Enchantment State News

Governor seeks staff for Office of Housing

Aug 8, 2024

SANTA FE – Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s newly created Office of Housing aims to improve housing availability and affordability across the state, and she is now accepting applications for the team that will tackle these issues, including the position of Director of Statewide Homelessness Initiatives.

A core part of the work of the Office of Housing will be to create a coordinated and strategic response to the growing unhoused population, and the new Director of Statewide Homelessness Initiatives will lead this important effort.

“There is no single way to address the issue of homelessness but continuing down a path that has led to record increases in homelessness is simply not an option,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham. “The Director of Statewide Homelessness Initiatives will be an integral part of my administration as I do all I can to help provide housing to those who need it.”

The Director of Homelessness Initiatives will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of a statewide strategic approach to addressing homelessness and its relationship to broader statewide housing strategies. That includes expanding access to a range of housing interventions including supportive housing and bridge housing solutions, and behavioral health interventions.

In addition, the Office of Housing is seeking people with experience in housing development, programs, policy, regulatory frameworks, data, and demographics, among others. Rather than hire for specific positions, the talent-based hiring approach encourages applicants to explain how they want to apply their skillsets to the challenge of solving New Mexico’s housing crisis. The Office is especially seeking talented and innovative thinkers to build out a strategic approach for the State.

The Office of Housing is led by Daniel Werwath, who joined the Governor’s office in January 2024 after having served on the Governor’s Housing and Community Revitalization Investment Council the previous year. Werwath has over two decades of experience in affordable housing development, consumer housing services, housing planning and policy development in New Mexico and nationally.

“The housing landscape has changed monumentally in the last few years, and it’s time for new models and new levels of coordination,” said Werwath. “The Governor is assembling an experienced team with broad expertise to develop innovative ways to combat the unprecedented housing crisis facing New Mexico.”

The Director of Homelessness Initiatives job posting can be found at: https://www.nm.gov/app/apply.html?jobId=95

The general job posting for the Office of Housing can be found at: https://www.nm.gov/app/apply.html?jobId=97