Career Opportunity

Public Safety Communications Supervisor – Department of Emergency Management (8239)

Recruitment: RTF0146547-01081460

Published: April 04, 2025

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

About:

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A. Learn more about the City’s hiring process here: https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/.

Specific information regarding this recruitment process is listed below:

• Application Opening: April 4, 2025 
• Application Deadline: Interested applicants are encouraged to apply immediately. Application filing will be open through at least through April 10, 2025 and will close any time thereafter.
• Recruitment ID: PBT-8239-146548

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (DEM) leads the City in planning, preparedness, communication, response, and recovery for daily emergencies, large scale citywide events, and major disasters. In charge of the city's 911 dispatch center and large-scale emergency operations, DEM is the vital link in emergency communication between the public and first responders, and provides key coordination and leadership to City departments, stakeholders, residents, and visitors. For more information on the Department of Emergency Management, please visit: http://www.sfdem.org/.

Role description

Under general supervision, the Public Safety Communications Supervisor is a first-line supervisor responsible for providing working supervision, direction, and technical assistance on an assigned shift to subordinate staff engaged in the operation of emergency 9-1-1 telecommunications, computer aided Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) dispatch, and two-way radio communication equipment. 

Essential functions include:

• Staff Supervision: Conduct quality assurance feedback and coaching sessions of subordinates through monitoring at regular intervals; direct and coordinate subordinates’ work assignments; conduct performance evaluations; train, coach and counsel subordinates; assist in the assignment of work schedules, rest and meal periods to assure constant coverage of positions; instruct and brief staff on new policies and procedures.
• Receive reports on fires, critical incidents and other major emergencies and pursue proper course of action; coordinate dispatch of multiple emergency services including Police, Fire, and EMS upon receipt of report of emergencies.
• Stay abreast of police, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) department rules and regulations, Federal Communications Commission regulations, and knowledge of major streets, highways and public buildings.
• When necessary, conduct internal investigations.
• Prepare reports and records of shift activities; prepare, present, and maintain departmental reports and records; assemble statistical data and prepare operational summaries as required; prepare and maintain operations manuals; report needed repair of equipment used in the performance of telecommunications duties.
• Operate a Police, Fire, and EMS two-way radio, computer dispatch terminal, and call evaluation equipment as needed.
• Maintain working knowledge and understanding of public safety policies and procedures for the Department of Emergency Management, Police, Fire, and EMS through prompt attention to department issued emails and attending training courses; maintain working knowledge of major streets, highways and public buildings.
• Promote and maintain a safe and healthy work environment.
• Perform related duties as required.

Nature of Work: Public Safety Communications Supervisors routinely work in a fast-paced environment under pressure caused by the circumstance, nature, and number of emergency and non-emergency calls received. Supervisors must be able to multitask and prioritize.  The work requires considerable manual dexterity.  Supervisors are required to work day, evening, night shifts, weekends, holidays, and overtime as needed; may be required to work shifts of more than 8 hours and must be willing and able to respond, report, and mobilize as necessary.

How to qualify

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Education:
High school diploma or equivalent (GED or High School Proficiency Examination).

Experience:
Five (5) years of public safety dispatch experience using computer aided dispatch systems in a primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) or 911 Center in a large metropolitan area. Experience must be within the last ten (10) years, and include a minimum of four (4) years in the field of law enforcement dispatch, six (6) months in fire dispatch, six (6) months in EMS dispatch, and six (6) months as a Communications Training Officer (CTO).

 Note: The six (6) months experience in fire dispatch requirement must be met at the time of appointment.

License and Certification:
Possession and maintenance of a valid POST (Peace Officers Standards and Training) Basic Dispatch certificate.

Possession of or ability to obtain within six (6) months after successful completion of the Department of Emergency Management training program:

1. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certificate;
2. Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) certificate issued by the National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch;
3. Emergency Fire Dispatcher (EFD) certificate issued by the National Academy of Emergency Fire Dispatch.

Conditions of Employment: Candidates must not have been convicted of a felony in this state or an act in any other state or in any federal jurisdiction, which would have been a felony if committed in state [POST Administrative Manual - 1000(a)(2)]. 

Candidates must have the ability to type at the rate of 40 words per minute (net) on a computer utilizing Windows environment and operate a computer assisted dispatch terminal.  If appointed, failure to demonstrate the ability to type 40 words per minute (net) may result in termination of employment.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week). Any overtime hours that you worked above 40 hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

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 here.  

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 in 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
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 required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application at a later time. 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.

Basic Supervisory Exam (Weight: 50%)
Qualified candidates will participate in a Basic Supervisory Exam, a written multiple-choice examination that is designed to measure basic knowledge of various supervisory practices and procedures (e.g. directing, counseling, guiding, evaluating, motivating, disciplining, developing and training subordinates, delegation, etc.) as well as customer service and reading comprehension.

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

The Basic Supervisory Exam will be administered either on a computer or in paper format. The type of format will depend on the size of the qualified applicant pool. Qualified candidates will be notified of the type of exam format in their exam appointment notification.

The score you achieve on this examination shall 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 this test again should you apply and be found eligible for a future announcement for which this particular test is used. Please note this test is used for other supervisory 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 test for this future announcement is held within one year of the date of this examination, 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 test. 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 this test is used. Please note that, should you re-test, your re-test score would become your official score since it is the most recent.

Performance Exam – Oral and Written (Weight: 50%)
Candidates will be tested in order to determine their knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in job-related areas which may include but not be limited to: knowledge of procedures used in the operation of a Public Safety Communications Center; knowledge of technical equipment and operational procedures; oral communications ability; ability to work under pressure; ability to perform several tasks simultaneously, ability to recall; knowledge of public safety policies, procedures and operations; and written communication skills.

A passing score must be achieved in all examination components listed above in order to be placed on the eligible list. Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score. The department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures to make final hiring decisions.

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 12 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

Certification Rule: Rule of 3 Scores

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. Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website athttps://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

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 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, Vanessa Auyong, Vanessa.Auyong@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.