Career Opportunity

Switch Repairer (7458) - SF Municipal Transportation Agency - (T00138)

Recruitment: REF50720H

Published: April 02, 2025

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

About:

The purpose of this announcement is to create an eligible list which will be used to fill future vacancies in this classification.

This is a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Class Based Test.

The SFMTA, a department of the City and County of San Francisco, oversees Muni (the historic Municipal Railway), parking and traffic, bicycling, walking and taxis. Over one million people get around San Francisco and rely on us to ensure safe and reliable travel.

Our Vision: Excellent transportation choices for San Francisco.

Our Mission: We connect San Francisco through a safe, equitable, and sustainable transportation system.

Application Opening:  Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Application Deadline:  Apply Immediately. Application filing will be open at least through April 16, 2025 and will close any time thereafter
Recruitment ID:  CBT-7458-T00139 / REF50720H

Becoming a City employee means being a part of a team that cares about making a difference. Your work will shape both the present and future of San Francisco. It's a chance to be part of something big, meaningful, and exciting.

When you work for the City, you’re choosing a job with purpose.

Role description

According to Civil Service Commission Rule 409, the duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

Under general supervision, a Switch Repairer maintains, repairs, replaces, inspects, and adjusts a variety of track switches and related components and mechanisms for surface, subway, and Cable Car railway track.

1. Cleans and lubricates all moving parts of track switches and cleans out drains and channels in switch boxes.
2. Adjusts, repairs and/or replaces defective or worn out parts of switches to assure their proper working order.
3. Inspects electrical and manual track switches throughout the railway system including LRV surface, subway track, and cable car systems on a daily basis to ensure switches are operating correctly.
4. Drives a truck to and from switch locations throughout the City in order to inspect and repair switches.
5. Maintains a safe work environment at the location of the switch repair work by placing warning cones for traffic and parking truck in proper place as well as wearing safety jackets, shoes, etc.
6. Maintains inventory of supplies for repair and/or replacement of switches and notifies appropriate person when supplies are low.
7. Keeps a maintenance log of all sites inspected and all parts used in order to have an accurate record of all maintenance and preventive maintenance work on switches.
8. Writes incident and defect reports for parts and job site accidents reports.
9. Perform all related duties as assigned.

Nature of Work: requires exposure to adverse weather conditions, such as rain, cold, dirt and dust; lifting and carrying heavy equipment such as beams and switches weighing up to 200 pounds with assistance, and equipment and materials weighing up to 90 pounds.  Employees may be required to work any shift, rotating shifts, weekends and holidays. 

How to qualify

Experience: Two (2) years of full-time verifiable experience in the maintenance, inspection and repair of railway tracks, track switches, or related track components AND 

License: Possession of a valid driver’s license at the time of appointment. (Candidates must maintain a valid license during the length of employment.)

One year of full-time employment is 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.

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: 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.

Selection Procedure:

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

Written Multiple-Choice Examination (Weight - 100%): Candidates deemed eligible and admitted to the examination process will be administered a multiple-choice test designed to measure knowledge, skills and/or abilities in job-related areas which may include but not limited to: knowledge of basic electrical theory, knowledge of basic hand tools, mechanical ability, and knowledge of safety procedures.

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

What else should I know?

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/score report resulting from this examination process will be 12 months and may be extended with the approval of the Director of Transportation. 

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: 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 CCSF Jobs (SmartRecruiters)]

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 410.4.  Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency ATTN: Human Resources Examinations and Classification Unit, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 6th 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.

Medical Examination/Drug Testing: Candidates who are being considered for appointment may be required to pass a medical examination. Candidates who cannot meet the medical requirement will be placed under waiver until this requirement is met. The medical examination will be administered only to those applicants who are being considered for appointment.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has determined that Class 7458 Switch Repairer is a “safety-sensitive” position, per regulations issued by the Federal Transit Administration (49 CFR Part 655). Federal law requires that all transit employees who perform safety-sensitive functions be subject to random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, return-to-duty and follow-up drug and alcohol testing. All applicants for Safety-Sensitive positions shall undergo urine drug testing prior to employment and within 90 days prior to performing Safety-Sensitive functions for the first time. Receipt by the SFMTA of a negative test result is required prior to the employee being placed on the payroll. A positive, adulterated, negative dilute or substituted test will result in a decision not to hire, and the applicant’s name will be removed from the list of eligibles for Safety-Sensitive positions. The SFMTA will not consider hiring any person who tested positive, adulterated, substituted or refused to submit to testing for a minimum of two years following the positive test.

Each applicant who has worked for a Department of Transportation (DOT) – regulated employer within the last two years will be required to sign a consent form, prior to appointment, authorizing SFMTA to obtain information from their prior employers concerning their drug and alcohol test history. Each applicant will also be required to provide SFMTA with information regarding whether, during the last two years, the applicant tested positive or refused to test on any pre-employment drug or alcohol test administered by an employer to which the applicant applied for, but did not obtain, safety-sensitive transportation work covered by DOT drug and alcohol testing rules. SFMTA will not hire any applicant for a safety-sensitive position who fails to provide this information or fails to provide written consent for the release of information from prior employers.

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 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 the Exam Process, please contact the exam analyst at madeleine.chanbanchong@sfmta.com. MC | CBT-7458-T00138 | CPE

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.