Posted: Nov 14, 2025
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Nicolas P. and Joan B. Retsinas Director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies

Harvard Graduate School of Design - Cambridge, MA
Full-time
Application Deadline: N/A
Academic
The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) seeks to appoint a distinguished scholar and/or practitioner with a deep understanding of housing markets, practice, and policy to serve as the inaugural Nicolas P. and Joan B. Retsinas Director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. The successful candidate will also be appointed to an appropriate non-tenured faculty position in the Faculty of Design as Associate Professor in Practice, or as a member of the senior faculty, either as Professor in Practice or Senior Lecturer. They must have a proven track record in fundraising, strategic planning, and organizational leadership. They will be expected to teach and lead housing-related activities at the GSD. Candidates must have a background in urban planning, design, economics, public policy, law, or related fields.

In the role of Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies, the appointee has responsibility for establishing the strategic direction of the Center, expanding the Center’s national impact, securing funding for its operation, and leading a staff of approximately 20 full-time employees working across the domains of research, communications, events, student engagement, finance, and administration. The Director works closely with the Center’s research team to establish and pursue a rigorous annual research agenda, overseeing the thematic direction of four major annual reports, including the highly respected “State of the Nation’s Housing,” as well the production of working papers, academic articles, and other publications.

The Director must be highly visible in the realms of housing policy and industry, serving as the public face for the Center. The Director must have a sophisticated understanding of the current and historical United States housing landscape with the ability to speak expertly on a range of housing-related topics including real estate markets, affordability, housing policy and finance, rental housing and homeownership, housing and urban design, community development, and demographic change. The Director routinely delivers keynote addresses and speaks on panels at national events, is interviewed by national media outlets, and testifies before Senate and House committee hearings about important housing issues.

The Director works closely with the Center’s Policy Advisory Board (PAB), a group of roughly 60 CEOs in the housing industry, to strengthen the policy connections between academia and industry. The PAB provides significant annual funding to the Center, and the Director works with senior staff at the Center and the Chair of the PAB to plan and execute three annual PAB meetings with a two-day agenda of speakers from industry, policy, and academia.

The Director will be a member of the GSD’s Department of Urban Planning and Design and may serve as a member of the senior faculty council. They will be expected to teach one housing-related class each year at the GSD. They also work closely with a Faculty Advisory Committee, comprised of faculty from the GSD and elsewhere across the Harvard campus.

The Director will expand on ways in which the GSD and Center can collaborate, building on the strengths of the GSD’s departments and programs, while also stewarding the Center’s longstanding collaborations with the Harvard Kennedy School. The Director will also make efforts to expand relationships across the university, including with the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Law School, Business School, and Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Additional Information:
This is a full-time position that will combine the directorship and responsibility for managing the Joint Center for Housing Studies with an appropriate part-time faculty appointment.
 
The faculty search committee will review applications on a rolling basis starting in November 2025. For full consideration, please submit materials by January 9, 2026.

Initial Submission:
Candidates should submit:
    • Cover letter
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • If relevant, selected material from your portfolio, including publications, plans, reports, or design work, depending on experience, up to 15 mb
    • Names and contact information for a minimum of three referees. (Candidates will be notified regarding requests for evaluation letters during the subsequent phase of the recruitment process. Please note that your referees may or may not be asked for letters.)
Subsequent Submission:
At a later date, candidates advancing in the selection process will be asked to provide additional material.
 
The school seeks to attract individuals with at least ten years’ experience in research or administration of research on housing issues at the national level. Demonstrated professional and academic leadership is expected. Excellent managerial, communications, interpersonal and intercultural, research, and writing skills are required as well as experience working with academic leadership and faculty. Candidates must possess the capacity to create and execute strategic plans and initiatives and the ability to build solidarity, resolve conflict, and facilitate networking, synergies, and partnerships. The GSD values individuals who support free inquiry and expression by others and constructive, collegial collaborations with faculty, staff, and students.

Candidates can come from a variety of fields related to housing but must have at least a master’s degree, a Ph.D., or a comparable terminal degree appropriate to support an appointment to the GSD’s senior positions in urban planning, design, and real estate.

The Directorship will be appointed for an initial term of five years. The position is renewable, contingent upon review and reappointment by the Dean. It is a full-time obligation; full-time residence in, or relocation to, the Boston metropolitan area is a requirement of the position.
 
Salary commensurate with experience, and dependent on the position type at hire:
 
Associate Professor in Practice: hiring range $130,000-$165,000
Professor in Practice or Senior Lecturer: hiring range $180,000-$230,000