Description
Overview:
The Homeless Services Department (HSD) Director leads a diverse workforce of 123 FTEs, who alongside dozens of community partner organizations, are responsible for serving those experiencing or at risk of homelessness throughout Multnomah County. The Director provides leadership, vision, direction, and accountability for the work of the department, including: contracted services, ongoing reporting and evaluation, and community planning for a continuum of homeless and housing services, including outreach, shelter, housing placement, and permanent supportive housing. In addition to leading HSD staff, this position provides leadership in the County’s implementation of the Metro Supportive Housing Services Measure; its work with regional, state, and federal partners; and its partnerships within the County’s Homelessness Response System, federal housing authority, and East County cities. As a department within Multnomah County, the HSD Director reports to a Deputy Chief Operating Officer.
Key areas of responsibility include:
Homelessness Response: Leading the County's overall response to homelessness and coordinating the Homelessness Response System.
Department Leadership & Strategy: Directing long-range strategic planning, overseeing the development and implementation of department policies, procedures, and business practices, and providing leadership to the HSD Executive Team.
Equity & Budget: Supporting the implementation of an equity framework across policies, funding, and contracts, and working in partnership with the budget director on budget development and oversight.
Partnerships & External Relations: Cultivating and maintaining collaborative partnerships with community organizations, elected officials, and leaders across departments; acting as the senior spokesperson on homelessness for community and media engagements.
Oversight & Reporting: Overseeing and providing final approval on high-profile reports, policy reviews, and studies; presenting information on the department's status and executing special projects.
Emergency Response: Serving as a member of Unified Command during a Severe Weather Activation.
Supervision: Directly supervising key executive positions (e.g., Finance Manager Senior, Program Director, Equity Manager, and Deputy Director).
The Ideal Candidate
Multnomah County is seeking a Director of HSD who is committed to and has experience in supporting efforts to prevent and end homelessness among individuals, families, and youth in an urban environment. This critical role requires a talented and unifying leader to bring innovative ideas and translate big picture vision and goals into realistic plans with effective and well-coordinated implementation that bring short- and long-term best practice solutions to the homelessness services system. Candidates should be dynamic and decisive, and excel in both high-performing internal management and external relations, including the ability to successfully work through highly collaborative community processes.
This is a high-profile position that requires interfacing with internal and external leaders. To be successful candidates should possess the following key characteristics:
Equity & Change Management
Champion equity, diversity and inclusion: Ensure that the HSD operational designs and practices are centered on equity and designed to better serve people of color both inside and outside of the organization.
Drive and Manage Organizational Change: Oversee the change management process, including developing successful communication strategies, ensuring inclusive implementation, and fostering a work environment that encourages original and innovative solutions.
Strategic Leadership & Vision
Provide Visionary and Strategic Direction: Translate high-level vision and goals into comprehensive, actionable long- and short-range plans. Drive organizational effectiveness by identifying key opportunities to break down bureaucratic silos - including using the Homelessness Response System Action Plan as a tool for change - and foster a culture of high-performance and inclusion.
Inspiring, Courageous Leadership: Lead through inspiration and persuasion, addressing complex homelessness issues directly. Demonstrate the ability to make tough, data-driven decisions informed by wisdom, experience, and perspective.
Partnerships & External Relations
Cultivate Strategic Partnerships: Build and maintain critical alliances and collaborative relationships across all levels of government, private interests, and other departments to resolve complex homeless issues. Inspire action and perceive situational complexity quickly.
Lead External Communications and Engagement: Develop and nurture mission-critical relationships with political leaders, labor, business, providers, neighborhood groups, and—most importantly—individuals with lived experience of homelessness.
Inspire Trust and Integrity: Maintain an atmosphere of integrity, consistency, and respect by communicating honestly, fulfilling commitments, and serving as a trusted organizational representative.
Requirements
Desirable Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree and at least five years experience in a senior leadership role within a large and complex publicly accountable organization. The preferred candidate will have knowledge of the fields of homelessness and housing and experience successfully leading high-priority and highly visible projects. A master’s degree is preferred.
About the Homeless Services Department
HSD was established to lead and oversee the delivery of services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Multnomah County. HSD works with community-based organizations and local government partners to provide participant-driven, coordinated and equity-based services focused on people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Every year, thousands of people enter homelessness due to factors such as: stagnant incomes, rising housing costs, lack of and access to affordable healthcare, racial disparities, and the trauma left by cycles of poverty. In addition, survivors of domestic violence, youth, and people with untreated behavioral health or substance use issues also faced increased risks.
HSD is not a direct service provider. The role of the department is to oversee and administer the delivery of services to people experiencing homelessness in Portland and Multnomah County.
Through partnerships, HSD facilitates and funds work to end homelessness. Partners offer an array of services in a wide range of focus areas.
Services include:
Eviction prevention
Outreach and system navigation
Shelters
Supportive housing
Housing placement and retention
Rent assistance
Case management
Employment assistance
Mobile showers and hygiene
HSD has consistently pursued transparency, innovation and data-driven evaluation, and it tracks and shares its outcomes proactively and routinely with both the community and elected leaders. In Fiscal Year 2024, HSD and its contracted partners housed 5,477 people out of homelessness and served 9,101 people in emergency shelters.
Vision
HSD seeks to create an equitable community in which all people have safe, affordable, and accessible housing.
Values
Our guiding values are collaboration, equity, inclusion, integrity, creativity and quality.
Collaboration: We recognize our interdependence as individuals and as an organization, and approach our work with a spirit of partnership and shared power with those experiencing homelessness and other stakeholders.
Equity: We commit to achieving equity for all individuals. We acknowledge the existence of structural racism and develop, implement, and evaluate policies and practices that achieve equitable outcomes with a focus on eliminating the disparities that people of color experience. We believe that focusing on racial equity will allow us to more effectively serve all communities.
Inclusion: We foster within our office and within the community that we serve a culture of safety and belonging that ensures that the voices of people who have been historically excluded, including people of color, women, people with disabilities and LGBTQIA2S+ people, are truly heard and shape the direction of our work.
Integrity: We strive to be humble, honest and fair in our roles, function and actions. We are open and accountable to each other and to the community that we serve. We encourage asking and answering tough questions or having difficult conversations.
Creativity: We are always open to approaching problems and solutions in new ways, taking calculated risks, and testing innovative ideas. We recognize the importance of not letting the possibility of failure dissuade us from experimenting with promising new ways of doing things. We realize that sometimes our current policies and practices pose barriers to change and improvement.
Quality: We commit to doing the highest quality work, and to continuously evaluating and improving our internal operations, contracting and community planning efforts. We recognize that it is our responsibility to be good stewards of the public resources entrusted to us and to ensure that those resources achieve the best possible outcomes for our community.
About the Area
Multnomah County Oregon has a population exceeding 800,000 and covers over 465 square miles. Although the county’s beautiful and progressive city of Portland has the cultural and recreational opportunities of a large city, it has the heart of a small town. In addition to Portland, Multnomah County encompasses cities such as Fairview, Gresham, Maywood Park, Troutdale and Wood Village. Portland is just thirty minutes from the Cascade Mountains, with hiking, world-class ski resorts, camping and fishing. Travel one hour west to find some of the most dramatic and pristine beaches on the west coast. Portland lies in the Marine west coast climate region, marked by warm, dry summers and rainy but mild winters. Portland is a foodie's dream, with regional cuisine featuring microbreweries and micro distilleries, local wine, seafood, and produce; along with one of the country's largest food cart scenes and the quirky Voodoo Donuts, home of the maple-bacon donut. Portland has a vibrant and growing community of Black, Indigenous and people of color who enrich the cultural connections, celebrations and the food of the region. Classical music, ballet and our art museum live comfortably alongside vibrant contemporary art and jazz music scenes. Portland is a reader's paradise - our libraries boast the largest circulation in the country and bookstores abound. Sauvie Island, an agricultural and scenic wildlife preserve, has some of the region's best produce, including Oregon's famous berries. Portland has been referred to as one of the most environmentally friendly or “green” cities in the world.
Application Process
Persons interested in this position should submit the following information:
A cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for the position
A current resume
If you have questions regarding this announcement, please call Marissa Karras at 360-956-1336. This position will remain open until filled but the screening process will move quickly. In order to be considered for the first round of interviews please submit your application materials at karrasconsulting.net no later than January 19, 2026.
Multnomah County is an equal opportunity employer and is strongly committed to enhancing the diversity of its workforce. We will provide assistance in the recruitment, application and selection process to applicants with disabilities who request such assistance.
If you are a veteran and want to apply for veterans' preference, please include a statement in your cover letter that you are a veteran AND submit a copy of your DD214 or DD215 or other documentation with your application packet by the closing date. Veterans' preference cannot be honored for this recruitment without it.
Total Compensation
The annual salary range for this position is $167K-$268K. Multnomah County is an excellent employer offering an outstanding benefit package including health, dental, disability and life insurance; defined benefit pension; 6% of salary contribution to retirement paid by the County; work-life balance; annual public transit pass; vacation and sick leave. For more information about Multnomah County benefits please visit multco.us/benefits/new-hire-benefits.
