Breaking the Cycle Prevention Fellow

Job Description

The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing seeks a Prevention Fellow to accelerate high-impact initiatives under the Mayor’s Breaking the Cycle agenda. The Fellow will be based at HSH but will work across City Departments to strengthen San Francisco’s upstream response to homelessness by optimizing prevention investments, integrate predictive analytics into service delivery, and design program models that reduce inflow into chronic homelessness.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities (non-exhaustive)

Strategic and Operational Problem Solving

• Lead development of a citywide homelessness prevention strategy aligned with Breaking the Cycle priorities.
• Analyze current prevention spending across departments and recommend optimization strategies to better target high-risk populations.
• Identify structural barriers that limit prevention effectiveness and propose policy or programmatic adjustments.
• Design scalable prevention program models that reduce inflow into chronic homelessness.
• Support pilot initiatives and proof-of-concept programs that test targeted prevention approaches.

Data, Analysis, and Systems Design

• Partner closely with California Policy Lab to interpret predictive risk modeling and translate analytics into actionable prevention workflows.
• Design operational processes for identifying and proactively engaging individuals at highest risk of homelessness.
• Develop decision frameworks that align predictive risk thresholds with intervention levels and funding allocation.
• Collaborate with City data and program teams to integrate predictive insights into frontline prevention programs.
• Establish performance metrics and evaluation frameworks to assess prevention impact over time.

Cross-Departmental Coordination, Stakeholder Engagement, and Budget Alignment

• Project manage BTC prevention projects.
• Work across HSH and partner City departments to align prevention programming and funding streams.
• Partner with philanthropy to optimize City prevention efforts.
• Support development of budget proposals and reallocation strategies that prioritize high-impact prevention investments.
• Facilitate interdepartmental working groups focused on prevention integration.
• Prepare executive briefings, presentations, and implementation roadmaps for mayoral and departmental leadership.

Learning & Exposure
The Fellow will gain direct exposure to mayoral priority-setting and cross-department decision-making, applied experience integrating predictive analytics into real-world public systems, and a deep understanding of how policy design, funding strategy, data science, and service delivery intersect in homelessness prevention.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Possession of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university; AND

Experience: Five (5) years full-time equivalent experience performing professional-level analytical work. Qualifying professional-level analytical work includes analysis, development, administration, and reporting in major programs and functions of an organization in the areas of budgets, contracts, grants, policy, or other functional areas related to the duties of positions in the 182X Class series.

Education Substitution: Additional qualifying experience as described above may substitute for the required degree on a year-for-year basis up to a maximum of two (2) years. One year is equivalent to thirty (30) semester or forty-five (45) quarter units.

Experience Substitution: Possession of a graduate degree (Master's degree or higher) from an accredited college or university with major coursework in specialized subject matter areas such as public or business administration, management, business law, contract law, public policy, urban studies, economics, statistical analysis, finance, accounting or other fields of study closely related to the essential functions of positions in the 182X Class series may be substituted for one (1) year of required experience.

Desirable Qualifications:

• Professional experience in homelessness systems, public finance, healthcare, or related fields.
• Experience working with quantitative data and translating analytics into operational decisions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and demonstrated ability to navigate complex public systems and partner with philanthropy/external partners.

Additional Information

Selection Procedures: The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the oral/performance interview.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Municipal Executive Association Benefits Overview
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

•    Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to recruitment analyst Radha Mehta at radha.mehta@sfgov.org.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.

Company Description

Appointment Type: 
Temporary Exempt (TEX), Category 18: This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process, is considered “at will” and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. The duration of the appointment shall not exceed 18 months.

Application Opening: July 31, 2026
Application Deadline: May close anytime but not before August 16, 2026
Compensation Range: $146,016 and $177,528
Recruitment ID: REF60785H

Who We Are

Through the provision of coordinated, compassionate, and high‐quality services, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) strives to make homelessness in San Francisco rare, brief, and one time. The Department provides assistance and support to homeless and at‐risk youth, adults, and families to prevent imminent episodes of homelessness and end homelessness for people in San Francisco. Services including outreach, homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, drop‐in centers, transitional housing, supportive housing, short‐term rental subsidies, and support services to help people exit homelessness. For more information about the department, please visit our website at https://hsh.sfgov.org.

What We Do

San Francisco is a pioneer in homeless services and a leader in providing supportive housing as a permanent exit from homelessness. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), founded in 2016, is a national leader in the movement to end homelessness by developing a coordinated, equity-driven, client-focused system of compassionate services while piloting innovative models, and implementing best practice solutions with measurable results. 

HSH’s Homelessness Response System (HRS) funds, oversees and implements a system of care that shelters, houses, and serves approximately 15,000 people daily. Major programs include: street outreach and service connection through the Homeless Outreach Team (SFHOT); 3,600+ bed shelter system for transitional age youth, adults and families including shelters for members of the LGBTQ community; rapid rehousing rental subsidies for families, adults, older adults, and transitional aged youth; the Problem Solving and flexible financial assistance programs; and robust supportive housing programs with over 14,500 units which provide housing and services to formerly homeless transitional age youth, individuals, and families.