Career Opportunity

Director of Worker's Compensation Division (0953) - Department of Human Resources

Recruitment: RTF0124159-01151216

Published: August 31, 2022

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

Role description

The City & County of San Francisco is self-insured for workers’ compensation. The Department of Human Resources' (DHR) Workers’ Compensation Division administers workers’ compensation benefits, and all other benefits related to work injuries, in compliance with state and local laws and regulations. The Workers’ Compensation team directly administers approximately three quarters of the City’s workers’ compensation claims; a contracted third party administrator administers the balance of the claims under the supervision of the Workers’ Compensation Director.

The Workers’ Compensation Division has been a leader in promoting state-of-the-art technology, including implementation of electronic deposit for employee disability and expense reimbursements.

The Workers’ Compensation team is responsible for:

• Individual case handling and plans of action to maximize each employee’s speedy recovery.
• Continued evaluation of the cost effectiveness of its program.
• Management of the City & County of San Francisco’s Medical Provider Network
• Administration of programs to support its workers’ compensation program including medical management, injury reporting and triage, state and federal reporting, disability duration, and coordination of temporary modified or alternative work programs.
• Administration of the City’s Catastrophic Illness Program
• Coordination of Citywide Safety and Health Programs

The Workers’ Compensation Director

The Workers’ Compensation Director is a Deputy Director (job code 0953) at the Department of Human Resources. This is an at-will position, reporting directly to the City’s Human Resources Director. The Workers’ Compensation Director oversees a staff of over 60 employees with an overall budget of approximately $100 million. The key priorities and issues for the new Workers’ Compensation Director include:

• Continuous improvement of workers’ compensation services.
• Providing exceptional leadership for a highly effective management team with a focus on innovation, creativity, and collaboration.
• Identifying efficiencies and process improvements – this remains a high priority item for local policy makers.
• Continued support of the citywide temporary transitional work program.
• Establishment of effective, collaborative relationships with other City departments and the Workers’ Compensation Council (an appointed oversight body).
• Effectively managing the City’s Medical Provider Network.
• Promoting a citywide safety culture

How to qualify

Minimum Education and Experience Requirement:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university; AND
• Six (6) years of experience in a Workers Compensation Program delivering workers’ compensation or risk management services,
• Four (4) years of the above experience must be in a managerial role and supervising worker’s compensation or risk management professionals.

SUBSTITUTION: Applicants may substitute up to 2 years of the required education with additional qualifying experience in budget analysis, financial analysis and reporting, legislative/policy analysis, or contract/grant administration. One year (2000 hours) of additional qualifying experience will be considered equivalent to 30 semester units/45 quarter units.

The Ideal Candidate:

The ideal candidate will be an experienced workers’ compensation professional with a significant background in a similarly large and complex public or private organization. This knowledgeable, enthusiastic, collaborative, and results-oriented leader will be a critical thinker with outstanding visionary, communication, and problem-solving qualities. Characteristics we are seeking include but are not limited to:

• Possession of an advance educational degree.
• In-depth knowledge of state laws and regulations pertaining to workers’ compensation.
• Possession of a California Self-Insurance Administrator Certificate is highly desirable.

Leadership and Management Style

• Commitment to develop, modernize, and increase efficiency of policies, procedures, and practices through continuous improvement and innovations in management and service delivery.
• Record of establishing partnerships with stakeholders to enhance workers’ compensation and claims management services.
• Commitment to enhance internal and external communications regarding workers’ compensation services.
• Record of providing effective, innovative, and consistent management; coaching and development of staff; and fostering a culture of accountability and inclusiveness.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in identifying trends and implementing best practices for management of workers’ compensation claims.

Competencies and Personal Characteristics

• High degree of personal and professional ethics.
• Energetic, creative, and solution-oriented.
• Open and accessible with good consensus-building skills.
• Politically astute and able to establish trust with the Worker’s Compensation Council, Mayor’s Office, Board of Supervisors, other departments, and the public.
• Fair, unbiased, compassionate, and a good listener.
• Willing to take risks and attempt innovative solutions.
• Capacity to inspire trust including the ability to share “bad news” when necessary.
• Committed to continuous quality improvement and a high level of customer service.
• Openly seeks ideas and comments from others, including employees, and is decisive once input is obtained and considered.
• Interagency relations skills.
• Strategic orientation and the ability to anticipate issues and problems.
• Committed to personal accountability.
• Calm under pressure, resilient, and has a good sense of humor.

Verification of Education and Experience: Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point in the application and/or departmental selection process. Written verification of qualifying experience must verify that the applicant meets the minimum qualifications stated on the announcement. Written verification must be submitted on employer’s official letterhead, specifying name of employee, dates of employment, types of employment (part-time/full-time), job title(s), description of duties performed, and the verification must be signed by the employer. City employees will receive credit for the duties of the class to which they are appointed. Credit for experience obtained outside of the employee’s class will be allowed only if recorded in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Commission Rules. Experience claimed in self-employment must be supported by documents verifying income, earnings, business license and experience comparable to the minimum qualifications of the position. Copies of income tax papers or other documents listing occupations and total earnings must be submitted. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

Selection Process: Application materials including the cover letter and the updated resume will be reviewed for relevant qualifying experience. Only those applicants who most closely meet the requirements for this position will be invited to participate in the selection process. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed an invitation to the next phase of the selection process.

What else should I know?

Compensation: the annual compensation for this classification is $175,864 - $224,484.

Benefits: The City and County of San Francisco offers a comprehensive benefit program for its Managers. For complete details, please visit:https://sfdhr.org/MEA-Miscellaneous-Benefit-Summary

Appointment Type: Temporary-Exempt (TEX). Pursuant to the City & County of San Francisco Charter, Section 10.104.6. Any person occupying a position under exempt appointment shall not be subject to civil service selection, appointment, and removal procedures. Exempt employees shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing officer.

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

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

How to Apply:

To be considered, please submit a SmartRecruiters application and attach to your application:

• A cover letter
• An updated resume
• Five (5) work-related references

Deadline for Applications has been extended to Wednesday September 14, 2022.

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” 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.

For questions or inquiries, please contact: Gary Chen, Senior Human Resources Analyst at gary.w.chen@sfgov.org

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

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.