Career Opportunity

Deputy City Attorney - Government Team - City Attorney's Office (8177)

Recruitment: RTF0155467-01077023

Published: April 02, 2025

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

About:

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX) position; individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will."

• Application Opening: April 2, 2025
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, 2025
• Compensation Range: $150,124- $263,042
• Recruitment ID: RTF0155467-01077023

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for an experienced and motivated civil litigator to join its Government Team. 

About the Office
The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With over 300 talented and dedicated employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers City leaders with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services, and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, ideas, and lived experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected for their full authentic selves, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/aboutus/dei/

Currently, the Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org.

Role description

About the Government Team
The Government Team provides legal advice and serves as general counsel to San Francisco’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, City Administrator, and an array of other City officials, City departments and agencies. This includes City departments and agencies that protect public safety, such as the Police Department, Fire Department, and Department of Emergency Management; those that enhance the quality of life in the City, such as the Recreation and Park Department, Arts Commission, and Public Library; those that promote good government and accountability, such as the Controller, Civil Service Commission, and Department of Police Accountability; and those that ensure careful review of agency decisions directly affecting the interests of the public, such as the Board of Appeals and the Assessment Appeals Board.

The Government Team also advises City clients and other teams within the Office on a wide range of legal issues arising under local, state, and federal law, including issues of municipal powers, government transparency, preemption, and constitutional questions. The Team generally does not handle litigation, although attorneys on the Team frequently provide input or support regarding litigation handled by others in the Office, including lawsuits challenging City laws or the actions of City agencies.

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities
An attorney on the Government Team typically serves in an advisory role as general counsel to a mix of City officials and agencies. In that capacity, the attorney may perform many functions – providing interpretations and advice, both orally and in writing, formally and informally, on a broad range of legal issues. The attorney’s role could include interpreting City or State law or advising on the legal risks of a particular government action; drafting ordinances, ballot measures, and administrative regulations; reviewing contracts for legal and procedural sufficiency; and providing legal advice to commissioners before and during commission meetings. The attorney functions as the Office’s expert on laws administered by the City officials and agencies that the attorney advises. The attorney also may develop expertise in areas of law that transcend issues particular to the attorney’s client agencies and are relevant to many or all components of City government.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California.

Desired Qualifications

• Three or more years of experience, especially in an advice capacity as a government lawyer.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent legal analytical skills.
• Ability to assume responsibility for assignments and to work independently and efficiently.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and clients.
• Ability to manage and appropriately balance multiple assignments, meet deadlines, and adjust to fluctuations in workload.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• An interest in and commitment to public service.

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.

Selection Procedures
The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the oral/performance interview.

What else should I know?

Salary and Benefits
The Deputy City Attorney position has a 16-step salary scale ranging from $150,124 - $263,042. The successful applicant is appointed to a salary step based on years of experience as a lawyer. The City offers robust health, retirement, and other benefits. For more information please visit: https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview. Attorneys are represented by the Municipal Attorneys Association. Information about compensation and benefits can be found by entering Classification Code 8177 at https://careers.sf.gov/classifications/.

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 
• ADA Accommodation

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 “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen
• Make sure to include your CA Bar Number in the education section on your application
• Upload a Cover Letter and a Resume

Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit three references and one writing sample.

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.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Asa Nojd, HR Analyst, at asa.nojd@sfcityatty.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.