Career Opportunity

Deputy City Attorney- Transportation Team- City Attorney's Office (8177)

Recruitment: RTF0140443-01077111

Published: October 04, 2023

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

About:

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".

Application Opening: October 4, 2023

Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. October 25, 2023

Compensation Range: $142,168-$249,080

Recruitment ID: RTF0140443-01077111

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 Transportation Team

The Transportation Team is a collaborative and dynamic group of seven attorneys, one paralegal, and two legal secretaries.  The Team serves as General Counsel to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).  The SFMTA is the department of the City and County of San Francisco responsible for managing all ground transportation in the City.  With an annual operating budget of over $1 billion and approximately 6,000 employees, the SFMTA has oversight over the Municipal Railway (Muni), the City’s public transit system, as well as bicycling, paratransit, parking, traffic, walking, and taxis.  The Team also advises other City departments, including the Mayor’s Office and Board of Supervisors, on transportation-related issues.  The Team works closely with other teams in the Office, including the Labor, Government, Land Use, Contracts/Construction, and Trial Teams. 

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities

Attorneys on the Transportation Team are assigned a variety of advice matters, legislative drafting, and contracting.  On the advice side, attorneys handle a range of transactional issues, including federal, state, and local contracting for professional services, technology acquisition, transit vehicle purchases, public works, and materials procurement; US Department of Transportation and state grant requirements; general real estate matters related to the SFMTA’s facilities including transit facilities and public parking garages; and legal advice related to emerging mobility modes, including Transportation Network Carriers (TNCs), autonomous vehicles, e-bikes, and electric scooters.  We advise the SFMTA and its Board of Directors on compliance with state and local public records and meeting requirements; state and local regulatory requirements and proceedings including in front of the California Public Utilities Commission; intergovernmental cooperation agreements; fees, fares and fines; the City’s budget process; permitting and enforcing permit conditions; data privacy; and intellectual property.  Attorneys on our Team also draft and analyze local, state and federal legislation on a broad array of transportation issues. 

In addition to the range of work described above, the ideal candidate would be qualified to advise City clients in one or more of the following areas:

• Construction Projects:  provide advice over the life cycle of contracts and procurements related to large public works construction projects, including advising on alternative delivery methods, reviewing contract provisions, addressing proposal and bidding issues, and reviewing change orders and claims.
• Technology system procurements:  draft and review requests for proposals and contracts for technology systems, including related software and professional services, to support the SFMTA’s transit system operations.
• Vehicle procurements:  provide advice over the life cycle of transit vehicle procurement and rehabilitation and alignment of the procurement process with industry standards and best practices.  Familiarity with various types of mass transit vehicles including buses and Light Rail Vehicles including familiarity with electrification efforts for transit fleets is a plus. 
• Federal and/or State grant requirements:  advise on compliance with federal regulations and other conditions on grants from the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration (usually through Caltrans), including Buy America regulations, drug and alcohol testing, and third-party procurement requirements including required contract provisions.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California.

Desired Qualifications

• Five or more years of legal experience in transportation, municipal or other government law, public works, technology/systems, and government procurement practice. 
• Ability to assume responsibility quickly and work independently and efficiently.
• Excellent oral and written communication and advocacy skills.
• Ability to manage and appropriately balance an active and varied workload, and adjust to occasional workload increases. 
• Ability to exercise good judgment, multi-task, and meet deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment. 
• Desire and ability to work successfully as part of a team.
• Ability to work closely with clients to assist them in achieving program and policy goals and provide informed risk analyses and legal options.

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.

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. The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring. To apply for this position, please submit your resume and cover letter. Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit two references and at least one writing samples.

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.

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.