Federal Position Descriptions
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President of the Government National Mortgage Association

President of the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), Department of Housing and Urban Development
Responsibility
Management Scope

Ginnie Mae collects approximately $1.3 billion in fees and has approximately $300 million in operating expenses annually. Currently Ginnie Mae has a staff of 135.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develops strategic and budgetary plans for the mission area, and manages senior staff and operations
• Serves as a key advisor to the president on housing policy through membership in the Housing Deputies Group of the National Economic Council (NEC), and supports the secretary of HUD’s membership in the Housing Principals Group of the NEC
• Provides direction and overall policy coordination for Ginnie Mae operations, and directs and manages its activities and administrative affairs
• Provides protection for the public by assuring a stable and well-functioning housing finance system for government-insured mortgages
• Advises the secretary on the activities and operations of Ginnie Mae and overall housing finance system issues
• Testifies before Congress as an expert on the housing finance system and Ginnie Mae’s role in that system
• Heads Ginnie Mae, which includes:
• Coordinating and managing the largest and most sophisticated mortgage-backed securities securitization platform, currently supporting more than 430 issuers
• Coordinating and managing one of the United States government’s most significant corporate guarantee programs. The outstanding guarantees should reach $2 trillion by the end of 2017. Managing the guarantee includes oversight of all Ginnie Mae issuers, and the liquidation of issuers that default on their obligations at the lowest cost to the U.S. taxpayers.
• Managing and coordinating one of the most successful common security programs. More than 430 issuers use the Ginnie Mae common security to raise funds in the worldwide capital market. The Ginnie Mae common security has been critical to homeowners being able to obtain Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service insured loans at attractive terms of both interest and credit.

Strategic Goals and Priorities
[Depends on the policy priorities of the administration.]
Requirements

• Senior manager of a Ginnie Mae issuer, preferably having worked in the issuer’s capital markets area
• Good understanding of the complete housing-finance system from origination to selling the loan into the capital markets to servicing the mortgage
• Ability to develop relationships with the political appointees at HUD and the White House, and the career staff at the Office of Management and Budget
• Ability to move comfortably in the worlds of mortgage bankers, Wall Street traders and the largest fixed-income institutional investors in the world
• Equally respected by members of both political parties, given that Ginnie Mae is nonpartisan and responsible for facilitating the issuance of debt by mortgage lenders to match fund their 30-year fixed-rate mortgage portfolio

Competencies

• Self-starter with the ability to develop policy on his or her own, given that the president of Ginnie Mae generally operates relatively independently, receiving very little guidance from the White House or the HUD secretary due to the unique complexities of Ginnie Mae
• Ability to communicate Ginnie Mae policy changes effectively to the HUD secretary and the White House (because of the unique nature of Ginnie Mae’s mission, feedback on policies and related recommended changes will be limited)
• Ability to present complex topics so the average person can comprehend them (critical to selling Ginnie Mae policies)
• Willingness to travel substantially, given that the Ginnie Mae president is the public face of organization before all domestic and international stakeholders. Outside of the United States, the Ginnie Mae president is also the public face of the U.S. housing-finance system.
• Ability to recruit, retain and lead a staff that must perform critical capital markets tasks on very tight timelines
• Strong communication skills and ability to appear before the media

Past Appointments
  • Theodore W. Tozer (2010 to 2017): Senior Vice President of Capital Markets, PNC Mortgage (previously known as National City Mortgage), Vice President-COO of NatCity Investments
  • Joseph J. Murin (2008 to 2009): Managing Partner, MSNi; CEO, Basis 100; Senior Vice President, Prudential Home Mortgage3
  • Robert M. Couch (2006 to 2007): Member, Thrift Institutions Advisory Council, The Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System; Member, National Housing Advisory Council, Fannie Mae; Law Clerk, John M. Wisdom, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit4
AGENCY

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Mission: To create a housing finance system that is financially stable for government-insured or guaranteed loans, ensuring a mortgage system that allows homebuyers to obtain the best mortgage terms

COMPENSATION

Level IV $161,900 (5 U.S.C. § 5315)1

REPORTS TO

Deputy Secretary2

SENATE COMMITTEE

Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

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Footnote
  1. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Public Law 115-31, May 5, 2017), contains a provision that continues the freeze on the payable pay rates for certain senior political officials at 2013 levels during calendar year 2017.
  2. http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/2014AG-43.pdf
  3. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-murin-a983329/
  4. Leadership Directories: https://lo.bvdep.com/PeopleDocument.asp?PersonId=-1&LDIPeopleId=307140&Save=1
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