Career Opportunity

Planner III-Environmental Review (5298) Natural Resources and Lands Management Division-(Moccasin) SFPUC (167779)

Recruitment: RTF0167778-01128845

Published: September 28, 2026

Accepting applications until: October 16, 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 Date: September 28, 2026
• Application Filing Deadline:  October 16, 2026 at 11:59PM (PDT)
• Location: 1 Lakeshore Drive, Moccasin, CA, Moccasin, California, United States
• Recruitment ID: PBT-5298-167779/ RTF0167778

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.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 here.

Natural Resources and Lands Management Division:

The Natural Resources and Lands Management (NRLM) Division within the Water Enterprise is responsible for managing, protecting, restoring, and monitoring the ecological resources on SFPUC lands and environmental compliance for the operations and maintenance of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System. We are committed to responsible natural resources management that protects and restores viable populations of native species and maintains the integrity of the ecosystems that support them for current and future generations.

About the Moccasin Planning and Compliance Section of NRLM:

The Moccasin Planning and Compliance (MPC) team is responsible for environmental review and permitting for the eastern division of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System and Hetch Hetchy Water and Power (HHWP), an operating division operating water, wastewater, and power infrastructure across the Sierra Nevada to the Bay Area.

Working Relationships:

This position reports to the Senior Environmental Planner of the Moccasin Planning and Compliance Section and may supervise the work of professional services consultants and junior planning staff. This is an external-facing position that works closely with federal and state agency staff, City attorneys, Tribal representatives, and SFPUC multidisciplinary teams.
The position requires effective communication, sound judgment, professionalism, and the ability to develop productive working relationships with individuals who may have different technical expertise, responsibilities, priorities, or perspectives.

Role Location:

There is currently one position available with the Natural Resources and Lands Management Division of the Water Enterprise. The position is located in Moccasin, California and the reporting location is in Moccasin, CA (located 140 miles east of the San Francisco Bay Area, requiring a 5-hour round trip commute from the San Francisco Bay Area, by car in fair weather).  

Working Location:

The nature of the work may require working in remote field settings, including watersheds, streams, rivers, reservoirs, and federal lands. Duties may require driving or hiking to remote locations using unimproved dirt or mountain roads and working outdoors in inclement weather.

Role description

Role Description:

The Environmental Planner performs complex environmental planning, permitting, compliance, and lands management work supporting operational and Capital Improvement Program activities of the SFPUC Water Enterprise, including CEQA/NEPA environmental review, Chapter 31 implementation, resource-agency permitting, environmental construction compliance, professional-services administration, federal-land coordination, natural and cultural resources management, Tribal engagement, and strategic program development.

This position reports to the Senior Environmental Planner of the Moccasin Planning and Compliance Section and may supervise the work of professional services consultants and junior planning staff. This is an external-facing position that works closely with federal and state agency staff, City attorneys, Tribal representatives, and SFPUC multidisciplinary teams. The incumbent develops project descriptions; evaluates environmental impacts and mitigation measures; prepares, manages, and reviews technical studies and regulatory documentation; supports professional services contract administration; coordinates multidisciplinary project teams; and provides technical guidance regarding environmental review, permitting, and regulatory compliance.   

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Analyzes proposed project activities to determine environmental review, documentation, consultation, and permitting requirements, identifies environmental and regulatory risks, and recommends avoidance measures, mitigation measures, and best management practices to minimize environmental impacts and regulatory risk.
2. Applies and interprets federal, state, and local laws, regulations, ordinances, permits, agreements, authorizations, and SFPUC policies, including the Raker Act.
3. Prepares or coordinates permit applications, right-of-way and special use authorization requests, and related submissions to local, state, and federal agencies.
4. Obtains authorizations under CWA §§401/404, NPDES §402, Fish & Game Code §§1602/1610, ESA/CESA, NHPA §106, ARPA, FLPMA, Raker Act, Wilderness Act, Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, and related federal/state authorities. Prepares, reviews, and coordinates CEQA, NEPA, NHPA, FLPMA, and related environmental review and compliance documentation.
5. Prepares and manages technical studies and reports concerning environmental, biological, cultural, land, and other natural resource matters.
6. Critically reviews and evaluates consultant work associated with planning, permitting, environmental review, technical studies, and compliance monitoring, and develops scopes of work and supports consultant contract administration, including schedules, budgets, deliverables, and fieldwork coordination.
7. Coordinates interdisciplinary review of project proposals, technical studies, and environmental documentation; performs environmental review of third-party applications for use of SFPUC lands.
8. Identifies environmental and regulatory risks, evaluates available information, and develops practical recommendations when requirements or project conditions are uncertain.
9. Represents SFPUC interests during interagency consultations, stakeholder meetings, public meetings, and field visits, and collaborates with multidisciplinary staff, consultants, regulatory personnel, Tribal representatives, and other  parties.
10. Exercise sound and objective judgment, including when information is incomplete, requirements are uncertain, or competing priorities must be reconciled.
11. Manages competing priorities and communicates emerging issues, schedule risks, and recommended actions to project managers and supervisors.
12. Communicate complex legal, technical, and procedural information clearly to technical and nontechnical audiences.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university AND four (4) years (8000 hours) of verifiable full-time equivalent experience either:

A. performing environmental review functions OR

B. in a city/regional/urban planning environment preparing documents for entities such as California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regional Water Quality Control Board, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

OR

2. Master's degree from an accredited college or university in city/regional/urban planning, environmental studies, architecture, law, earth sciences, geography, economics, landscape architecture, civil engineering, urban studies or public administration AND two (2) years (4000 hours) of verifiable full-time equivalent experience either:

A. performing environmental review functions OR

B. in a city/regional/urban planning environment preparing documents for entities such as California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regional Water Quality Control Board, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

AND
License: Possession of a current valid California Driver’s License.

Note: One (1) year of full-time employment is considered equivalent to two thousand (2,000) hours. 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:

•    Experience interpreting or working with federal land management and permitting instruments including rights-of-way, special use authorizations, permits, easements, agreements, maps, land records, or historical authorizations.
•    Experience applying  local, state, and federal environmental laws, regulations, and environmental review processes. 
•    Experience with cultural resources identification, preservation, protection, consultation, and management practices. 
•      Experience conducting environmental review and permitting for utility, infrastructure, operations, maintenance, or capital improvement activities. 
•       Experience using GIS, databases, document management systems, or other tools to organize and analyze environmental, geographic, or regulatory information. 
•    Experience developing scopes of work and supporting consultant contract administration, schedules, budgets, and multidisciplinary technical teams. 
•    Experience coordinating with regulatory agencies, land management agencies, Tribal representatives, project managers, operations staff, consultants, attorneys, or other parties with differing responsibilities and perspectives. 
 

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

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 the principles, practices, purposes, scope, and techniques of environmental analysis.                                
• Knowledge of methods and data sources for environmental investigations.  
• Public relations/interpersonal skills – refers to the ability to deal tactfully with public governmental officials, professional and technical person, and other City employees.  
• Ability in problem solving                            
• Ability in written communication                                                                                                                                           

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.

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 three 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.

What else should I know?

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, Najeebah Mpagazi-Spearman, at NMpagaziSpearman@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.