Development Planner

About the Department

The Housing Department works to promote and maintain the socioeconomic diversity of the city by managing and implementing the City’s efforts to meet the housing needs of low-, moderate-, and middle-income residents, managing affordable housing programs, developing initiatives to preserve and expand the City's stock of affordable housing, and provides assistance and support for residents with housing challenges or who are unhoused.

The Housing Department works closely with the Community Development Department (CDD), the planning agency for the City of Cambridge. CDD’s mission is to foster a livable, sustainable, just, and equitable community. The Housing Department and CDD engage and collaborate with community partners, other government agencies, and residents to make Cambridge a desirable place to live, work, learn, play, and innovate.

Under the supervision of the Senior Manager for Housing Development, the Housing Development Planner will be an essential member of the 5‑person affordable housing development and preservation team whose work involves creating and preserving affordable housing in Cambridge. The responsibilities of the Housing Development Planner are varied but will be focused on working with local affordable housing developers to move projects through all phases of development.

The Housing Development Planner will work both independently as well as collaboratively with members of the development and preservation team, other City staff, non‑profit and private housing developers, Cambridge Housing Authority, housing advocates and service providers, neighborhood groups, and residents.

• Working with affordable housing developers and owners to use city resources to create new affordable housing;
• Identifying and analyzing new affordable housing development opportunities;
• Assessing project feasibility and financing needs, including site assessment, proposed City funding, permitting and entitlement plans, design concepts, and overall consistency with City housing goals;
• Evaluating requests for City funding for affordable housing including underwriting development pro formas, analyzing operating projections and financing plans, and preparing financial analyses and funding recommendations;
• Managing funding commitment, loan closing, and disbursement processes;
• Maintaining familiarity with federal, state, regional, and local housing programs, policies, and regulations; analyzing and ensuring compliance with applicable requirements;
• Identifying and examining new and creative financing and housing production strategies;
• Maintaining, collecting and assembling data on assisted developments; preparing reports on program achievements and outcomes to assist with program evaluation and policy development;
• Providing technical assistance to development sponsors and property owners; providing information to residents and community groups;
• Assisting with other City housing programs and special projects as needed; participating in outreach efforts to publicize the City’s housing programs;
• Performing other duties as required.

Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

The Housing Development Planner should be a self‑motivated, detail‑oriented professional who is ready to work as part of a team to preserve and create affordable housing for residents. We seek candidates with a strong commitment to equity and respect, both in the provision of services and in the workplace.

• Bachelor’s degree with 7 years of experience in affordable housing finance and/or development, or comparable professional experience; a Master’s degree in real estate finance or development, urban planning, economics, or a related field may be substituted for 2 years of work experience;
• Experience and expertise in affordable housing finance and/or managing development of affordable housing;
• Experience with real estate finance and affordable housing capital subsidy programs (e.g., LIHTC, HOME), including familiarity with supportive housing.