Sr. Customer Care Specialist - Affordable Housing

Description

What we’re looking for

The Affordable Housing Compliance Specialist will work directly with our customer base and Client Services teams while focusing on providing expert support escalations for Affordable Housing programs such as HUD and LIHTC. In this role, you will have deep knowledge of technical requirements and federal and state regulations. You will serve as the link between our product, the customer and the state and federal agencies while operating as the face of our company to create AppFolio promoters. The Affordable Housing Compliance Specialist directly impacts customers’ lifetime happiness and retention by providing distinctive service and product assistance; allowing our customers to manage their affordable housing operations more efficiently.

As a member of the Customer Solutions team, the ideal Affordable Housing Compliance Specialist is an engaged culture carrier with a passion for empowering others by driving forward critical resources, distinctive service and product assistance. The Affordable Housing Compliance Specialist will work cross-functionally to support Client Service teams and advocate for process and product advancements to improve the customer affordable housing experience at all stages of the customer journey, drive case deflection rates, high self-service rates, and excellent customer experiences. 

Your impact

• Understand the AppFolio Property Manager product, with a focus on Affordable Housing features, through our onboarding program and continued learning.

• HUD subject matter expert in HAP vouchers, TRACS submissions, error code troubleshooting, and certification management (HUD 50059s).

• LIHTC subject matter expert in state reporting, Tenant Income Certifications,, and compliance portals.

• Assist customers through the onboarding process for HUD and LIHTC properties ensuring accurate setup for success. 

• Offer guidance on compliance best practices, certification management, and subsidy management.

• Develop a long-term strategy for the future of affordable housing customer support at AppFolio. 

• Identify and clarify issues while working collaboratively with Client Services and customers to achieve prompt resolution.

• Develop and/or collaborate on projects to optimize the product and eliminate process inefficiencies.

• Contribute recommendations to the development of new features, compliance training, and onboarding assistance.

• Lead efforts to align AppFolio’s offerings with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.

• Partner with the Client Services team and customers by telephone, email, Zoom, and chat to manage customer relationships and to ensure successful execution of requests. 

• Work closely with the Client Services org and Affordable Housing Product Development team to provide insight and guidance on all aspects of the AppFolio Property Manager product related to affordable housing.

• Collaborate with federal and state regulatory agencies when necessary to resolve issues in a timely manner.

Qualifications

• Customer Focus: Anticipates the customers' needs before they even know about them; takes responsibility for customer satisfaction and loyalty.

• Verbal & Written Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and articulately in a variety of communication settings and styles with an intuitive ability to adjust messages for the audience. Has a strong ability to bring clarity from often ambiguous circumstances and provides clear communication regarding our strategy (what we are doing and why). 

• Priority Setting & Organization: Can quickly sense what will help or hinder accomplishing an objective. High attention to detail, keeps important details from slipping through the cracks—strong ability to manage multiple priorities and timelines effectively. 

• Action Oriented & Perseverance: Bias for action, operates with urgency, driven to “do” great work. Seizes more opportunities than others. Pursues everything with energy, drive, and a need to finish, even when faced with setbacks. Ability to adjust course to find an effective path to reach success. 

• Problem Solving & Proactivity: Acts without being told what to do. Brings new ideas to the table with a plan for how to best implement them.  Able to ask the right questions, collect and analyze information, problem-solve, and make clear, consistent decisions. 

• Intellectual Horsepower: Sharp, capable, and agile; deals with concepts and complexities comfortably. 

Must have 

• BA/BS degree or equivalent work experience required.

• 3+ years of professional work experience.

• Exceptional customer focus, relationship-building skills, and a “do whatever it takes” attitude.

• Extensive experience in affordable housing compliance, including HUD and LIHTC program knowledge.

• Certified Occupancy Specialist (COS), Blended Occupancy Specialist (BOS), and/or Housing Credit Certified Professional (HCCP).

• High degree of flexibility, effective time management, and adaptability to change.

• Strong curiosity and desire to learn while working swiftly and independently with minimal supervision.

• Strong teamwork approach and mentality; skilled in working cross-functionally.

• Analytical problem-solving skills and strong computer competency.

• Ability to manage multiple projects and assignments, prioritize, meet tight deadlines, and display initiative and innovation. 

• Thrives working in a fast-paced environment, keeps a cool head during busy times and does not get overwhelmed easily.

• Outstanding interpersonal and consultative skills. Relates well to all kinds of people - up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization. 

• Demonstrated ability to work in and manage ambiguity - dealing with issues that do not always have a process or system in place and feels comfortable proposing solutions to existing or new problems that may come up.

• Enjoys and excels at designing new resources, including customer-facing and internal help content, help articles, documentation, and presentations.  

Nice to have 

• Experience as a Project Based Section 8 Contract Administrator. 

• 1+ years remote/hybrid work experience.

• Organized and effective in task and queue management.

• Able to communicate clearly and concisely with team, manager, and customers via phone, chat, and email.

• Seeks feedback and uses mistakes as a platform to learn and grow.

• Embody an incredibly positive outlook with a desire to grow, take on more responsibilities, and drive initiatives.

• Ability to advise critically and confidently; strives to understand nuances of customer needs and exhausts available resources to provide the most comprehensive resolution possible.

• Knowledge of Property Management and/or Accounting/bookkeeping is a plus.

Compensation & Benefits

The base hourly wage that we reasonably expect to pay for this role is: $60,000.00 - $85,000.00 USD Annual

The actual base salary/hourly wage for this role will be determined by a variety of factors, including but not limited to: the candidate’s skills, education, experience, etc. 

Please note that base pay is one important aspect of a compelling Total Rewards package. The base pay range indicated here does not include any additional benefits or bonuses/commissions that you may be eligible for based on your role and/or employment type.

Regular full-time employees are eligible for benefits including but not limited to: 

• Paid Time Off (PTO) 

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits 

• Long-term and short-term disability insurance

• 401(k)

• Wellness benefits

Interns / full-time temporary/eligible variable hour employees are eligible for benefits including but not limited to:

• Medical

• 401(k)

• Wellness benefits

Why AppFolio

We ride and make waves together, with a relentless focus on building great products for the way our customers work and live today — and tomorrow. AppFolio is a destination organization where careers are made and accelerated. Here, innovation is a team sport.

Paddle as One.

Why AppFolio

Grow | We enable a culture of high performance, where delivering results is recognized by opportunities for growth and compelling total rewards. Our challenging and meaningful work drive the growth of our business, and ourselves.

Learn | We partner with you to realize your potential by investing in you from the start. We're cultivating a team of big thinkers through coaching and mentorship with our best-in-class leaders, and giving you the time and tools to develop your skills.

Impact | We are creating a world where living in, investing in, managing, and supporting communities feels magical and effortless, freeing people to thrive. We do this by innovating with purpose while cultivating a culture of impact. We learn as much from each other as we do our customers and our communities.

Connect | We excel at hybrid work by fostering an environment that feels flexible, personal and connected, no matter where we are. We create space to fuel innovation and collaboration, and we come together to celebrate, connect, and succeed.

Paddle as One.

Learn more at appfolio.com/company/careers

Statement of Equal Opportunity

At AppFolio, we value diversity in backgrounds and perspectives and depend on it to drive our innovative culture. That’s why we’re a proud Equal Opportunity Employer, and we believe that our products, our teams, and our business are stronger because of it. This means that no matter what race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, age, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, or veteran status, you’re always welcome at AppFolio.