Senior Fair Housing Planner for the Division of Neighborhood Development and Stabilization

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) promotes quality and affordability in the city’s housing, and diversity and strength in the city’s neighborhoods because every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable place to live in a neighborhood they love.

- We maintain building and resident safety and health.
- We create opportunities for New Yorkers through housing affordability.
- We engage New Yorkers to build and sustain neighborhood strength and diversity.

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Your Team:

The Office of Neighborhood Strategies (ONS) is charged with ensuring that HPD’s development and preservation efforts are guided by meaningful community engagement and coordinated with public investments in infrastructure and services, as put forth in the Mayor's Housing Plan. ONS is composed of two divisions and a cross-divisional unit reporting to the Deputy Commissioner:
- The Division of Neighborhood Development & Stabilization (ND&S) leads the agency's commitment to neighborhood planning and strategic preservation through engagement with tenants, landlords, community leaders, and neighborhood stakeholders as we work to enable strong and healthy neighborhoods anchored by affordable housing. The Senior Fair Housing Planner is a member of this Division.
- The Division of Planning & Predevelopment (P&P) is central to developing and managing HPD's housing production pipeline from project proposal phases through the land use review and entitlement process, to ensure that HPD's investments contribute to building strong, healthy, resilient neighborhoods in all five boroughs.
- The Strategy and Operations Unit leads special ONS initiatives and provides essential technical, planning, and policy support to staff and the Deputy Commissioner of Neighborhood Strategies.

Your Impact:

As the Senior Fair Housing Planner for the Equitable Neighborhood Initiatives team in the Division of Neighborhood Development and Stabilization, you will work at the intersection of planning, policy, and public engagement. Our team’s work ensures that HPD investments leverage and incentivize other public and private investments to achieve broader community objectives that strengthen the social, economic, and physical health of neighborhoods. The Equitable Neighborhood Initiatives Unit and its sister team, Neighborhood Planning, partner with other HPD divisions, City and State agencies, local stakeholders, and community-based organizations to facilitate comprehensive, community-based planning processes; produce neighborhood housing plans and policies; and implement policy-related planning initiatives, including Where We Live NYC.

Your Role:

Under the direction of the Director of Equitable Neighborhood Initiatives, you will implement policy and planning initiatives in connection with the City’s obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. In this role, you will help develop meaningful solutions that promote a more just and inclusive New York City. Alongside the team’s Senior Fair Housing Outreach Coordinator and Fair Housing Planner and HPD’s Division of Housing Policy, you will work at the forefront of some of the most challenging affordable housing policy issues in New York City to confront discrimination, segregation, and disparities in access to housing and opportunity.

Your role focuses on advancing and engaging the public on the City’s Fair Housing Framework established under Local Law 167(2023). Key components include:
- Where We Live NYC, the City's five-year fair housing plan, which identifies goals and strategies to address NYC’s barriers to fair housing. ONS leads ongoing implementation of plan commitments including equity-focused mapping tools and Racial Equity Reports for land use applications.
- Three 2026 fair housing reports to ensure that all communities contribute equitably to addressing NYC's housing crisis: long-term housing needs assessment, citywide and community district housing production targets, a strategic equity framework. ONS is leading the housing production targets.

Your role will also support the Neighborhood Planning Unit’s portfolio as needed. Possible projects include community engagement, data analysis, and other neighborhood planning tasks associated with areawide planning efforts, like the Jewel Streets Neighborhood Plan and Request for Proposals for new affordable housing developments.

Candidates should have knowledge of or experience with NYC housing policies and programs, housing and demographic data analysis, land use and zoning, and community engagement. Strong written and verbal communications and project management skills are required.

Your Responsibilities:

The responsibilities of the Senior Fair Housing Planner include:

Project management
- Independently, develop and implement project goals, scopes of work, work plans, tracking documents and reporting for a variety of fair housing initiatives and neighborhood planning projects.
- As needed, help guide the work of junior team members and manage interns
- Serve on hiring committees

Planning and policy
- Work with the Fair Housing Planner, Senior Fair Housing Outreach Coordinator, and teams across the agency to carry out the obligations and commitments described in the city’s comprehensive fair housing plan, Where We Live NYC, and other elements of NYC’s Fair Housing Framework as described in Local Law 167 of 2023.
- Develop new policies for the agency’s future assessments of fair housing. Help analyze proposed municipal, state, and federal fair housing legislation, conduct research on these issues, provide comments to agency leadership, and advocate for potential solutions.
- Using spatial and quantitative tools, analyze complex geo-spatial issues, including demographic, housing, and real estate trends and conditions, as well as development and preservation opportunities, to support fair housing planning and policy.
- Build capacity around fair housing within ONS and support other units in integrating fair housing concepts and data into their projects, policies, and engagement.
- Support neighborhood planning efforts, including area-wide affordable housing plans and related implementation strategies, as necessary.
- Improve the City's equity-related mapping and planning tools (displacement risk map, equitable development data explorer, etc.


Communication
- Create clearly articulated and compelling materials, such as presentations, data visualizations, maps, and plain-language explanations of complex policy issues for internal and external audiences.
- Assist the Senior Fair Housing Outreach Coordinator and other team members in developing and conducting fair housing trainings for community boards and civic organizations citywide
- Report on the City’s progress in implementing Where We Live NYC and other projects

Preferred skills:

1. Education: Candidates with master’s degrees in urban planning, urban studies, sociology, public policy, law, or political science are preferred.
2. Professional experience: A minimum of 3-4 years of professional experience in a related field is preferred.
3. Policy analysis: Experience conducting policy research and sharing findings in memoranda and reports.
4. Project management: Proven ability to manage projects with multiple internal and external stakeholders, to receive direction and anticipate next steps, to work independently and take initiative, and to meet deadlines. Attentive to details, organized, and able to follow through. Works effectively with others.
5. Mapping and data analysis: Ability to create maps using ArcGIS or similar program; experience using quantitative data analysis using Excel to improve programs, policies, and processes. Experience with coding and statistical analysis (R, Stata, Python, etc.) a plus, but not required.
6. Subject-matter expertise: Knowledge of fair housing, New York City government, housing and neighborhood development issues (with an emphasis on issues affecting low-income tenants and homeowners), and zoning and land use policy.
7. Commitment to social justice: Proven commitment to advancing racial equity and inclusion and an understanding of the historic and systemic causes of social inequities.
8. Relationship-building: Ability to relate with people from different backgrounds and to present information clearly to people from different educational and literacy levels. Successful experience collaborating with community boards, civic associations, and neighborhood groups preferred.
9. Communication: Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills. Proven ability to produce high-quality materials in a variety of formats and experience facilitating meetings. Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, and Microsoft Office applications, including Excel and PowerPoint.
10. Good judgment: Ability to analyze a situation, understand when additional input is needed, resolve issues independently, and escalate when appropriate.

Authorization to work in the United States is required for this position. The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development does not provide sponsorship for international employees for visa applications, extensions, or status changes, including H-1B visas. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that they meet all qualifying requirements for this position at the time of application.

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