Career Opportunity

Gardener- SF Citywide (3417)

Recruitment: REF25276Q

Published: May 21, 2023

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

About:

Application Opening: 04/28/2023
Application Deadline: 05/26/2023
Compensation: $34.4250-$41.90/hour; $5,967.00 - $7,263/month; $71,604.00 - $87,152.00/year
Appointment Type: Permanent Civil Service
Contact: For questions about this position or how to apply, please contact Ian Talley at ian.talley@sfgov.org

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: 

• 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

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. The probationary period will be used to evaluate these abilities.

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: Information About the Hiring Process | Department of Human Resources (sfdhr.org)
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?

Selection Procedures

Written Exam (Weight: 100%): Applicants who meet the Minimum Qualifications will be invited to participate in a multiple-choice examination designed to measure their relative knowledge, skills, and abilities in job-related areas. The multiple-choice exam will be administered in a paper format. The multiple-choice examination component may include but not limited to:

• Ability to use & care for gardening equipment and/or tools
• Knowledge of pest control
• Knowledge of erosion control
• Safety knowledge
• Knowledge of procedures used to maintain landscaped areas
• Knowledge of plant identification
• Knowledge of irrigation systems
• Interpersonal skills

This is a standardized examination and, therefore, test questions and test answers are not available for public inspection or review.

The score you achieve on this exam will be valid and “banked” for three (3) years, starting from the date of the examination. This means that, during this three-year time period, you will not be required to take this exam again should you apply and be found eligible for a future recruitment that uses this particular test. Please note this test may be used for other classifications therefore your test score may be applied may be applied to one or more classes if you choose to apply to future recruitments. If the test for a future announcement is held within one year of the date of this examination, your score will be automatically applied to that announcement. However, after one year, you have the option to either (a) apply your test score to the other announcement or (b) re-take the test. Re-testing is permitted no sooner than one year from the date of the examination and only in association with your eligibility for another announcement for which this test is used. Please note that should you re-test,  your new score would become your official score since  it is the most recent.

Applicant scores on this examination may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.

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.

Eligible List Duration: The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of six (6) months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/ASO-Level-Chart.pdf?documentID=21246. 

Certification Rule: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Upon approval of the Human Resource Director (see Civil Service Rule 111A.26.5), the eligible list/score report resulting from this announcement may be used by other departments that also use this classification or a similar classification. To find other Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Count-by-Job-Codes.pdf.

Exam Type: Combined Promotive and Entrance

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

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Position Based Testing Information
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

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.