Mayor Bloomberg has named administration veteran Mathew Wambua to the post of commissioner of the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Wambua has served in the Bloomberg administration since 2002. Most recently, he has been the executive vice president of the Housing Development Corporation, which finances affordable-housing projects for HPD.

Bloomberg announced the appointment Thursday. The current commissioner, Rafael Cestero, said in January he’d be leaving at the end of this month to work in the private sector.

Before starting his current housing finance job, Wambua was a senior policy adviser in the mayor’s office. Among other things, he helped lead development projects in upper Manhattan and the South Bronx.