FUSE
Building a Stormwater and Floodplain Framework and Implementation Plan to Support Resilient Growth
🇺🇸Bentonville, Arkansas, United States12 days ago
$95,000 – $95,000ExecutiveFull Time
The City of Bentonville is working to translate rapid growth into safer neighborhoods and long-term infrastructure resilience by advancing a comprehensive, data-driven stormwater and floodplain framework. The FUSE Executive Fellow will lead cross-departmental coordination to establish a clear citywide stormwater framework and move forward a coordinated implementation strategy that aligns infrastructure planning, land-use policy, parks integration, and regional coordination to reduce flood risk and support resilient development. This is a two-year fellowship, with Year One focused on discovery, framework development, and initial implementation, and Year Two focused on scaling solutions and embedding sustainable watershed management practices within City operations.
Fellowship Dates: October 26, 2026 – October 22, 2027
Salary: Executive Fellows are FUSE employees and receive an annual salary of $95,000. Fellows can also access 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.
ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP
FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to work more effectively for communities. We embed private sector executives in city and county agencies to lead projects that improve public services and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 400 projects in 58 governments across 26 states, impacting a total population equivalent to 1 in 10 Americans.
When designing each fellowship project, FUSE works closely with government partners and community stakeholders to define a scope of work that will achieve substantive progress toward high-priority local needs. Projects address today’s most pressing challenges and opportunities, including affordable housing, economic mobility, climate resilience, public safety, infrastructure, technology, and more.
FUSE conducts a full executive search for each individual project to ensure that the selected candidate has at least 15 years of professional experience, the required competencies for the role, and deep connections to the community being served.
Executive Fellows are embedded in government agencies working with senior leaders for at least one year of full-time work. Prospective responsibilities may include thorough data analytics and research, developing enhanced operations and financial models, building change management and strategic planning processes, and/or building broad coalitions to support project implementation efforts. Executive Fellows are data-driven and results-oriented and able to effectively manage complex projects. They build strong relationships with a broad array of stakeholders, foster alignment within and across various layers of government, and build partnerships between governments and communities.
Throughout the fellowships, Executive Fellows receive training, coaching, and professional support to help achieve their project goals.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Strategic stormwater and floodplain planning is critical to ensure that rapid growth translates into safe neighborhoods, protected property, and long-term infrastructure resilience. When cities proactively model watershed conditions and align development with natural drainage patterns, they can reduce flood risk, safeguard housing stability, and integrate water management with parks, open space, and community amenities. Data-driven stormwater planning also supports equitable growth by preventing unintended downstream impacts and ensuring that infrastructure investments benefit a broad range of residents, including those living in older neighborhoods with aging systems. Without comprehensive modeling and coordinated planning, fast-growing cities risk increasing localized flooding, shifting impacts onto adjacent properties, and missing opportunities to align infrastructure with sustainable development.
Bentonville, Arkansas, has experienced sustained population and economic growth, increasing pressure on its stormwater systems as development expands into flood-prone areas and previously undeveloped land. Portions of the city were built before modern detention standards were adopted, and legacy drainage systems were not designed for today’s intensity of rainfall events. As upstream headwaters within a regional creek system, Bentonville’s stormwater decisions affect downstream communities throughout Northwest Arkansas and the Illinois River watershed. Localized flooding can disrupt daily life, damage property, and create disproportionate burdens for households with limited financial flexibility to recover from repeated impacts. In recent years, the City completed a focused downtown stormwater study and infrastructure improvements funded through a voter-approved bond, demonstrating that detailed modeling and targeted investment can significantly reduce risk. Bentonville maintains strong floodplain management standards, is adopting a new Unified Development Code, and is implementing a Parks Master Plan, all of which create momentum for more integrated and forward-looking stormwater planning.
Bentonville will partner with FUSE through a two-year Executive Fellowship to build a comprehensive, citywide stormwater framework and translate that foundation into a long-term implementation strategy, capital improvement plan, and sustainable funding approach. Ultimately, this partnership will position Bentonville to move from reactive drainage responses to proactive watershed management, supporting resilient growth and shared community benefits across Northwest Arkansas.
roadmap project activity. Ultimately, this work will help DEP provide a more equitable experience to its customers, increase operational efficiency, and improve accessibility for all DEP customers.
Fellowship Dates: October 26, 2026 – October 22, 2027
Salary: Executive Fellows are FUSE employees and receive an annual salary of $95,000. Fellows can also access 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.
ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP
FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to work more effectively for communities. We embed private sector executives in city and county agencies to lead projects that improve public services and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 400 projects in 58 governments across 26 states, impacting a total population equivalent to 1 in 10 Americans.
When designing each fellowship project, FUSE works closely with government partners and community stakeholders to define a scope of work that will achieve substantive progress toward high-priority local needs. Projects address today’s most pressing challenges and opportunities, including affordable housing, economic mobility, climate resilience, public safety, infrastructure, technology, and more.
FUSE conducts a full executive search for each individual project to ensure that the selected candidate has at least 15 years of professional experience, the required competencies for the role, and deep connections to the community being served.
Executive Fellows are embedded in government agencies working with senior leaders for at least one year of full-time work. Prospective responsibilities may include thorough data analytics and research, developing enhanced operations and financial models, building change management and strategic planning processes, and/or building broad coalitions to support project implementation efforts. Executive Fellows are data-driven and results-oriented and able to effectively manage complex projects. They build strong relationships with a broad array of stakeholders, foster alignment within and across various layers of government, and build partnerships between governments and communities.
Throughout the fellowships, Executive Fellows receive training, coaching, and professional support to help achieve their project goals.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is responsible for managing the city’s water supply, stormwater systems, and pollution control infrastructure to create a more climate-resilient future. DEP is currently implementing its largest-ever capital construction plan, including state-of-good-repair, new construction, sustainability, and energy-efficiency projects, largely funded by revenue from the department’s water and wastewater services. As threats from climate change continue to grow and the department expands in response, an efficient, customer-oriented approach to operations is necessary to ensure the agency meets its ambitious goals.
BCS is made up of around 500 people, including field inspectors and office staff, working to deliver a seamless and efficient meter-to-cash process. BCS serves over 840,000 customers across NYC and is responsible for maintaining metering infrastructure, billing, and responding to inquiries. With such a large customer base, a customer-centric approach is key to minimizing confusion and disputes so customers can trust and pay their bills, or connect with resources and programs for assistance.
In 2024, DEP worked with FUSE to develop a customer relationship management (CRM) framework to better incorporate customer feedback and redesign BCS’s processes and communications to better suit both the customer and the agency’s needs. The 2024 FUSE Executive Fellow laid the groundwork by establishing the CRM framework and setting up initial project management tools and templates. Now that this structure is in place, the approach needs to be implemented and expanded to address the bureau’s evolving needs.
New York City will partner with FUSE to implement and optimize a customer-centric framework within DEP while advancing key strategic improvement initiatives. The fellow will centralize and activate customer feedback data to inform service improvements, identify operational inefficiencies and pain points across existing processes, and develop strategic recommendations to streamline internal workflows and enhance customer experience. Working closely with internal subject-matter experts, the fellow will analyze root causes of service challenges and generate practical solutions. The fellow will also design and conduct pilot projects to test and validate proposed process improvements, update customer-facing communications and tools to improve accessibility and clarity, and support the coordination and implementation of early operational improvements that demonstrate measurable progress toward a more responsive and customer-focused service model.
Ultimately, this will help DEP expand its customer-centric approach, both internally and externally, thereby increasing operational efficiency and transparency.
PROJECT APPROACH
Beginning in Fall 2026, the FUSE Executive Fellow will work with the City of Bentonville’s Mayor’s Office, Engineering Department, and Planning Department to advance a stormwater and floodplain framework and implementation plan that supports resilient growth and long-term infrastructure sustainability. Through this two-year fellowship, the fellow will help coordinate watershed management, reduce flood risk, and integrate planning that aligns infrastructure, land use, parks, and economic growth. The fellow’s work will focus on coordinating technical inputs, strengthening cross-departmental alignment, and building practical systems that guide proactive development and infrastructure decisions.
The fellow will begin with a 90-day period of in-depth discovery and assessment. During this phase, the fellow will conduct a comprehensive listening tour with key stakeholders, including the Mayor’s Office, Engineering and GIS staff, Planning and Parks leadership, Finance, City Council members, regional planning partners, watershed organizations, and key landowners. This process will surface insights into existing drainage challenges, development pressures, regulatory requirements, and opportunities for collaboration. The fellow will lead a landscape assessment of prior stormwater studies, floodplain data, development trends, FEMA requirements, and regional watershed plans to inform development of the framework and implementation priorities. The fellow will assess current development review practices, capital planning processes, and stormwater maintenance protocols, and research best practices from comparable fast-growing communities that have successfully implemented citywide stormwater models, regional detention strategies, and stormwater utilities.
Drawing on insights from the discovery phase, the fellow will refine project goals, priorities, and anticipated Year One deliverables for review and approval by City leadership. This step will ensure alignment with local conditions and departmental priorities before moving into implementation.
During Year One, the fellow will focus on establishing the stormwater framework and initiating the implementation plan. This will include overseeing development of a citywide stormwater model, coordinating data inputs across departments, and managing consultant engagement for technical modeling as needed. The fellow will work closely with Engineering and GIS staff to ensure that technical tools align with operational needs and can be sustainably maintained within City processes. Drawing on modeling results and departmental input, the fellow will help identify priorities for flood risk reduction and regional detention opportunities that may also support parks, greenways, or open space goals. Throughout the year, the fellow will support structured stakeholder engagement with developers, landowners, and regional partners to explore incentive-based strategies and coordinated watershed approaches.
The fellow will also develop practical tools and processes that strengthen data-informed development review and capital planning. This may include piloting enhanced development evaluation processes, aligning stormwater planning with the Unified Development Code and Parks Master Plan, and improving internal workflows for cross-department coordination. Where appropriate, the fellow may support early implementation efforts to test regional detention concepts or capital planning scenarios, while remaining flexible as priorities evolve based on ongoing findings.
By the end of Year One, the fellow will have established a coordinated stormwater planning foundation, stronger cross-department alignment, and increased institutional capacity to guide resilient development. The fellow and City leadership will collaborate to define more specific goals, success measures, and scope for the second year of the fellowship, informed by lessons learned and early progress in year one.
The second year will focus on deepening implementation, advancing capital improvement planning, refining a stormwater utility framework, and embedding sustainable governance and funding systems within City operations. By the end of Year Two, the north star of this fellowship is for Bentonville to operate with an institutionalized, proactive watershed management approach that reduces flood risk, supports equitable neighborhood protection, strengthens regional coordination, and enables resilient long-term growth.
EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
By Fall 2027, at the end of Year One, the fellow is expected to have:
By Fall 2028, at the end of Year Two, the fellow is expected to have supported the following high-level outcomes:
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
QUALIFICATIONS
FUSE is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply for this position.
