Career Opportunity

Claims Investigator- Claims Team- City Attorney's Office (9155)

Recruitment: RTF0135373-01026865

Published: May 24, 2023

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About:

Application Opening: May 24, 2023

Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. June 7, 2023

Compensation Range: $114,478- $139,126

Recruitment ID: RTF0135373-01026865

About the Office: The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office (Office) is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With over 300 talented, dedicated, and diverse employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers the City’s public servants with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, ideas, and lived experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected for their full authentic selves, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please click here.

The Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/

Role description

About the Claims Team

The Claims Team is a dynamic and collaborative group of attorneys, adjusters, investigators and clerks that investigates and attempts to resolve over 3,000 claims a year. The team investigates incidents (such as vehicle accidents and flooding) that may result in claims being filed against the City. The team pursues affirmative collections actions against those who have damaged City property. The team represents the City in small claims court to defend against claims and pursue collections.

Claims Investigator Position and Responsibilities

Under direction, the Claims Investigator is responsible for investigating personal injury and property damage claims involving City vehicles, equipment and utility installations; negotiates and settles claims against the City within prescribed limits; and performs related duties as required. Investigators are required to be on call during business hours in order to respond promptly to emergencies in the City. On a rotating basis, investigators must to be available to promptly respond to emergencies on evenings and weekends. City vehicles are available for investigators to perform their duties. Investigators’ specific duties include:

• Investigates all circumstances surrounding personal injury and property damage claims; prepares and compiles detailed reports of all such investigations, including interviews with claimants, doctors, nurses, police officials, attorneys, insurance adjusters and others.
• Negotiates the resolution or settlement of claims within prescribed limits; interviews witnesses at the scene of accidents and secures signed statements related thereto; consults with contractors, officials, technical and specialized personnel, as necessary.
• Makes court appearances and gives testimony relating to claims; confers with City legal representatives in connection with discovery responses and trial preparation for claims involving court litigation; arranges for the presentation of physical documentary evidence for use at trials; makes arrangement for the court appearance of expert testimony at trials.
• Defends the City in Small Claims court.
• Makes regular contact with City employees and the general public concerning investigations.
• Collaborates with the Municipal Transportation Agency, Public Utilities Commission and all other City departments.

Minimum Qualifications

Training and Experience: Requires completion of high school, supplemented by at least four years of progressively responsible experience involving investigation and processing of personal injury and property damage claims; or an equivalent combination of training and experience. and

License: Requires possession of a valid state motor vehicle operator's license.

Desired Qualifications

• A commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• The ability to exercise good judgment, multi-task, and meet deadlines.
• Integrity and honesty.
• A good knowledge of or aptitude for learning and understanding City and State laws applicable to personal injury and property damage claims, relevant legal terminology and court procedures.
• A good knowledge of or aptitude for learning and understanding the operations of utilities, vehicles, and equipment used and maintained by City departments.
• The ability to gather evidence in the field and through online databases.
• The ability to prepare for and conduct investigative interviews.
• Strong analytical and writing skills and the ability to prepare investigative reports.
• Strong oral communication skills.
• Claims adjusting and/or insurance investigation experience, especially regarding public agencies.
• Risk Management experience.
• Possession of a private investigator’s license.

Appointment Type

Permanent Exempt:

Permanent exempt (PEX) position; individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will".

How to qualify

Verification: 

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. 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”

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

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 next stage of the selection process. 

What else should I know?

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

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.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Nikki Chew, Sr. HR Analyst at nikki.chew@sfcityatty.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.