field
• Master's Degree in unrelated field
• Masters Degree in Land-Use Planning, Community Development, Urban Planning, Public Policy, Architecture, or closely related field

03
Please indicate your years of experience with urban planning, land use issues, and affordable housing finance and development OR other experience relevant to the primary duties and responsibilities, and minimum and desired qualification of this position.

• Less than 3 years
• 3 - 4 years
• 4 - 5 years
• 5 - 6 years
• 6 - 7 years
• 7 - 8 years
• 8 - 9 years
• 9 - 10 years
• More than 10 years

04
From the above question, please describe how you've gained your years of experience.If you do not have any experience, please type N/A.
05
Please indicate your years of experience supervising staff, managing budgets, and providing leadership to complex projects or teams:

• Less than 3 years
• 3 - 4 years
• 4 - 5 years
• 5 - 6 years
• 6 - 7 years
• More than 7 years

06
Do you have a valid state driver's license?

• Yes
• No

07
Please explain your experience working closely with elected officials and senior governmental staff:
08
This position requires working for multiple municipalities, who don't always have the same interests. Please briefly explain your experience with reporting to multiple individuals who have competing interests, simultaneously.
09
Please describe your experience supervising and leading others.
10
Please indicate your years of experience managing budgets, and providing leadership to complex projects or teams:

• Less than 1 year
• 1 - 2 years
• 2 - 4 years
• 4 - 6 years
• More than 6 years

Required Question