Career Opportunity

Local and Regional Policy and Government Affairs Manager - External Affairs - SFPUC (0931) - (149188)

Recruitment: RTF0149182-01085537

Published: August 02, 2024

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

About:

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A. Learn more about the City’s hiring process here: https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/

• Application Opening: Friday, August 2, 2024
• Application Filing Deadline: Friday, August 16, 2024
• Recruitment ID: PBT-0931-149188 
• Annual Salary: $150,540 and $192,140 (Range A)
  • While this is the normal annual salary range for the position, appointment above the maximum of the normal salary range may be considered based on documented and substantiated recruitment and retention issues or exceptional skills. A special approval process is necessary for appointment above the normal salary range. 

ABOUT THE SFPUC

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight San Francisco Bay Area counties serving more than 2.7 million customers – 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.gov/   

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.gov/about-us/careers-sfpuc  

Role description

ABOUT THE SFPUC’S EXTERNAL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Under the leadership of the Assistant General Manager, the External Affairs Bureau is responsible for disseminating the policies and programs of our agency to stakeholder groups including our commissioners, elected officials, the media, businesses, community organizations, residents, and employees. We advocate on behalf of the agency by conveying the core messages of the agency clearly and engaging through a timely and transparent process. Our goal is to improve awareness and understanding of the agency's mission, build long-term partnerships, and strengthen the common identity of our employees.

External Affairs is supported by and organized into the following major divisions:

• Community Benefits (CB)
• Communications (COMM)
• Policy and Government Affairs (PGA)
• Strategy, Planning, and Innovation (SPI)

ROLE DESCRIPTION

The Local and Regional Policy and Government Affairs Manager will oversee the agency’s local and regional government affairs portfolio, navigating items through the legislative process and responding to requests from elected officials. They will also provide administrative support for the PGA team and support the External Affairs Bureau on process improvement and other strategic initiatives. The position will supervise the work of junior level staff.

Essential duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following:

• Develop, evaluate, coordinate, and manage complex policy projects related to the SFPUC and advocate for policies that advance the core mission of the department.           
• Make policy recommendations on a variety of complex policy and legislative issues impacting SFPUC enterprises and bureaus.             
• Develop legislative strategy for advancing policy priorities at the local and regional level including in-depth support for the SFPUC budget and rate-setting processes.            
• Manage constituent requests from local and regional elected officials and facilitate resolution.   
• Draft position statements, talking points, issue briefs, comment letters, and other responses to regulations and policies proposed by legislators.       
• Track and communicate effectively with SFPUC staff regarding relevant policy proposals, legislation, regulations, or trends.   
• Build and maintain strong collaborative working relationships with elected officials, membership associations, and other stakeholders to advance policy priorities.         
• Work with the External Affairs Divisions Directors and other PGA staff to support strategy development for high-priority advocacy projects at the local, regional, state, and federal levels.    
• Manage and support PGA administrative tasks including purchasing, contracting, and human resources.
• Support the External Affairs Bureau with bureau-wide strategic initiatives including leadership development, process improvement, and policy development.               
• Serve as the agency’s primary point of contact for the Civil Grand Jury including responding to inquiries and managing the response to reports.
• Supervise daily work of direct reports. Coach direct reports to improve performance and achieve professional development goals.       

The 0931 Manager III, Local and Regional Policy and Government Affairs Manager will perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned.

How to qualify

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education:  Possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university preferably in political science, public administration, public policy, law, or a closely related field. AND

Experience: Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in policy development, legislative advocacy, and government relations with a public agency, non-profit entity, or elected official, of which 3 years must include experience supervising professionals.

Substitution: An advanced degree preferably in political science, public administration, public policy, law, or a closely related field substitute for one (1) year of experience. Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis up to two years.  One (1) year is equivalent to thirty (30) semester units/forty-five (45) quarter units.

Please Note: Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Desirable Qualifications

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

• Experience working in a large bureaucratic agency, government entity (especially local government) and/or utility (especially publicly owned utility).   
• Extensive relationships at the local and regional level with elected officials and their staff.             
• Extensive experience facilitating and negotiating complex legislative and policy development.
• Exceptional communication skills especially to simplify technical and operational impacts of legislation to policy makers                                    
• Ability to handle a high volume of priorities and issues in a changing and fast paced environment.   

VERIFICATION

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Education verification information on 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. 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 (Weight: Qualifying): Candidates will be prompted to complete a Supplemental Questionnaire as part of the online employment application. This Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications for this position. Applicants must also complete the official application. It is essential that applicants provide complete information in identifying their education, experience, and training. The Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire Examination (Weight: 100%): Candidates who meet minimum qualifications will be invited via a separate link to complete the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination. The purpose of the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination is to evaluate the experience, knowledge, skills and abilities that candidates possess in job-related areas, which have been identified as critical for this position and include, but are not limited to:

• Ability to manage, administer, and coordinate complex projects and activities from start to finish.
• Ability to persuade others, build consensus, and gain cooperation.
• Ability to lead, manage, and coach diverse SFPUC and other city staff by overseeing projects, delegating responsibility, setting priorities, and identifying and resolving problems. Ability to be accountable and hold others accountable.
• Ability to alter approach to best address different people and situations; react appropriately to changing conditions or priorities and respond positively to change.
• Ability to navigate complex bureaucracies.

Passing Score: Candidates must obtain a passing score on the Supplemental Questionnaire in order to be placed on the score report for positions in this job Class.

Notices to Candidates: Qualified candidates will be sent notices via email for completion prior to the creation of the score report ("eligible list"). Each notice will include the date by which responses must be received. Failure to complete these steps by the established deadlines will result in disqualification.

What else should I know?

Certification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List. Additional selection processes 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.

This pool of candidates on the eligible list may be used to fill additional vacancies in this class.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of 6 months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see the city’s Position Counts by Job Codes and Departments.

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.  [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4.  Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at https://sf.gov/departments/civil-service-commission.

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
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@careers.sf.gov 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.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Jessica Wong, at jeswong@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.