Career Opportunity

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Specialist - Office of Economic and Workforce Development (9772)

Recruitment: RTF0148800-01122580

Published: September 16, 2025

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

About:

We Value Equal Employment Opportunity!

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.

About the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD)

The San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) supports the City's ongoing economic vitality through key programs focused on neighborhood commercial corridors, workforce development, joint development projects, industry focused business recruitment and retention, small business assistance, and international business development. OEWD’s goal is to work continually to make San Francisco an even better place to live, work and do business.   

About the Community Economic Development Division (CED)

The Community Economic Development (CED) Division of OEWD focuses on neighborhood economic development including supporting small businesses, improving storefronts, and creating vibrant commercial corridors. The division works with a diverse set of stakeholders that promote economic development efforts and work in collaboration towards a shared vision and mission.

Role description

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX) Appointment. This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the appointing officer.

Under the Small Business Programs Administrator, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Specialist will work with a portfolio of nonprofit grantees that provide technical assistance to small businesses on the reporting and compliance of CDBG eligible activities. The CDBG Specialist should have some knowledge of federal regulations as it relates to Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the primary funder of CDBG activities. The CDBG specialist will work with the team to develop and assess key performance indicators and evaluate the effectiveness of the grantees as they provide technical assistance to small businesses in San Francisco. 

Responsibilities

1. Oversee a portfolio of nonprofit agency grantees that assist with the delivery of technical assistance to small businesses.

2. Support drafting and execution of grant agreements 

3. Support compilation, drafting, and review of federally required reports 

4. Maintain partnerships with grantees providing technical assistance and support with capacity building when needed 

5. Utilize internal systems to create and amend related projects 

6. Review and analyze monthly reports submitted by providers, organizations, and agencies to ensure contract compliance 

7. Conduct audits of nonprofit grant projects to ensure federal requirements are being met 

8. Work with Small Business Programs Administrator to conduct on-site visits to assess effectiveness of individual projects 

9. Review client eligibility and approve monthly invoices submitted by the providers 

10. Manage agencies’ data entry in our internal client data portal 

11. Assist with troubleshooting in-system errors and/or clarify program requirement to providers 

12. Organize and keep records of required agency documents for each project 

13. Continually conduct program evaluations to make recommendations and operational changes that will improve program performance and better meet community needs 

14. Other duties as assigned 

How to qualify

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

Skills 

1. Clear understanding of federal, state, and local government 

2. Clear understanding of technical assistance providers and how technical assistance plays a crucial role in supporting small businesses 

3. Knowledge of CDBG eligible activities 

4. Creative problem solving and adaptability  

5. Basic knowledge of data management with a strong attention to detail  

6. Project management including budget tracking, creating and maintaining project timelines, and coordinating stakeholders  

7. Experienced with data management and visualization software including Excel, Airtable, Power BI, ArcGIS, Adobe Creative Suite, or similar products   

How You Work 

1. Can effectively work in a diverse team  

2. Experience navigating complex relationships with stakeholders including external partners and community members  

3. Able to be creative and resourceful to remove obstacles and get things done  

4. Can step back and understand big picture goals and concepts and be meticulous and thorough with the details  

5. Actively collaborates across disciplines to get and give feedback, and share knowledge   

Applications will be screened for relevant qualifying experience. Additional screening mechanisms may be implemented in order to determine candidates’ qualifications. Only those applicants who most closely meet the needs of the Agency will be invited to participate in the selection process. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview.

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

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

These minimum qualifications are to be used as a guide for establishing the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license which may be required for employment in the class. Although these minimum qualifications are typical of the class, additional minimum qualifications and special conditions may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the job announcement.

1. Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university AND two (2) years of administrative/professional experience in community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, criminal justice or elections related work; OR

2. Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in one of the following fields: public or business administration, urban planning, government, social work, education, finance or criminal justice AND one (1) year of administrative/professional experience in community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, criminal justice or elections related work; OR

3. Possession of a Master's degree from an accredited college or university in public policy, planning, social work, public administration, finance, education, criminal justice, or business administration; OR

4.Possession of a Ph.D. or Juris Doctor degree from an accredited college or university.

SUBSTITUTION:

Verifiable administrative/professional experience involving community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, criminal justice and/or elections related work may substitute for the educational requirement in Minimum Qualification #1 on a year-for-year basis.

Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

LICENSE AND CERTIFICATION

None

VERIFICATION OF EXPERIENCE AND/OR EDUCATION: 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 http://sfdhr.org/index.aspx?page=456

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. 

What else should I know?

Application Deadline: Tuesday, September 30, 2025- 11:59PM

• 9772- Community Dev Spec | City and County of San Francisco (sf.gov)
• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement
• CCSF Role Types 

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 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.

All City and County of San Francisco employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law (California Government Code Section 3100-3109). Employment with the City requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to complete all Disaster Service Worker-related training as assigned, and to return to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact: Anabel Simonelli-Kupelian, Chief People Officer, at anabel.simonelli@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.