Career Opportunity

Utility Plumber Apprentice I - Water Supply & Treatment Division and City Distribution Division - SFPUC (7463)

Recruitment: RTF0143703-00501212

Published: February 08, 2024

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

About:

• Application Opening: February 8, 2024
• Application Deadline: February 23, 2024
• Compensation Range: $70,954 - $99,320
• Recruitment ID: RTF0143703-00501212 (143704)

                                        INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLY: 

1. Complete this Utility Plumber Apprentice I (7463) job application on SmartRecruiters; AND
2. Complete the Minimum Qualifications and Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ)

Interested applicants are required to complete both items: MQSQ and job application. Job applications will only be considered if supplemented by a completed MQSQ. 

Utility Plumber Apprenticeship Program 

The Utility Plumber Apprenticeship is a paid five (5) year apprenticeship leading to the journey level 7388 Utility Plumber.  Apprentices are expected to satisfactorily complete the training and related instruction for each type of equipment in order to qualify for the promotion to 7464 Utility Plumber Apprentice II.  This requires progressive responsibility for carrying out duties according to instructions.

Apprentices will work under direct supervision of a qualified journey level Utility Plumber during the apprenticeship as required by the trade.  They will learn the operation, repair and maintenance of water mains, pipes, meters, fire hydrants, gates and valves, the work typical of the 7388 Utility Plumber.

Starting pay for this Program is $70,954 per year along with City medical, dental, retirement and other benefits.  Apprentices receive pay increases every 6 months as long as you make satisfactory progress in your training and educational classes.  Failure to meet satisfactory progress in the Program will result in dismissal from the Program.

About Apprenticeships in the City & County of San Francisco

ApprenticeshipSF is the City's apprenticeship program.  Apprenticeships are a City-Union partnership using an "earn and learn'' model using a unique combination of structured classroom learning with on-the-job training from an assigned journey level mentor. Apprenticeships are multi-year training programs, upon completion of an Apprenticeship program, participants receive an industry issued, nationally recognized credential that certifies occupational proficiency, is portable, and provides a pathway to a fulfilling career.

WHO ARE WE? 

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Our Mission: To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision: We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness.

We are an award-winning and industry-leading utilities organization committed to our customers, community interests, and the environment. To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at https://www.sfpuc.org/.

We are proud of our infrastructure and programs, but most importantly, we value our highly qualified and dedicated workforce which ensures that this vision becomes a reality. 
To learn more about working at the SFPUC, visit our career site at https://www.sfpuc.org/about-us/careers-sfpuc

About Water Supply & Treatment Division (WSTD)

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Water Supply and Treatment Division (WSTD) is one of the three largest operating divisions in the Water Enterprise and a key part of the third largest municipal utility in California, serving 2.7 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the Bay Area, we manage a complex water supply system stretching from the Tesla Treatment Facility in San Joaquin County to the City, featuring a series of reservoirs, tunnels, pipelines, and treatment systems. Two unique features of this system stand out: the drinking water provided is among the purest in the world; and the system for delivering that water is almost entirely gravity fed, requiring almost no fossil fuel consumption to move water from the mountains to your tap.  WSTD is responsible for managing the storage, transmission, and treatment of potable water to San Franciscans and 27 water agencies in three Bay Area counties – San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda.

About City Distribution Division (CDD)

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s City Distribution Division (Water Department) is responsible for directing approximately 322 employees in the operation and maintenance of the water distribution system within the City and County of San Francisco.  These activities include, but are not limited to: operating and maintaining 9 pump stations, 16 hydro stations, 13 reservoirs, 8 storage tanks, 20 regulators as well as other ancillary appurtenances and equipment; installing, repairing and maintaining 1,266 miles of water distribution mains including service connections and meters; four water systems (potable, ERWS, recycled, G.W.); engineering and designing new main and feeder extensions; managing the flora and fauna on over 1,000 acres of city owned property and rights-of-ways; and responding to all two-alarm or greater fires to assist the Fire Department in maintaining adequate water volume and consistent pressure while fighting fires.

Role description

Under immediate supervision of a qualified journey level Utility Plumber, the 7463 Utility Plumber Apprentice I performs apprentice work by assisting in the installation, care and maintenance of water mains, pipes, meters, fire hydrants, gates and valves. Work is performed as part of a recognized program of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada and is subject to the local coordinating committee of the Joint Apprenticeship Committees of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry; all work that may be performed is specified in the Points of Jurisdictions of the existing collective bargaining agreement. The apprentice is expected to complete satisfactorily the training and related instruction for each type of equipment and to qualify for promotion to 7464 Utility Plumber Apprentice II. Requires progressive responsibility for carrying our duties according to instructions. Nature of work involves considerable dexterity in the use of fingers, hands, limbs and body with exposure to physical and working conditions where moderately serious injuries may occur.

Examples of Important and Essential Duties

1. Assists in the installation and maintenance of new water services and mains or replaces or relocates services with copper, cast iron, wrought iron, plastic, or steel pipe, and bronze, copper or galvanized fittings; drills and taps water mains.

2. Assists in locating and repairing underground and surface leaks on service pipes and water mains; makes repairs under water pressure, using various methods; installs, changes, removes, and makes field repairs to water meters; sets meters and meter boxes in conformity with established sidewalk grades; installs, relocates or changes temporary water mains and makes necessary alterations to water services and meters; removes meters and conducts flow and pressure tests; repairs and maintains high pressure recorders; assists with maintenance of building standpipes; assists in the excavation and backfilling of trenches.

3. Assists in cleaning and maintaining traps; repairs gate valves, changes broken or worn spindles; repacks glands; assists in the operation of gate valves; checks air valves when filling mains; repairs leaks in cast iron mains using leak clamp for minor breaks, or in the case of large breaks, cuts out and removes broken meters or registers on water mains and meters; re-caulks joints on new and old mains; lays out and installs new mains and pertinent fittings; assists with the removal, installation, cleaning and maintenance of all pipes, valves and tanks in and around the reservoirs; assists with performing incidental maintenance or installation of inside plumbing when required.

4. Assists in the laying and maintenance of various types of fire devices, services, parts and equipment, including high and low pressure fire hydrants.

How to qualify

Education:

• Applicant must be on a current UA Local 38 Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry Apprentice eligible list;

OR

• Applicant must be a current indentured UA Local 38 Utility Plumber Apprentice who has not completed more than two (2) years (4000 hours) of their combined work process and classroom study.

License and Certification:

• Possession of a valid Class C California driver's License

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

• Construction experience
• Utility or house plumbing experience
• Experience working with hand tools.
• Experience soldering copper pipes.
• Ability to lift objects weighing up to 51 pounds.
• Ability to climb ladders and work in confined spaces.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT:

Upon being hired, the apprentice, the employer Department of Human Resources and the Joint Apprenticeship Committee must sign an apprenticeship indenture.  This is an agreement with the employer City and the Apprentice, which is filed with the State of California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Apprenticeship Standards, that the employer will train the apprentice in accordance with the apprenticeship standards and the collective bargaining agreement or MOU.

Physical skills require considerable physical effort in the installation, repair and maintenance of water mains, pipes, meters, fire hydrants, gate valves, the ability to lift heavy objects up to 51lbs; physical stamina to stand, stoop, bend, climb ladders and for confined space entry in tight crawl spaces.

Work environment may require: Exposure to working conditions where minor abrasions, bruises and burns may be encountered; occasional disagreeable work inside close and dirty spaces. 

Verification of Education and Experience:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. More information can be found at: How to Verify Education Requirements (sfdhr.org).

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.

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

Applicants for positions in this classification who are not currently employed by the City and County of San Francisco in a safety-sensitive position represented by (San Francisco City Workers United, Painters), are required to pass pre-employment drug and alcohol testing upon reasonable suspicion or after-work related accident. Applicants with positive result from pre-employment drug test will be restricted from hire in safety-sensitive positions for six months after the date of the positive test.

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
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

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.

Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the Human Resources Analyst, Brandon Bradley at BBradley@sfwater.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.

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.