Career Opportunity

Deputy Chief Park Ranger (0922) - Park Rangers Division - SF Recreation and Parks (129037)

Recruitment: RTF0129036-01095321

Published: November 26, 2024

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About:

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

Application Opening: November 25, 2024
Application Deadline: Announcement may close at any time after 5:00 pm on December 11, 2024.

Amid a dynamic and ever-evolving urban landscape, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department stewards one of the premier urban park systems in America. San Francisco recently became the first city in the United States for which 100% of its residents live within a ten-minute walk of a park. Considered by San Franciscans to be one of the City’s most popular and effective public agencies, our Department manages and maintains more than 225 parks, playgrounds, and open spaces in San Francisco, including two outside of city limits: Sharp Park in Pacifica and Camp Mather in the High Sierras. Our 4,100- acre system includes 25 recreation centers, 9 swimming pools, 5 golf courses and numerous athletic facilities, including sports courts, ball diamonds, soccer fields and gymnasiums. Included in the department’s responsibilities are Golden Gate Park, Coit Tower, the Marina Yacht Harbor, the Palace of Fine Arts, and TPC Harding Park golf course.

More than 2,000 talented individuals are part of our team, from gardeners, foresters, and recreation leaders to park rangers, custodians, electricians, painters and more. Our core mission, as it has been throughout our history, is to provide opportunities for San Francisco residents and visitors alike to gather, play, learn, relax, and enjoy nature in the city.

Role description

Under general supervision of the Chief Park Ranger, this position serves as the Park Ranger Unit’s second-in-command position to ensure proper management, oversight, and consistency in our mission delivery of public safety and parkland security. The essential functions and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Assist the Park Ranger Chief in leadership of the Ranger Unit;
• Act for the Chief Ranger in the latter’s absence to ensure proper operation of Ranger Unit;
• Participate in the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure operational and administrative effectiveness;
• Provide integration and operational oversight of all security infrastructure and new technology such as cameras, intrusion alarms, fire detection, key, and access control;
• Manage all Sergeant training and mentoring, including Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) curricula and leadership development for shift supervisory improvement;
• Develop and oversee the Park Ranger Dispatch Center as the central communication node for this Department, managing all first response to park incidents and coordinating with SFPD, SFSD, SFFD, and other partners;
• Serve as accurate information source for all Department leadership situational awareness.
• Ensure excellent time management and adjustment of priorities for Ranger Unit in order to maintain operational success within assigned time frames; and
• Perform related duties as assigned.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Possession of a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in Management, Business Administration, Criminal Justice or closely related field; AND
    
2. Three (3) years of verifiable professional work experience overseeing staff in the field of law enforcement, park ranger, military service, and/or security management who are engaged in protecting life and property, issuing citations, and/or performing legal code enforcement; AND
    
3. Possession of a valid CA driver’s license (at the time of appointment)

Substitution: Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis. One year (2000 hours) of additional qualifying experience is equivalent to thirty (30) semester units/forty-five (45) quarter units.

Note:  One year full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week).

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement 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:

• Completed training in leadership skills, such as Sherman Block Leadership Institute or similar.
• Ability to exercise good judgment and remain calm in stressful situations.
• Strong organizational and multi-tasking skills.
• Excellent customer service skills with customers and the public.
• Supervisory experience, including planning, organizing, assigning, directing, and monitoring the work of and evaluating staff performance; discipline; recruitment, staff development and training.
• Familiarity with E-Merge payroll system, Tele-staff scheduling system, or similar payroll and staff scheduling systems.
• Knowledge of camera and security systems for facility monitoring purposes.
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing to clearly and accurately communicate information to and respond to inquiries from staff, the public, and city agencies.

Verification of Education Experience:
Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Please review our articles on Employment Application and Minimum Qualifications and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications.

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.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification from this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

Selection Procedures:
Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ) (Weight: Qualifying): Candidates will be required to complete an 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.

Candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Supervisory Test Battery (STB) (Weight: 40%): Candidates will be invited to participate in a computer-based examination designed to measure competencies in job-related areas which may include but not be limited to: Problem Solving; Leadership; Decision Making; Interpersonal skill; Human Resources Management; Team Building; Communication; Conflict Management and Process Improvement. For more information about this Supervisory Test (and a suggested reading list) please visit Supervisory Test Battery (STB). Please note: this examination is only held in San Francisco. A passing score must be achieved on the Supervisory Test Battery 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 Supervisory 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 Supervisory Test Battery. The Supervisory 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 Supervisory 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 Supervisory Test Battery. Retesting 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 Supervisory 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.

Behavioral Consistency Questionnaire (Weight: 60%): Candidates who receive a passing score on the Supervisory Test Battery (STB) will be provided via email, a Behavioral Consistency Questionnaire (BCQ). Candidates will be evaluated on their relative knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in job-related areas identified as critical for this position. Responses to the questionnaire will be reviewed and rated by a panel of subject matter experts and is subject to verification.

A passing score on both the STB and the BCQ in order to be ranked on the Eligible List. Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score.

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.

Eligible List Duration: The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of twelve (12) months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/ASO-Level-Chart.pdf?documentID=21246.

Certification Rule: 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.

What else should I know?

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
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams [required for Combined, Promotive, Entrance (CPE) Exams only]
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

Candidates for positions with the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department may be disqualified from consideration should their conviction history not meet the standards established under California Public Resources Code 5164.

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 “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 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.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Dorothy Young, at Dorothy.S.Young@sfgov.org.

Race and Social Equity Statement: We believe that parks and open space in San Francisco provides the opportunity to model equitable access for all.  With this belief, San Francisco became the first city in the United States for which 100% of its residents live within a ten-minute walk of a park. The Recreation and Park Department’s goal is to close the gaps and improve equity and access to quality parks and open space, and recreation activities for historically marginalized communities.

We envision a department that proactively infuses racial and social equity in its internal operations.  With a multi-disciplinary team of talented individuals - gardeners, recreation leaders, park rangers, custodians, craft shop personnel, park and recreation managers and more, the department is committed to doing its part to provide equitable access to parks and programs for all the communities we serve to enjoy, as well as foster a work environment where our differences are celebrated, and everyone has what they need to thrive regardless of their race, age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or country of origin.

All 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.