Chad Coerver will step down as executive director of the Contemporary Jewish Museum this summer after just two years, the museum announced Thursday.

Kerry King, CJM’s chief operating officer, will serve as interim executive director while the San Francisco museum searches for a new director.

Coerver worked at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for 22 years in different roles before taking the job at CJM in September 2021. In August he will become president of Working Assumptions, a Berkeley-based nonprofit organization that commissions art projects exploring the nature of work and family life.

“Chad received an offer from the organization Working Assumptions, and felt that while he wished the opportunity had come years down the line, it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up,” a CJM spokesperson told J.

In an interview with J. in 2021 when he was announced as CJM’s new director, succeeding Lori Starr, Coerver said his goals were to help the museum bounce back financially from the pandemic and to stage exhibits addressing social justice issues.

The exhibits that were organized during his tenure included “Tikkun: For the Cosmos, the Community, and Ourselves,” “Oz is for Oznowicz: A Puppet Family’s History,” and “Gillian Laub: Family Matters.”

For “Tikkun,” the museum invited local Jewish and non-Jewish artists to respond to the theme of repair. Some Jewish visitors were offended by a piece by a non-Jewish artist, Tosha Stimage, which included small images of the Palestinian flag.

In addressing the controversy, Coerver told J., “To truly be a contemporary art museum, meaning embedded in the contemporary issues of our day, our job is to provide a platform for dialogue and to share a diversity of perspectives on our walls. If any institution [like ours] took the path of withholding artwork that troubled our staff, our board or our community, it would be very difficult to mount exhibitions.”

Coerver called his decision to leave CJM bittersweet in a statement. “It has been a privilege to lead The CJM, and I am proud of the work that this talented and committed staff has undertaken in our time together,” he said. “While it is bittersweet to leave the museum after two years, Working Assumptions aligns with areas I’ve been focused on my entire career and offers an opportunity I could not pass up.”