Career Opportunity

Director of Outreach and Temporary Shelter (PCS 0932) - Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing - (145586)

Recruitment: RTF0145585-01137199

Published: November 14, 2024

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About:

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

Specific information regarding this recruitment process are listed below:

Application Opening: November 14, 2024
Application Deadline: May close at anytime but not before December 2, 2024
Compensation Range: $161,616.00 - $206,206.00 (Range A)

Role type: Permanent Civil Service What does this mean?
Hours: Full-time
Exam type: Position Based Test
Rule: Rule of the List What does this mean?
List type: Combined Promotive and Entrance

Recruitment ID: RTF0145585-01137199, PBT-0932-145586

Who We Are
Through the provision of coordinated, compassionate, and high‐quality services, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing strives to make homelessness in San Francisco rare, brief, and one time. The Department provides assistance and support to homeless and at‐risk youth, adults and families to prevent imminent episodes of homelessness and end homelessness for people in San Francisco. Services including outreach, homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, drop‐in centers, transitional housing, supportive housing, short‐term rental subsidies, and support services to help people exit homelessness. For more information on the department, please visit our website.

What We Do
San Francisco is a pioneer in homeless services and a leader in providing supportive housing as a permanent exit from homelessness. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), founded in 2016, is a national leader in the movement to end homelessness by developing a coordinated, equity-driven, client-focused system of compassionate services while piloting innovative models, and implementing best practice solutions with measurable results. HSH’s Homelessness Response System (HRS) oversees and implements a system of care that serves 14,000 people daily. Major programs include: street outreach and service connection through the Homeless Outreach Team (SFHOT); 3,000-bed shelter system for adults and families including shelters for members of the LGBT community and survivors of domestic violence; Navigation Centers that provide temporary shelter to chronically homeless individuals using a low-barrier entry model; rapid rehousing rental subsidies for families, adults, seniors and transitional aged youth; the Problem Solving/Diversional programs including the Homeward Bound program which has helped 11,000 individuals return to stable housing in their city of origin; and robust supportive housing programs over 8,000 units which provide permanent housing and services to formerly homeless individuals and families.

Role description

Under direction of the Deputy Director for Programs, the Director of Outreach and Temporary Shelter leads the department’s response to street homelessness. The Division Director supervises, trains and evaluates HSH’s shelter, outreach, navigation center and related staff to support a positive team environment. This position is part of HSH’s Directors team and works closely with other Directors and Managers to implement HSH’s strategic goals. HSH is in growth mode, and this position will oversee an expansion of the outreach and temporary shelter programs made possible through an infusion of new local, state and federal resources.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develops, implements, coordinates and oversees HSH services for sheltered and unsheltered homeless, including: Street Outreach, Emergency Shelter, Navigation Centers, Vehicle Triage Centers, the Pier 94 Trailer Site, and Safe Sleep sites.
• Directs population-specific Shelter and Outreach interventions for adults, seniors, veterans, families with minor children, and transition-aged youth.  
• Embraces the department’s racial equity goals and provides leadership to help advance the achievement of those goals within the organization and within the larger homeless delivery system.
• Oversees HSH’s collaboration with other City departments, partnering closely on planning and coordinated implementation of street outreach, encampment resolution activities and other responses to street homelessness with representatives from the Departments of Public Health, Public Works, Police, Fire 311, and Emergency Management.
• Partners with the Department of Public Health to plan for and implement integration of enhanced behavioral health services and care coordination into shelter settings.
• Acts as a liaison to external stakeholders, including contracted providers, other city departments, philanthropy and community groups, by rendering advice on Outreach and Shelter program policies, receiving and acting on feedback regarding program activities, and supporting collaboration and information sharing to better serve unsheltered homeless in San Francisco.  
• Oversees administration of the City’s emergency shelter system, ensuring adherence to relevant City laws and regulations, including the Shelter Grievance Ordinance, and managing the shelter placement process.
• Oversees the design and development of new outreach and shelter interventions, including safe sleep sites, vehicle triage centers and Street Wellness teams.
• Directs the development and ongoing monitoring of Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), contracts, and grant agreements involving Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) and other parties.  
• Ensures that Division contracts and grants are executed timely and within budget, and ensures effective ongoing contract/grant monitoring and oversight by Outreach and Shelter Division staff.
• Develops and implements policies; coordinates activities; and develops and implements systems to ensure the efficient operation of sections and programs.   
• Assesses the efficiency and effectiveness of Division programs, implements continuous quality improvement systems, adjusts plans and programs as needed to address changing conditions in the operating environment, and actively drives toward major departmental and City priorities.   
• Ensures effective onboarding of new Division staff, oversees development and implementation of training curriculum for Division staff and service providers, and monitors training quality and technical assistance needs.  
• Directly supervises supervisors, coaches and trains staff to improve performance and supervisory skills, develops work plans, conducts performance reviews and recruits and hires staff.
• Actively participates in departmental leadership and collaborates closely with other managers and teams to update the HSH Strategic Framework and to ensure that highly interconnected department goals are aligned and achieved.  
• Develops, evaluates the implementation of and updates Division policies and procedures as needed, and ensures that Division staff and contracted providers are aware of, trained in and adhering to current policies and procedures.
• Coordinates the Division’s annual budget preparation, leads planning for the investment of new Division resources and directs the allocation of resources to achieve timely outcomes and measurable goals within budget.  
• Acts as or oversees the work of the department’s ADA Coordinator for Shelter. 
• Acts as or oversees the department’s lead on disaster planning; manages the staffing and implementation of emergency response operations for HSH.  
• Represents the department to the broader community, responds promptly and thoroughly to community concerns and seeks to promote positive relationships between the department and community stakeholders. 
• May include additional duties as assigned.

How to qualify

The Minimum Qualification guidelines for management classifications can be referenced here.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education
Possession of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience
Five (5) years of professional experience delivering and overseeing homeless services or other social services programs, including three (3) years of experience supervising professionals.

Substitution
Possession of a Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in Social Work, Public Policy, Public Administration or related field may substitute for one (1) year of the required non-supervisory experience.

Additional qualifying experience may substitute for the degree requirement on a year-for-year basis for up to two (2) years.  One year (2000 hours) of qualifying experience will be considered equivalent to 30 semester units/ 45 quarter units. 

Desirable Qualifications:

• Management experience, preferably in a public sector setting.
• Extensive experience working in and/or managing street outreach programs, emergency shelters or other homeless and housing services operations.
• Experience developing policies, procedures and trainings.
• Extensive supervisory experience, including experience supervising and coaching supervisors and managers.
• Experience with planning, implementing and/or evaluating programs for people experiencing homelessness.
• Understanding of the ways in which systemic racism acts as a driver of homelessness, and of strategies for combatting systemic racism within the homeless response system.
• Advanced degree and/or clinical certification in social work, public health, or MFT.
• Significant grants and contracts management experience, including budgeting and monitoring responsibilities.
• Familiarity with HUD and other federal and state funding sources and regulations.
• Experience or working knowledge of the principles and practices of contract development and management; program planning and evaluation techniques; budget and grant preparation and administration.
• Ability to effectively juggle competing priorities in a fast-paced, politically visible and dynamic work environment.

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.

What else should I know?

Selection Procedures/Examination Requirements

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 sent a Supplemental Questionnaire 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.

Management Test Battery (Weight: 40%): Candidates will be invited to participate in a computer-based examination. For more information about this Management Test (and a suggested reading list) please visit: https://sfdhr.org/management-test-battery-information. Please note: this examination is only held in San Francisco. A passing score must be achieved on the Management Test Battery in order to continue in the selection process.  

This is a standardized examination and, therefore, test questions and answers are not available for public inspection or review.

Scores attained on the Management Test Battery will be valid and 'banked' for three years, starting from the date of the examination. This means that, during this three-year time period, you will not be required to take the Management Test Battery. The Management Test Battery may be used for many other classes; therefore, your test score may be applied to one or more of these classes if you choose to apply to future recruitments. If the selection process for the future announcement is held within one year of the date of this examination and it includes the Management Test Battery, your score will be automatically applied to that announcement. However, after one year, you have the option to either (a) apply your test score to the other announcement or (b) re-take the Management Test Battery. Re-testing is permitted no sooner than one year from the date of the examination and only in association with your eligibility for another announcement for which the Management Test Battery is used. Please note that, should you re-test, your re-test score would become your official score since it is the most recent.  

Training and Experience Evaluation (Weight: 60%): Candidates who meet minimum qualifications will be sent a second Supplemental Questionnaire that must be completed by the set date. Candidates will be evaluated on their relative knowledge, skill and ability levels in job-related areas. A passing score must be achieved on the Supplemental Questionnaire in order to be placed/ranked on the Eligible List. 

A passing score on the Manager Test Battery and Training and Experience Evaluation questionnaire must be achieved in order to be placed/ranked on the Eligible List.

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.

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

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.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/.

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
• 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.

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.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the Senior HR Analyst, Tony Won at Tony.Won@sfgov.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.