Career Opportunity

Senior Purchaser (1956) - Office of Contract Administration (Eligible List ID # 152684)

Recruitment: RTF0152682-01103618

Published: December 20, 2024

Accepting applications until: December 27, 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: Friday, December 20, 2024
• Application Deadline: Friday, December 27, 2024 (11:59 PM)
• ✅ Required supplemental questionnaire due at the time of application: https://forms.office.com/g/r1tprYm9Wh

The City and County of San Francisco spends over $2B on procurement annually (including professional services, construction, grants, commodities, and general services).  Its primary procurement department, the Office of Contract Administration (OCA) also known as the Purchasing Division, is responsible for procuring the commodities and services that are essential to providing governmental services for the citizens of San Francisco, through one-time purchases as well as administration of over 500+ fleet, general services, general commodities, equipment lease, repair, and maintenance, and technology contracts for Citywide use.  The department additionally provides Citywide oversight and administration of all City purchases subject to San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 21, ensuring City departments abide by public contracting rules and regulations, and further supports City procurement and contracting efforts by developing and administering solicitation and contract templates, and providing training to contracting staff. 

Recently, City leadership initiated an effort to elevate procurement as a strategic function within the City, with the goal of making procurement more efficient, equitable, and performance based.  Given its role as a central procurement oversight and administration agency, the Office of Contract Administration will play a critical role in this multi-year, citywide “procurement reform” effort.  As a first step, OCA leadership is undertaking a restructuring of the organization to create efficiencies, to improve supplier and departmental contract compliance support, and to implement more specialized procurement auditing and reporting functions.

A 3% premium payment is provided to Purchasers who possess and maintain certification for any of the following:

• Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) issued by the Institute of Supply Management
• Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) issued by the Institute of Supply Management
• Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) issued by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing
• Certified Public Purchasing Officer (CPPO) issued by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing

Effective Jan 04, 2025, the annual salary range will be $122,408.00 to $148,824.00.

We offer flexibility with a hybrid remote and in-person work in our office in San Francisco, California. 1956 Senior Purchasers are currently required to work in our office a minimum of 2 days per week but must be available, when needed, to report to the office on their remote days. Remote from home must be within California. The current hybrid work environment is subject to change.

Role description

Under general direction, the 1956 Senior Purchaser performs purchasing work of considerable difficulty and complexity with minimal oversight in the OCA/Purchasing Division or for a large department.

Positions in this class are distinguished from the journey level purchaser class in that incumbents are working supervisors who exercise technical supervision consisting primarily of review of completed work or direction on difficult projects. This class is distinguished from the next higher class of 1958 Supervising Purchaser in that the latter exercises overall administration of the buying division and participates in development of methods and procedures.

Examples of Important and Essential Duties:

• Receives requisitions to be processed into purchase orders; analyzes requisitions in order to determine type of purchase, possible vendors, specifications or other factors; checks requisitions for completeness and correctness; confers with the user departments regarding specification requirements.
• Edits product specifications submitted and prepares new specifications when required; establishes contractual conditions; determines type of purchase or bid forms to be used; lists suitable vendors; directs the preparation, distribution and advertisement or proposals for bids.
• Analyzes bids received from vendors; evaluates prices, discounts, delivery conditions and products offered in order to insure proper quality and advantageous price; determines successful bidder and makes recommendations relative to the awarding of contracts; may assist in expediting the delivery of urgently needed purchases or may otherwise act in a liaison capacity.
• Consults with officers and employees of various departments in order to better determine their needs, advise them on new product developments and adjust complaints on vendor compliance; consults with vendors and their representatives in order to acquaint them with methods and procedures and the rules and regulations of the purchasing department and obtain information on their products and services.
• Processes term contracts, including modifications and amendments; utilizes the OCA checklists to ensure all proper documentation is accounted for and sent to their respective departments; works with Suppliers and various Departments to ensure the capture of accurate and necessary changes.
• Reviews departmental contracts to ensure contracts are fully compliant with solicitation requirements and City policies and Chapter 21 of the SF Administrative Code.
• Prepares and submits for approval policy changes or revisions in procedure to improve the efficient functioning of assigned divisions and services of the department; executes and implements new policies, principles and procedures, organizes and coordinates the activities of the assigned divisions and periodically reviews procedures for efficiency and uniformity.
• Plans and performs in-depth data analyses; prepares reports; and assists in conducting audits.
• May supervise and provide training on purchasing practices, OCA process, drafting contracts and the use of the PeopleSoft system.
• May assist in the training of Purchasers.
• Performs related duties as required.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications:

Education:
Baccalaureate degree from an accredited university or college.

Experience:
Three (3) years of professional purchasing experience with responsibilities such as: identifying vendors and a ascertaining quotes, selecting a vendor based on a set of criteria, identifying and negotiating terms and conditions and procuring goods and services.

Substitution:
Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of two (2) years). Thirty (30) semester units/forty-five (45) quarter units equal one (1) year.

Note(s):

• One-year full-time employment is considered equivalent to 2000 hours (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.
• Applicants must meet minimum qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Desirable Qualifications:
The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• Experience in public procurement
• Experience in project management
• Experience in research and writing

Verification:
Please make sure it is clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. 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.

Note: Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores. 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. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

What else should I know?

Selection Procedure/Examination Requirements:
After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Supplemental Questionnaire (Qualifying):
All candidates must complete a supplemental questionnaire as part of the employment application. Please see this link to submit the supplemental questionnaire:

• https://forms.office.com/g/r1tprYm9Wh

The supplemental questionnaire will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications and will not be scored. All work experience, education, training and other information provided should also be included in the work history and/or education sections of your application and is subject to verification.

Written Examination (Weight 55%):
Candidates deemed to meet the minimum qualifications will be invited to participate in an in-person computer-based written examination designed to measure their relative knowledge, skills and abilities in job-related areas, which may include, but not be limited to: knowledge of applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to government procurement; ability and skill to: understand and apply government contracting and purchase order terms; prepare specifications for a wide range of commodities and general services; apply statistical and other analytical methods to analyze bids and proposals and recommend awards; negotiate contract terms, change orders, cost estimates and modifications; collect, synthesize and analyze a wide variety of information, exercise good judgment and comprehend written information; work with authority to define problems, determine methodology, evaluate data, make recommendations with appropriate justification and implement a plan of action; establish and maintain effective communication with management, City officials, departmental representatives, vendors or other agencies; use computer software programs; assign and direct the work of subordinates.

Oral Examination (Weight 45%):
Candidates who attain a minimum passing score on the written examination component will be invited to participate in an online oral examination designed to measure their relative knowledge, skills and abilities in job-related areas, which may include, but not be limited to: ability and skill to: understand and apply government contracting and purchase order terms; collect, synthesize and analyze a wide variety of information, exercise good judgment and comprehend written information; work with authority to define problems, determine methodology, evaluate data, make recommendations with appropriate justification and implement a plan of action; establish and maintain effective communication with management, City officials, departmental representatives, vendors or other agencies. 

Note: Candidates must achieve a passing score on the both the written examination and oral examination in order to be 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 6 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/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2022-23.pdf.

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
• 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.

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).

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst at sean.sexton@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.