Career Opportunity

Utility Specialist (5602) - Power Enterprise - SFPUC (161811)

Recruitment: RTF0161810-01156757

Published: March 02, 2026

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.

•    Application Opening: March 2, 2026
•    Application Filing Deadline: March 16, 2026

WHO ARE WE? 
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)
Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

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.gov

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.gov/about-us/careers-sfpuc

Role description

The eligible list from this recruitment will be used to fill positions in the Asset Management and Maintenance Planning teams within the SFPUC Power Enterprise. 

Asset Management
Location: 525 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco
Under direction of the Power Enterprise's Asset Manager, this Utility Specialist will be focused on providing detailed and technically orientated project management support for Power Enterprise’s electrical distribution and streetlight system contracts. The essential duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

• Create processes needed to coordinate work between Asset Management, Distribution Engineering, Redevelopment group, Utility Field Services within Power Enterprise.
• Create processes needed to coordinate work between Asset Management group and other City departments.
• Identify and resolve gaps between Asset Management group, Engineering, and Field Services.
• Coordinate with SFPUC’s various contract and finance groups.
• Communicate and obtain SFPUC executive leadership and Commission contract approvals as needed.
• Work with Field Operations and Engineering groups to identify and assess all of the SFPUC’s owned or controlled assets.
• Coordinate with Maintenance Planning on condition assessments, rehab and replacement schedules, and asset lifecycle summaries within Power’s CMMS (computerized maintenance management system).
• Coordinate with Asset Management group’s GIS mapping and Streetlight databases.
• Ensure contractors are in compliance with design drawings, specifications, scope of work and all other contract provisions to approve work products from contractors and consulting engineers in coordination with SFPUC staff.
• Provide good customer service by meeting with customers, coordinate/review engineering details, discussing priorities and contract schedules.
• Manage project budgets, schedules, procurement, change management, engineering designs, submittals, requests for information (RFls), inspections, commissioning, start up, and close out to ensure the project contract goals are achieved.
• Develop schedule for all projects, track progress, organize and schedule coordination meetings.
• Coordinate all stages of the contracting process through the various City departments, legal review, permitting, finance, purchasing, and all approvals.
• Perform other job related duties as required.

Maintenance Planning
Location: 10 Lombard Street, San Francisco
Under the general direction of the Maintenance Manager, this Utility Specialist will be responsible for coordinating projects for the Utility Field Services department. These projects will oversee various systems, including Streetlights, Power distribution, Metering, and Natural gas. Additionally, this role will involve preparing reports, cost estimates, and contract documents. The Utility Specialist will also review federal, regional, and local legislation relevant to Power operation. As necessary, they will provide technical support and utility expertise to the SFPUC Power Enterprise in collaboration with other SFPUC Enterprises and City Departments.

The essential duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

• Conducts technical and economic feasibility evaluations of capital projects; incorporates results of analyses into cost/benefit assessments.
• Develop and implement policies and procedures.
• Train analysts, technicians, and other personnel on policies, procedures and compliance issues.
• Writes a variety of documents, including reports, general correspondence, program descriptions, operating procedures, and policy recommendations
• Identify and resolve gaps in existing workflows and processes
• Develop and track the project schedules to ensure the project goals are achieved
• Maintain detailed and well-organized project administrative records and files
• Prepare written reports and technical memoranda to document analyses, recommendations, and project status updates
• Prepare reports for the Commission and the executive team, coordinate contract document review and finalization
• Monitor project progress, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies to ensure timely completion.
• Forecast future financial needs for capital and operational projects.
• Coordinate all stages of the contracting process through the various City departments, legal review, permitting, finance, purchasing, and all approvals; and
• Perform other job-related duties as required.

How to qualify

Education: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university preferably with major coursework in Law, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Natural Resources, Computer Science, Business Administration, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics or other field related to the utility business; AND

Experience: Four years of verifiable journey-level work experience in one or more of the following areas: planning, scheduling, cost estimating and resource projecting for mid to large scale projects; water supply/infrastructure management and planning; power operations planning and scheduling; analysis, interpretation and application of utility contracts and regulations in either water, power (electric and/or natural gas), telecommunications, or a wastewater/clean water program; utility market and environmental analysis and planning; power supply and transmission rates and contracts; generation, transmission or distribution planning and design; or long-term utility systems planning.

Substitution: Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the degree requirement on a year-for-year basis.

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.

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

Desirable Qualifications: The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• PMP - Project Management Professional certification 
• Experience with electrical utility/construction industry specifically in operations and understands electrical distribution concepts.
• Asset management or maintenance planning experience
• Experience with budgets and financial operations

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. 

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

Supplemental Questionnaire Examination (Weight: 100%): Candidates who meet minimum qualifications will be invited via a separate link to complete the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination. The purpose of the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination is to evaluate the experience, knowledge, skills and abilities that candidates possess in job-related areas, which have been identified as critical for this position and include, but are not limited to: 

• Knowledge of electric utility infrastructure, operations, and regulations
• Knowledge of electric utility contracts, contract administration and management, and regulations including compliance standards
• Ability to identify and analyze inefficiencies to improve workflows and processes
• Ability to manage projects through full lifecycle (e.g., planning, budgeting, procurement, engineering design, construction, inspections, commissioning, startup, and project closeout)
• Ability to conduct complex analytical studies, such as technical feasibility studies, cost-benefit analyses, and long-range financial forecasting
• Knowledge of electric utility asset management principles and maintenance planning practices
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with departmental staff, representatives of other agencies and the public
• Ability to communicate and present facts clearly, concisely and in a well-organized and effective manner, both orally and in writing, including the ability to prepare reports and documentation

A passing score must be achieved on the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination in order to continue in the selection process and be placed on the eligible list.

Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score. Candidate scores on this examination may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.

The department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures to make final hiring decisions.

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 resulting from this examination process will be of 12 months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director. 

Certification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of Ten 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. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://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 “Apply Now” 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, Stefanie Lim, at SMLim@sfwater.org or 415-916-6632.

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.