President Barack Obama will nominate King County Executive Ron Sims to become the deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

As the deputy secretary, Sims will be charged with managing HUD’s day-to-day operations, a nearly $39 billion annual operating budget and the agency’s 8,500 employees, according to a press release.

The announcement was made from Washington, D.C., Monday morning. Sims scheduled a media briefing for 10 a.m.

Sims is in his third term as county executive. Larry Phillips of Seattle, a Democrat and longtime member of the King County Council, had already announced his intention to run for county executive.

“Ron’s track record as an innovative leader with an exciting vision for the future of our nation’s communities make him the perfect deputy secretary candidate as we tackle the nation’s housing crisis amidst the biggest economic downturn in decades,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in the press release.

“His experience at the helm of a large urban government provides a critical perspective and his collaborative approach to problem-solving has prepared him to effectively lead HUD’s operations as the agency charts a new aggressive course,” he said.

King County is the 13th most populous county in the nation, a metropolitan area with 1.8 million residents and 39 cities. The county government has a workforce of more than 13,000 and an annual budget of $4.9 billion.

Sims is a graduate of Central Washington University. He is a board member for Reconnecting America Center for Transit Oriented Development, advisory board member of the Brookings Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, board member and former chair of Sound Transit, board member of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, the National Committee of Quality Assurance and Rainier Scholars. He is co-chair of the Committee to End Homelessness in King County and founding chairman of the board of the Puget Sound Health Alliance.

Sim’s nomination requires approval by the Senate.