Urban Sustainability Directors Network Innovation Grant Program
Green Rental Housing Project
LOCATION: Candidates will ideally be located in Albany NY, Ann Arbor MI, Bloomington IN, Burlington VT, or Iowa City IA, but other candidates will also be considered.
LEAD AGENCY: City of Bloomington, Indiana
TIME PERIOD: Approx. 24 weeks at 40 hrs/week (with potential for extension if additional funds identified)
CONTRACT AMOUNT: $25,000 + $3000 for travel
Job Summary
The Project Manager for the Green Rental Housing Online Tool Development Project is a project-based, grant-funded position that will carry out the objectives of a grant received from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN). The Project Manager will work with 14 cities (all USDN members) to develop a scoping document and, if appropriate, a Request for Qualifications to create a rental housing tool intended to (1) help renters, initially college students, consider sustainability factors (such as utility costs, energy efficiency and access to transit and recycling facilities) alongside other factors (such as rent, access to laundry facilities, etc.) when making housing decisions and (2) to help landlords grasp the value of sustainability investments as a marketable asset. The project does not seek to develop the tool at this time (although development of a demonstration product may be possible), but rather to develop consensus among partner cities on the core features it should include, to assess available data to enable these features, and to identify resources (financial, technical, legal, etc.) that will enable the development of the tool itself. The tool will ultimately be an interactive website, associated smart phone app, or other combination to enable participating cities to share information and create markets of smarter, more sustainability-minded renters.
City partners involved in the project include Albany (NY), Austin (TX), Ann Arbor (MI), Berkeley (CA), Bloomington (IN), Burlington (VT), Columbia (MO), Dearborn (MI), Evanston (IL), Fayetteville (AR), Iowa City (IA), Lawrence (KS), Madison (WI), and Oklahoma City (OK).
Essential tasks (primary)
Anticipated tasks include the following. A contractual agreement will specify tasks and other details.
· Reports to a five-city Project Leadership Team.
· Works with 14 city partners to identify desired data and functionality needs for the green rental housing tool.
· Gathers information (using interviews, surveys, focus groups, etc.) from contacts and groups identified by 14 city partners, including potential tool users, data owners, local experts, national experts, and others identified in the course of the project.
· Key research questions will address data needs/wants, data availability and format, desired tool functionality and mechanisms for delivery, possible financing mechanisms, legal issues, and potential partnerships for tool development, among other things.
· Becomes familiar with similar, existing tools, including rental housing tools that serve other geographic areas or include some portion of the features sought for this project, building disclosure websites, online tools that utilize crowdsourced and other data, etc.
· Evaluates data types and compatibility issues and identifies ways of gathering desired but unavailable data (through crowdsourcing, disclosure, or other means)
· Assesses mechanisms for representing desired information to satisfy both user and city partner needs.
· Reviews design and implementation options for database systems and applications to meet user needs.
· Evaluates and makes recommendations regarding the website and application development process, considering architectural quality, user interface quality and code quality.
· Identifies potential partners and mechanisms to develop the tool, including multiple ownership and partnership arrangements.
Secondary tasks
· Evaluates legal concerns associated with tool development and data management, and other issues that arise (with assistance from project partners).
· Identifies and (if appropriate) pursues financing for tool development.
· Assists with data collection and tool development.
· Performs related tasks that may be identified as the project progresses.
Expected deliverables
The full details of the expected deliverables will be specified in a contractual agreement to be agreed upon by the candidate and the Project Leadership Team, but the basics include:
· Scoping document detailing findings (including stakeholders contacted, focus groups conducted, data sources located) and suggesting a strategy for developing a green rental housing tool. The scoping document should detail technical, legal, and financial strategies for developing the tool to serve partner and other cities. In addition, the document should identify strategies for maintaining and updating the tool over time.
o If appropriate (as decided by the Project Leadership Team), the scoping document should also include a document that could act as a request for qualifications (RFQ) to develop the tool.
· Detailed data summary report, including information on all available data, mechanisms for developing currently unavailable but desired data, data format challenges, etc.
· If appropriate (as decided in partnership with the Project Leadership Team), a demo version of the website and smart phone app.
Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities
· Minimum knowledge equivalent to a Bachelor’s Degree in a related field such as computer science or information science. Masters degree preferred.
· Basic knowledge of environmental sustainability, funding, and legal issues pertaining to data management and website development a plus, but not required.
· Well-developed research skills, including personal interviewing, focus group and survey development and implementation, data processing and analysis, and evaluation and reporting.
· Strong comprehension of information system, data management, and spreadsheet functions and practices, web and mobile app design and related technology, and ability to learn software as required.
· Proven experience working with a variety of stakeholder groups on data collection or related projects, both virtually and face-to-face.
· Ability to work with multiple data sources and diverse data formats.
· Ability to determine and analyze user needs.
· Ability to work in a self-directed environment and under pressure of deadlines.
· Ability to write and review technical documentation. Ability to understand technical information and explain it to others in lay terms.
· Strong interpersonal skills. Ability to communicate effectively with project partners and others.
· Well-organized with strong attention to detail.
· Ability to process complex information in order to identify and prioritize strategies. Ability to coordinate multiple stakeholders in achieving project priorities.
· Strong problem-solving capabilities.
· Knowledge of standard office procedures and ability to operate modern office equipment. Depending on location, candidate may need to use their own computer.
· Willingness to travel for multiple short trips over the course of the project.
Reporting Relationships
This position will maintain frequent contact with the Project Leadership Team. Interactions with all project partners will take place in an as-needed basis. The majority of work is assigned in terms of objectives and goals, with some autonomy given to the candidate to decide process and tasks based upon accepted practices and desired outcomes.
