Career Opportunity

Botanical Biologist III (2484) - Natural Resources & Lands Management Division, SFPUC (160195)

Recruitment: RTF0160193-01158735

Published: October 17, 2025

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

About:

• Application Opening: 10/17/2025
• Application Filing Deadline: 10/24/2025
• Annual Salary: $142,506 to $173,238
• Recruitment ID:  RTF0160193-01158735 (TEX-2484-160195)

APPOINTMENT TYPE: Temporary Exempt (TEX): This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. The duration of the appointment shall not exceed 36 months.

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees working in seven counties with a combined annual operating budget of over $900 million.

Our Mission: To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision: We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness.

We are an award-winning and industry-leading utilities organization committed to our customers, community interests, and the environment. To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at https://www.sfpuc.org/.

We are proud of our infrastructure and programs, but most importantly, we value our highly qualified and dedicated workforce which ensures that this vision becomes a reality.

To learn more about working at the SFPUC, visit our career site at https://www.sfpuc.org/about-us/careers-sfpuc

Role description

Project Name: Bioregional Habitat Restoration (BHR) Program Phase 2, including Fountain Thistle

This project will support the Natural Resources and Lands Management Division role in implementing Phase 2 of the San Francisco Public Utilities Bioregional Habitat Restoration program, which includes:

• Monitoring and enhancement, establishment, and/or re-establishment of endangered and special-status plant species, including fountain thistle, at the BHR Phase 2 sites;
• Developing federal and state permit amendment documents and materials for Phase 2-related efforts
• Placing conservation easements on the BHR Phase 2 sites

Position Summary

Under general supervision, the Senior Biologist (Biologist III) plans, designs, develops, and manages biological and ecological monitoring, protection, enhancement, establishment, and re-establishment of special-status botanical resources as required by federal and state environmental regulatory compliance permits and other policies on San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) watershed lands. The Biologist III works independently and with other staff to evaluate environmental conditions associated with utility operations and maintain compliance with federal and state regulations and policies in support of the mission of the SFPUC. The Biologist III oversees consultants and contractors; gives technical direction to staff biologists, and interns; manages contracts and directs consultants; and may exercise supervision during the absence of the Supervising Biologist.

Position responsibilities include coordinating the work of restoration-specialty contractors and biological consultants monitoring, enhancing, and managing the sites; analyzing monitoring data; planning; and reporting status and activities with other SFPUC staff and agency staff.  The position will be responsible for working with a team of biologists, planners, and biological consultants to produce analyses and other documentation to support the development of permit amendments covering the BHR Phase 2 sites.  The position will also be responsible for working with a team of surveyors, real estate staff, and city attorneys to place conservation easements on the Phase 2 sites. The duration of this project is 36 months.

Essential duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

1. Oversee and manage botanical biological monitoring, protection, enhancement, establishment, and re-establishment programs and studies for endangered plant species, specifically fountain thistle and other species that occur on the Peninsula Watershed.  
2. Provide biological expertise and technical support to SFPUC managers and staff to inform water system operations, watershed management, stewardship, planning, and regulatory compliance, including the placement of conservation easements.   
3. In conjunction with Supervising Biologist, plan, organize, and prioritize biology projects and programs.
4. Identify knowledge gaps and data needs and develop studies and new monitoring programs. Evaluate existing monitoring programs in response to new regulatory requirements, new scientific findings, or to resource management needs and make recommendations.          
5. Make recommendations and participate in the development of habitat management plans or restoration projects for the conservation of rare, threatened, and endangered species.       
6. Plan and implement restoration projects and resource management activities.       
7. Develop partnerships and peer review opportunities with research institutions and other agencies to improve current scientific understanding, outcomes of resource management decisions, and the scientific credibility of SFPUC work products.               
8. Provide in-house biological expertise during negotiations with regulatory agencies or other external stakeholders.
9. Write and review scopes of work and contract specifications, review budgets, direct work, and evaluate and approve deliverables.
10. In conjunction with the Supervising Biologist, identify environmental problems associated with facility, watershed, and right-of-way operations. Propose solutions, including initiation of special studies, to resolve those problems and to achieve compliance with regulations or meet stewardship objectives. Develop best practices for operations and projects that minimize impacts to the environment.
11. Research scientific literature relevant to SFPUC resource management; manage and analyze data; prepare technical memos, reports, presentations, and papers. Communicate complex scientific information effectively, verbally, and in writing to diverse audiences.
12. Manage and monitor staff progress and direct consultant and contractor teams during planning; data collection, data analysis, and presentation; or resource management activities. Set team goals and priorities, assign tasks, and monitor work products.
13. Train personnel and consultants in effective field sampling, survey methodology, and taxonomy and identification.
14. Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday – Friday; 40 hrs/week

Work Location: SFPUC Headquarters (525 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102), with field work focused on SFPUC lands in San Mateo County and occasional field work on SFPUC lands in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Francisco counties.

How to qualify

These minimum qualifications establish the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license(s) which are required for employment in the classification. Please note, additional qualifications (i.e., special conditions) may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the exam/job announcement.

1. Possession of baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in environmental biology, marine biology, aquatic biology, wildlife biology, fisheries biology, limnology, aquatic toxicology microbiology, biochemistry, or a related environmental science; AND

2. Six (6) years of verifiable environmental experience in field or laboratory biology; AND

3. Possession of a valid driver's license.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Desirable Qualifications:

• Education in the areas of biology, plant biology, terrestrial biology, or related biological specialties.
• Experience monitoring, enhancing, and establishing sites for endangered plant species including fountain thistle and/or species with similar life history traits.
• Experience with the process of placing conservation easements on sites that include endangered plants and/or wildlife adjacent to and/overlapping with utility corridors and watershed infrastructure.
• Experience providing biological and ecological technical expertise to inform land management, watershed management, stewardship, restoration, planning, and/or environmental regulatory compliance.
• Experience working on water supply system environmental regulatory compliance issues including federal and state endangered species acts.                        

Verification of Education and Experience:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. More information can be found at: https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#verification

For applicants with foreign transcripts/degrees or education from Non-Accredited Schools, please visit How to Verify Education Requirements | SF.gov

What else should I know?

• 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

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.

Job Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the job analyst at ymirabueno@sfwater.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.