Economic Development Project Manager

About the role

The City of Phoenix, Arizona, is seeking an Executive Fellow to conduct two critical analyses: a comprehensive food supply chain study and an evaluation of developer incentives to support food system integration. This work will help Phoenix identify opportunities to support regenerative agriculture and land use practices, strengthen local production and distribution networks, and embed food systems into the built environment in ways that restore environmental health and community resilience.

Responsibilities

• Conduct a comprehensive food supply chain analysis to assess how food moves through Phoenix, from production and processing to distribution, consumption, and waste.
• Evaluate factors such as local production capacity, infrastructure needs, market access, and opportunities to increase awareness and utilization of local food resources.
• Engage the private development community to better understand how food system elements can be incorporated into new and existing development projects.
• Research best practices and potential incentives, such as zoning flexibility, density bonuses, or financial tools, that could encourage developers to include food-related components in their projects.
• Develop a set of actionable, prioritized recommendations that align with the City’s food systems goals and inform future policy, programmatic, and partnership efforts.

Requirements

Qualifications include 15+ years of progressively responsible experience in organizational transformation and change management, from practitioner to enterprise-level leadership. Must be able to synthesize complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans, develop and implement strategic and operational project management plans, generate innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges, respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes, communicate effectively verbally and in writing, foster collaboration across multiple constituencies, establish and maintain strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, and embrace differing viewpoints and implement strategies to find common ground.

Qualifications

• Experience in organizational transformation and change management.
• Proven ability to synthesize complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans.
• Strong background in developing and implementing strategic and operational project management plans.
• Ability to generate innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges.
• Quick responsiveness to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong collaborative skills and the ability to foster relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to embrace differing viewpoints and implement strategies to find common ground.

Skills

Must possess the following skills:

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills.
• Strong analytical and data-driven approach.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Confidence and professional diplomacy in interactions with individuals at all levels.

Benefits

The Executive Fellow will receive an annual salary of $95,000, along with various health, dental, and vision insurance benefits. This amount is not representative of market-rate salaries for the experienced professionals in our program but is intended as compensation for a year of public service.

Pay

$95,000 annually

Schedule

October 26, 2026 – October 22, 2027