About Our Incubation and Trends Practice Area and the Position
 

Housing and community development ecosystems are dynamic, and subject to micro and macro market factors that reveal nuanced challenges. Advisors’ I&T practice area designs, deploys, and scales innovative housing solutions in partnership with communities. We build capacity of communities to adapt to new technology and emerging trends by leveraging data and technology and deploying innovative solutions to persistent and emerging challenges. 
 

We are increasingly focused on the intersections of land useand zoning and technology. For decades communities have struggled to increase housing supply to keep up with demand leading to a nationwide shortage of housing. While unlocking housing supply is a priority for communities across the country, current land use regulations and zoning restrictions limit what can be built and rising land and construction costs put affordable housing out of reach for many families. 
 

Advisors’seeks a Director of Incubation and Trends to help advance an existing and growing portfolio of work focused on land use and zoning under Enterprise’s recently launched and related market trends and technology. Preference for the Director to have subject matter expertise in geospatial analysis and possess the necessary technical skills to manage a team leveraging data and mapping software to demonstrate the impacts of various zoning actions, needs and opportunities to increase housing supply. Examples of this work include context mapping for specific sites, corridors, or neighborhoods; developing a spatial analysis model for city-wide site feasibility analyses; and the development of market studies through mapping, census data analysis, and statistical modeling. The role requires strong analytical skills and the ability to provide actionable insights through the integration of data.  

This position may be based in any of the following locations: Washington, DC (preferred); Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA;Cleveland, OH.

Job Responsibilities: 

• Manage a portfolio of projects and staff within the Incubation and Trends practice area, focused on land use and zoning reform.

• Serve as a subject matter expert on land use and zoning and emerging trends.

• In collaboration with Advisors’ Leadership and other Advisors staff, advancea body of land use and zoning work, including but not limited to: 

• Developing and refining overall strategy, including goals and priorities for the body of work, services offered, approaches, etc.  

• Identifying, cultivating, and responding to business development opportunities from public, private, and philanthropic partners 

• Providing impactful advisory services to advance place-based solutions in collaboration with local governments selected under the Land Use Network

• Supervise 2-4 staff members 

• Lead the collection, integration, and analysis of large-scale geospatial datasets to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies relevant to the project objectives. 

• Lead a project team in developing and applying parcel prioritization methodologies to identify sites for affordable housing development.

• Use outputs from data and mapping software to demonstrate the impacts of various zoning actions, needs, and opportunities 

• Oversee the creation of market studies through the analysis of data sources including Census, PUMS, CoStar, and others.

• Oversee spatial analysts on the team by sharing databases, utilizing ArcGIS online, and other processes.

• Leverage expertise in working with spatial data to drive projects exploring the use of land use and zoning tools to unlock housing supply on a transit corridor, neighborhood, and city-wide scale.  

• Lead and manage technical assistance engagements and other projects (e.g., scoping, defining the approach and team, budgeting, selecting and managing the project team, reviewing products and ensuring the project aligns with Enterprise’s mission and our partners’ needs) 

• Leverage data and software platforms to address housing and community development challenges.

• Serve as a team member on technical assistance assignments and other projects 

• Build and maintain relationships with clients, funders, subcontractors, partner organizations, and other teams within Enterprise 

• Review and provide feedback on work products and approaches by other staff and subcontractors to provide insight, support staff development, and to ensure quality control and performance management.  

• Inform the development or refinement of Advisors’ business strategy, policies, and procedures related to this work.  

• Perform other duties as assigned. 

• Travel to out-of-town work assignments and team meetings, as required. 
   

Job Qualifications: 

• An undergraduate degree is required, graduate degree in a related field preferred. 

• A minimum of ten(10) years of relevant experience required.   

• Five (5) years’ experience managing staff and teams, and supporting professional development and growth.

• Experience working for a local government planning office/department at the city or county level is preferred. Relevant experience delivering advisory services for planning departments will be considered. 

• Proficiency with ArcGIS or equivalent software is preferred. ArcGIS users should be familiar with the spatial analyst toolbox, special statistic methods, and feature class manipulation. 

• Proficiency with data analysis software such as R or Python is preferred.

• Demonstrated experience conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses is preferred.

• Experience working with or delivering technical assistance/consulting services to local governments. Direct tangible experience working with local governments and/or community partners on land use and zoning. 

• Excellent grammar, editing, and proofreading skills to produce high-quality written products. 

• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly and concisely express thoughts and ideas verbally and in writing. 

• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple, complex activities and responsibilities while meeting deadlines.  

• Demonstrated strong initiative and ability to proactively identify needs and solve problems. 

• Experience cultivating effective working relationships with diverse partners and clients.  

• Demonstrated deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing local governments on housing supply, land use and zoning, technology and other market trends.

• Experienceevaluating and designing land use policies that integrate equity, resilience, and development strategies.

• Demonstrated deep understanding and familiarity with the growing body of work around scenario planning, land use re