Career Opportunity

Gardener (3417) (Permanent Exempt) - SF Rec & Parks

Recruitment: RTF0129401-01135652

Published: February 16, 2023

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About:

Contact: For questions about this position or how to apply, please contact Ian Talley at ian.talley@sfgov.org
Application Opening: 12/14/2022
Application Deadline: File Immediately. This announcement may close at any time after 5:00 pm on January 27, 2023
Compensation: $34.4250-$41.90/hour; $5,967.00 - $7,263.00/month; $71,604.00 - $87,152.00/year
Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt; Full-Time. PLEASE NOTE: Pursuant to the City & County of San Francisco Charter, Section 10.104.13. Any person occupying a position under exempt appointment shall not be subject to civil service selection, appointment, and removal procedures. Exempt employees shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing officer.

San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city on the forefront of economic growth and innovation, urban development, arts and entertainment, as well as social issues and change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City’s commitment to heighten the quality of life for San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco. The City and County of San Francisco employs more than 28,000 individuals in various professional jobs in a diverse array of services such as maintaining City streets & parks, driving buses and cable cars, providing public health services, keeping the streets safe, and firefighting.

Role description

Under general supervision, this position performs routine maintenance and landscaping renovation tasks to care for natural and synthetic athletic fields, squares, parks, green infrastructure, playgrounds, stadiums, thoroughfares, medians, natural areas and/or other landscaped areas. Essential functions of this class include: preparing soil by rototilling, spading and fertilizing; maintaining plants by planting, transplanting, cultivating, irrigation and pruning; identifying a large variety of plant material and their cultural requirements; identifying pests and diseases, performing techniques such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control or mitigate the pests and diseases; maintaining lawns by raking, edging, mowing, watering, weeding, aerating, fertilizing, and over seeding; implementing habitat restoration and wildlife enhancement projects; maintaining grounds by clearing brush and debris, sweeping and raking public activity areas, cleaning up litter and clearing drains; changing sprinkler heads when required; operating power and manual equipment and/or tools such as mowers, watering equipment, gopher traps, and other types of gardening equipment and/or tools; performing routine maintenance on landscaping equipment and/or tools to ensure they are n good working condition; performing general maintenance tasks on grounds and facilities to ensure clean and safe premises; and performing other job duties as required.

Working Conditions
The nature of the work may require exposure to inclement weather conditions and may require exposure to hazardous conditions and/or materials which may include feces and/or urine, used syringes, etc. All positions require driving. Some positions may require riding mowers and driving small utility vehicles. Some positions may require weekend or shift work.

Special Requirements
The 3417 Gardener requires the ability to lift, drag and/or move with assistance large and/or heavy plants and equipment to truck bed level and ability to kneel, bend, and squat for considerable periods of time safely and correctly.

Essential Duties

The 3417 Gardener:

• Prepares soil by rototilling, grading, spading, and fertilizing to promote plant growth and to prevent drainage problems.
• Maintains plants by planting, transplanting, cultivating, irrigation and pruning to promote plant growth and to prevent plant deterioration.
• Identifies and manages pests and diseases on plants and/or lawn areas by performing techniques such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control and/or mitigate the pests and diseases.
• Maintains lawn areas by raking, edging, mowing, watering, weeding, aerating, fertilizing, over seeding and/or other landscaping function(s) to promote lawn health and erosion control.
• Maintains grounds of natural and synthetic athletic fields, squares, parks, playgrounds, stadiums, thoroughfares and/or other landscape areas by clearing brush and debris, sweeping and raking areas, cleaning up litter, clearing drains, and preventing hazardous conditions.
• Operates power and manual equipment and/or tools such as mowers, water equipment, gopher traps, and other types of gardening equipment and/or tools to assist in maintaining landscape areas.
• Performs routine maintenance on gardening equipment and/or tools to ensure they are maintained and in good working condition.
• Performs general maintenance duties on grounds and facilities such as natural and synthetic athletic fields, sandboxes in parks, public easements, restroom facilities, irrigation systems and safe premises.
• May be assigned to work with and/or direct the work of park volunteers

How to qualify

1. Three (3) years of verified experience in the care, construction, or maintenance of landscaped areas by planting, weeding, fertilizing, irrigating, pruning, and controlling pests in the following areas: sports and athletic natural turf fields, golf courses, parks, ornamental gardens, arboreta, greenhouses, nurseries, botanical gardens and/or public landscaped areas; OR
2. Possession of a Certificate of Achievement from an accredited college or university in horticulture, landscaping, gardening, nursery and garden center operation, commercial cut flower and greenhouse production or related field and two (2) years of verifiable experience in the care, construction or maintenance of landscaped areas by planting, weeding, fertilizing, irrigating, pruning, and controlling pests in the following areas: sports and athletic natural turf fields, golf courses, parks, ornamental gardens, arboreta, greenhouses, nurseries, botanical gardens and/or public landscaped areas; OR
3. Possession of an Associate of Arts or Science degree from an accredited college or university in horticulture, landscaping, gardening, nursery and garden center operation, commercial cut flower and greenhouse production or related field and eighteen (18) months of verifiable experience in the care, construction or maintenance of landscaped areas by planting, weeding, fertilizing, irrigating, pruning, and controlling pests in the following areas: sports and athletic natural turf fields, golf courses, parks, ornamental gardens, arboreta, greenhouses, nurseries, botanical gardens and/or public landscaped areas; OR
4. Completion of 3,000 hours of the City and County of San Francisco's gardener apprenticeship program;

AND

License and Certification

Requires possession of a valid California driver's license.

Notes

1. Candidates must be insurable under the department’s automobile liability insurance policy. After employment, employees must maintain insurability and valid driver license.
2. Some positions require twelve (12) months verifiable experience in the design, installation and maintenance of large interior landscapes which includes plant identification and the ability to recognize pest and disease that are specific to interior landscape plants.
3. Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.
4. One (1) year 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.

Verification of Experience and Education
Applicants may be required to submit verification qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Failure to provide the required verification when requested may result in rejection of application and/or appointment in this class. Refer to the following links for information on acceptable forms of verification:

Verification Guidelines: http://www.sfdhr.org/index.aspx?page=20#verification

Education Guidelines: https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification from this and future job opportunities with City and County of San Francisco.

What else should I know?

Applicants may be contacted by email about this announcement and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants should set up their 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.org, @flysfo, sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu).

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 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.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures
The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to meeting the minimum qualifications. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to an interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited for an interview/screening process.

Terms of Announcement
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.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under the Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 South Van Ness, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications, and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website.

Medical Examination
Prior to appointment, all candidates must successfully pass a medical examination to determine his/her ability to perform the essential functions of the job and/or the ability to meet the physical minimum requirements.

Drug Test Requirement
Applicants for positions in this classification who are not currently employed by the City and County of San Francisco in a safety-sensitive position represented by Local 261 are required to pass pre-employment drug (including marijuana) and alcohol testing upon reasonable suspicion or after-work related accident. Applicants with positive result from pre-employment drug test will be restricted from hire in safety-sensitive positions for six months after the date of the positive test.

Public Resources Code 5164
Candidates for positions with the Recreation & Parks Department may be disqualified from consideration should their conviction history not meet the standards established under California Public Resources Code 5164.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco

• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

Race and Social Equity Statement
We believe that parks and open space in San Francisco provides the opportunity to model equitable access for all.  With this belief, San Francisco became the first city in the United States for which 100% of its residents live within a ten-minute walk of a park. The Recreation and Park Department’s goal is to close the gaps and improve equity and access to quality parks and open space, and recreation activities for historically marginalized communities.  

We envision a department that proactively infuses racial and social equity in its internal operations.  With a multi-disciplinary team of talented individuals - gardeners, recreation leaders, park rangers, custodians, craft shop personnel, park and recreation managers and more, the department is committed to doing its part to provide equitable access to parks and programs for all the communities we serve to enjoy, as well as foster a work environment where our differences are celebrated, and everyone has what they need to thrive regardless of their race, age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or country of origin.

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

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.