Career Opportunity

Assistant Clerk - Office of the Clerk of the Board - Board of Supervisors (1492) - (137636)

Recruitment: RTF0137635-01100872

Published: September 13, 2023

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About:

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.

• Application Opening – Thursday, July 13, 2023
• Application Closing – September 15, 2023 * Extended from original July 31, 2023 closing date to broaden applicant pool
• Salary: $112,866 – $137,228 Annually
• Recruitment ID: RTF0137635-01100872

The Board of Supervisors is the legislative branch of the City and County of San Francisco that responds to the needs of the people, establishes city policies, and adopts ordinances and resolutions. For more information visit: https://sfbos.org/

Role description

Pursuant to Charter, Section 2.117, the Clerk of the Board shall have charge of the office and records of the Board of Supervisors, its committees and its classified staff. Under general supervision by the Legislative Deputy, the Assistant Clerk performs complex and responsible legislative, administrative clerical/secretarial, and analytical work in connection with the activities of one or more committees of the Board of Supervisors or the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, and performs other duties as assigned. The essential functions of this job include: upholding the legislative process; reviewing legislative files for accuracy and completeness; organizing and preparing agendas for committee meetings; preparing legal notices and official advertising; attending committee meetings, taking notes, and preparing official minutes; preparing legislation and other reports related to committee actions; organizing and updating official legislative files; conducting research and responding to requests from the public and other departments; performing data entry and database maintenance; conducting quality control on the various files and documents processed; providing assistance to the Clerk of the Board and supervising staff in the absence of Deputy Clerks; and providing assistance and training to newly appointed Assistant Clerks when necessary. One Assistant Clerk shall be solely assigned and provide similar essential functions to the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, including drafting of determinations made by the Task Force and coordinating compliance concerns for City departments and the public on the Sunshine Ordinance.

The essential functions of this position include:

• Withstand influence, maintains neutrality, and uphold the legislative process by carrying out the functions, requirements, duties or terms of the following: complies with Federal, State and Local law, Clerk of the Board or Civil Service established procedures, and the Board's Rules of Order (and/or Roberts Rules of Order).
• Identifies, contacts and follows up with departments and other sources to obtain required attachments, documents and policy recommendations required for consideration of proposals, and ensures such attachments and documents are received before an item is submitted for a draft agenda.
• Prepares legal notices and official advertising following specific timelines and determine if notice was properly executed in the newspaper, mailed and/or posted.
• Independently composes and types correspondence relative to office operations - requiring knowledge of operations and regulations- for departments and Supervisors offices, prior to providing it to the Clerk of the Board for signature and/or approval.
• Organizes and prepares agendas for committee meetings to meet legal and operational requirements.
• Attends and clerks committee meetings; operationally and procedurally manages the meeting, taking notes, and preparing accurate minutes.
• Facilitates committee action, prepares legislation, substitutions, amendments, and other related reports within the required time frame.
• Communicates courteously and effectively with City officials, their staff and the general public.
• Performs data entry and database maintenance.
• Conducts research and responds to requests from the public and other departments received in person, by phone, electronic mail, or fax.
• Draft determinations made by the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force.
• Coordinate compliance concerns for City departments and the public on the Sunshine Ordinance.
• Provides assistance to the Clerk of the Board and Legislative Deputy Clerk, and supervises staff in the absence of the Deputy Clerk.
• Provides assistance and training to newly appointed staff when necessary.
• Performs other duties as required.

Nature of Essential Duties Include: Ability to effectively manage stressful situations under constant mandated deadlines. Extensive work in a standard office environment, which may involve prolonged sitting, bending, and operation of typing, word processing, and other office equipment. Ability to work outside normal business hours and attend evening meetings when necessary. Ability to adapt to change and work as part of a self-directed team.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications

• Five (5) years of secretarial experience, including at least one (1) year of experience performing high­ level secretarial/administrative duties in a legislative body, such as the Board of Supervisors, City Council, City Commission, or Board of Directors; AND
   
•  Two (2) continuous years of recent and verifiable work experience in the Legislative field handling regulations, noticing, policy bodies, parliamentary procedure, agendas, and minutes; AND
   
• Ability to type 55 wpm (net) and take notes to record the minutes of a committee meeting of the Board of Supervisors. 

Substitution: A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in English, Public Administration, Journalism, Political Science, Business Administration, Urban Studies, or related field may be substituted for the two (2) years of the secretarial experience. No substitution may be made for the required one year of experience performing high-level secretarial/administrative duties in a legislative body.

Verification of Typing Abilities: Candidates must submit certification of their typing abilities. Certificates must be dated within the past six months. Please ensure typing certificates reflect the applicant’s name, date certificate was obtained, typing speed, accuracy rate and a certificate number. For this recruitment (PBT-1492-137636), an online test will be accepted.

Additional Requirements: Ability to work in a standard office environment which may involve prolonged sitting, bending and operation of typing, word processing, and other office equipment; and ability to work outside normal business hours and evening meetings. Ability to adapt to change, and work independently as well as part of a team.  Ability to effectively manage stressful situations under constant mandated deadlines. Ability to work outside normal business hours and attend evening meetings when necessary.

Note(s):

• Special Condition: The above minimum qualifications reflect special conditions associated with the position(s) to be filled. They may differ from the standard minimum qualifications associated with this class code.
   
• One-year full-time employment is considered equivalent to 2000 hours (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.
   
• Applicants must meet minimum qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

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

A successful candidate will be a formerly trained clerk with verifiable experience clerking a policy body or equivalent advisory body, including direct responsibility for all aspects of a meeting, while working with a presiding officer, chair, chief clerk, or other type of management.  A successful candidate's flexibility, ability to prioritize work, and good judgment is essential in this deadline-driven environment. Strong written and verbal communication skills, customer service orientation, and work ethic define characteristics of a person who will flourish in this environment. Desirable candidates exhibit strong emotional intelligence and demonstrate collaborative behavior with other employees. 

• Exercise independent, sound judgment, free from outside influence, and can escalate issues to manager when needed;
• Ability to carry out responsibilities in a busy environment while keeping tight timelines;
• Strong organizational and people skills;
• Experience writing accurate, well organized, and grammatically correct documents, which include, but are not limited to, legislation, letters, memoranda, and reports;
• Demonstrated ability to use computer applications, including email, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and the internet to develop, prepare and/or maintain correspondence, reports, and other documentation.

What else should I know?

Verification: Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. For more information on how to verify your experience or education please click here.

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.

Selection Procedures: After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ) (Weight: Qualifying)
Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: 100%)
Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications will be provided a Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) as a part of the selection process. The SQ is designed to measure the knowledge, skills and abilities required for the position. Responses to the questionnaire will be reviewed and rated by a panel of subject matter experts and is subject to verification.

Qualified candidates will be sent email notices to complete the MQSQ and SQ exam. Failure to complete these steps by the established deadlines will result in disqualification.

A passing score must be achieved on the exam to be placed on the eligible list and continue in the selection process. Additional selection processes, like interviews, may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Eligible List/Score Report: A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

To find other Departments which use this classification, please click here.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights: Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule.  Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director.  Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.

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

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Position Based Testing Information
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• 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. 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).

Having Trouble?
If you are having trouble with the application, please visit Smart Recruiter's FAQs or email supportfeedback@smartr.me.  It is suggested you use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge web browser to submit the application. 

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.

Questions: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Jessica Wong, at jessica.j.wong@sfgov.org.

Your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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.