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San Francisco is working to make housing more accessible and affordable for all, particularly low- and middle-income families. The FUSE Executive Fellow will support this goal by equipping planners and developers with the tools, policies, and financial analysis necessary to break ground on new projects. This work will help San Francisco promote housing in every neighborhood, keeping families, seniors, workers, and others in the City. This fellowship is part of FUSE's two-year model, with Year One focused on advancing coordination, strategy, and early implementation, and Year Two focused on building on this progress to deepen impact and support sustained, long-term outcomes.
Fellowship Dates: October 26, 2026 - October 20, 2028
Salary: This project is part of a collaboration between FUSE and Coro California in service to the City and County of San Francisco. The selected candidate will be hired as a FUSE Executive Fellow and will also have the opportunity to enroll in the Coro San Francisco Executive Fellows Experience, which provides additional networking, training, and leadership development designed to strengthen project impact.
The fellow will receive FUSE employment benefits and an annual salary of $95,000 from FUSE. Fellows who choose to participate in the Coro experience will receive a separate annual stipend of $70,000 from Coro. Participation in the Coro experience is optional. If participating in the Coro experience, the combined annual compensation would total $165,000 before taxes.
ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP
FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to work more effectively for communities. We embed private sector executives in city and county agencies to lead projects that improve public services and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 400 projects in 58 governments across 26 states, impacting a total population equivalent to 1 in 10 Americans.
When designing each fellowship project, FUSE works closely with government partners and community stakeholders to define a scope of work that will achieve substantive progress toward high-priority local needs. Projects address today's most pressing challenges and opportunities, including affordable housing, economic mobility, climate resilience, public safety, infrastructure, technology, and more.
FUSE conducts a full executive search for each individual project to ensure that the selected candidate has at least 15 years of professional experience, the required competencies for the role, and deep connections to the community being served.
Executive Fellows are embedded in government agencies working with senior leaders for at least one year of full-time work. Prospective responsibilities may include thorough data analytics and research, developing enhanced operations and financial models, building change management and strategic planning processes, and/or building broad coalitions to support project implementation efforts. Executive Fellows are data-driven and results-oriented and able to effectively manage complex projects. They build strong relationships with a broad array of stakeholders, foster alignment within and across various layers of government, and build partnerships between governments and communities.
Throughout the fellowships, Executive Fellows receive training, coaching, and professional support to help achieve their project goals.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
San Francisco, CA has long been known as a city of inclusion and opportunity, drawing in people from around the world. Exclusionary zoning laws, however, have historically forced low- and middle-income families into the eastern and southern parts of the City where there is a greater diversity of apartment buildings and lower-cost housing, while the well-resourced north and west quadrants have remained lower density and more expensive. The 2021 Regional Housing Need Allocation process estimated that and San Francisco now has a housing gap of 82,000 units, with a disproportionate gap for non-affluent households. As the cost of living rises, low- and middle-income families-especially BIPOC families-are at risk for displacement. Long-time residents should feel like they can afford to stay in San Francisco, and workers of all income levels deserve to be able to live closer to where they work.
The City aims to close the affordability gap. San Francisco has invested more than $2B in affordable housing production and preservation over the past 8 years. In 2025 the Mayor signed the Family Zoning Plan into law. This plan aims to prevent displacement and preserve the City's diversity by expanding housing opportunities in well-resourced northern and western neighborhoods, including adding "missing middle" homes for working- and middle-class families in areas with access to transit, high-performing schools, parks, and other key services. The City has also explored avenues for innovative housing delivery, including both at new housing typologies and alternative financing models. These efforts include streamlining the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units, exploring "single stair" policy reforms to enable safe, dense housing, and evaluating financing tools that can facilitate affordable and mixed-income housing with fewer public subsidies-such as middle-income housing construction bonds and loan programs, Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts, or EIFDs, and other models including social housing). By adding density to neighborhoods that historically featured single family homes, San Francisco Planning aims to house more families at more diverse price points.
The City's next phase of work is to implement the Family Zoning Plan. With the Fellow's support, San Francisco will create permit-ready plans, simplified code regulations, and financial analyses necessary to make housing production a reality. The FUSE Executive Fellow will support San Francisco Planning by managing projects, engaging stakeholders, and conducting critical research on built form and construction financing to advance progress on this plan.
PROJECT APPROACH
The first 90 days of the fellowship will focus on in-depth discovery and relationship-building. Beginning in Fall 2026, the FUSE Executive Fellow will develop deep relationships with a broad range of stakeholders, including developers (including groups focused on affordable and market-rate housing), and advocacy organizations (with an emphasis on organizations serving low- and moderate-income and residents and pro-housing organizations). In addition, the Executive Fellow will review existing policies and best practices for building missing middle and innovative housing delivery models in cities similar to San Francisco.
This discovery phase is intended to help the Executive Fellow develop a nuanced understanding of San Francisco's housing landscape, current challenges, and opportunities for both immediate and sustained policy gains. Based on insights gathered, the Executive Fellow will develop and present proposed refinements to project goals, priorities, and anticipated deliverables for review and approval by San Francisco Planning and the Executive Sponsor.
Following the discovery phase, the Executive Fellow will advance priority workstreams to promote the affordable housing agenda. While the Executive Fellow will engage internal and external stakeholders on a variety of housing density topics, they should focus their time on policies, plans, and tools that enable 4-to-8 story multi-family projects, particularly in well-resourced neighborhoods. This could include tools for developers (e.g., a library of pre-approved plans), research and proposals on policy changes (e.g., single stair reform), and financial analysis (e.g., pro forma financial statements for developers working on different innovative housing types, such as modular housing or social housing). Rather than developing all of these deliverables themselves, the Executive Fellow will assess which workstreams have the highest potential for impact and then manage those priorities from idea to implementation. Specific responsibilities could include convening working groups, conducting policy research, managing external consultants, eliciting stakeholder feedback on draft rules, or securing approval for zoning changes.
By the end of the fellowship, the Executive Fellow will have developed the tools, policies, and relationships necessary for the City to close the housing gap for low- and middle-income families. These workstreams should build a foundation for increased housing density, specifically 4-8 story multi-family buildings. While these deliverables are discrete tasks that should be completed by the end of the fellowship, the Executive Fellow will also be responsible for working with San Francisco Planning staff to ensure knowledge transfer and handover of any remaining responsibilities prior to departure. This scope reflects Year One priorities, and the fellow and City will collaborate during the fellowship to define the scope and focus for Year Two based on progress and emerging opportunities.
EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
By October 2027, the Executive Fellow will have overseen the following:

• Financial Feasibility Analysis of Missing Middle and Innovative Housing Delivery Types - Conduct financial feasibility analyses for target project types to help the City and developers understand the financial viability of projects and whether moving various policy levers can have a meaningful impact on housing production. This should include input costs, financing, and profit/loss for various tenures (e.g., condos, rentals). The study should evaluate the financial impact of various policy and building innovations, such as:
  • Cost-reducing features, such as single-stair buildings or industrialized construction
  • Innovative financing structures for affordable and mixed-income housing, including both publicly-subsidized and private models.
• Pre-Approved Plan Library - Develop a library of pre-approved plans for small, multi-family buildings. The library should focus on plans for common lot configurations and project types, with emphasis on 4-to-8 story "missing middle" buildings that include units with two or more bedrooms.
• Code Changes - Identify, research, draft, and secure approval for code changes that unlock development of more small, multi-family buildings in the north and west. Work with internal and external stakeholders to develop code changes that can facilitate housing production and bring down the costs of housing production (ex: single stair reform).

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• Executive Sponsor - Sarah Dennis-Phillips, Planning Director, San Francisco Planning
• Project Supervisor - Lisa Chen, Principal Planner, San Francisco Planning

QUALIFICATIONS

• 15+ years of progressively responsible experience in organizational transformation and change management, from practitioner to enterprise-level leadership.
• Synthesizes complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans.
• Develops and effectively implements both strategic and operational project management plans.
• Generates innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges.
• Respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes.
• Communicates effectively verbally and in writing and excels in active listening and conversing.
• Fosters collaboration across multiple constituencies to support more effective decision-making.
• Establishes and maintains strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, both inside and outside of government, particularly community-based relationships.
• Embraces differing viewpoints and implements strategies to find common ground. Demonstrates confidence and professional diplomacy while effectively interacting with individuals at all levels of various organizations.

FUSE is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply for this position.