Career Opportunity

Business Strategy & Performance Manager - Wastewater Enterprise - SFPUC (0941) - (134259)

Recruitment: RTF0134258-01103872

Published: July 21, 2023

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: 7/7/23
• Application Filing: 7/25/23* (Deadline extended until 7/25/2023 to broaden applicant pool)
• Annual Salary: $175,864 - $224,484 annually (Range A)
• Recruitment ID: 134259 and RTF0134258

Who are we?
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)
Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,500 employees working in seven counties with a combined annual operating budget of over $1.65 billion.

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 www.sfwater.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. As you explore career opportunities with us, download our career guide and learn about what you can expect during the hiring process.

Wastewater Enterprise

SFPUC’s Wastewater Enterprise (WWE), with approximately 500 employees and an annual operating budget of $406 million, operates and maintains San Francisco's combined sewer system and wastewater treatment facilities to protect public health and the environment. These services extend across eight urban watersheds, nearly 2,000 miles of pipe, and benefit every resident and visitor of San Francisco.

WWE operates three all-weather wastewater treatment plants and one wet-weather facility, the entire system also includes pump stations, transport/storage facilities, and combined sewer discharge structures to treat an estimated 34.5 billion gallons of wastewater in a typical year. In addition to treating wastewater, WWE also produces biosolids, a nutrient-rich soil-like product used as a synthetic fertilizer-replacement and soil, and a new Recycled Water Treatment Facility is being constructed to produce approximately 1.6 million gallons per day of recycled water which will be used for non-drinking purposes such as irrigation and lake fill.

Role description

The Business Strategy and Performance Manager oversees a complex portfolio that influences all divisions in the Wastewater Enterprise. The core functions of this position are strategic business planning, financial and capital facilities planning, workforce development, and organizational development. Within these core functions, critical tasks include developing, implementing and measuring progress on the Wastewater Strategic Business Plan; leading the development of the Wastewater Enterprise-wide budget process (Operations and Capital) from preliminary forecasting through mayoral approval and implementation; developing a reliable WWE workforce from recruitment and employee engagement to workplace development and succession planning; and overseeing performance management of all Wastewater programs. 

Essential functions:

STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLANNING

• Assists the WWE Assistant General Manager in managing and coordinating the development and implementation of Enterprise-wide goals, objectives, policies, and priorities.
• Develops, implements, and measures progress on the Wastewater Strategic Business Plan. Creates, tests, implements, and refines processes to successfully execute the business plan at the Enterprise scale on a 2-year cycle.
• Manages, monitors and evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of the Division’s organizational structure, staffing patterns, service levels, and administrative systems; identifies and analyzes opportunities for improvements.
• Prepares and supervises the preparation of technical and complex reports.
• Establishes and evaluates goals and objectives, assigns priorities, monitors progress, and uses effective work plans and methods to achieve goals and objectives.
• Plans and evaluates staff performance, ensures effective use of personnel and resources, and develops action plans to improve employee productivity and morale.

FINANCIAL PLANNING & WASTEWATER ENTERPRISE BUDGET

• Oversees the Enterprise-wide budget process from preliminary forecasting through mayoral approval and implementation, including monitoring of budget, contracts, and purchasing.
• Works with Business Services staff to generate accurate and meaningful financial reports to WWE managers, including budget shortfall and overage projections.
• Considers financial implications of decisions and suggests fiscally responsible methods for meeting needs of staff and the organization. Works with Division Managers to determine and direct the allocation of personnel and financial resources to achieve WWE performance goals on time and within allocated budgets.
• Facilitates WWE’s asset management and capital planning for development of the 2-year Capital Budget and rolling 10-year Capital Plan incorporated with each budget cycle.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

• Develops a safe and reliable WWE workforce, from recruitment, onboarding, and employee engagement to workplace development and training to succession planning and offboarding.
• Directs fellow managers in defining core competencies for employees, supervisors, managers and administrators.  Works with Division Managers to incorporate competencies into training plans, performance reports, and staff development plans.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Oversees programmatic performance management of all Wastewater programs.  Develops and establishes policies and procedures and makes decisions which impact the daily operations; Works with managers to implement process improvement strategies to improve the maturity, relevance, and effectiveness of each of their respective programs.
• Creates a culture of responsibility within WWE where all staff understand their role in cross division efforts such as fiscal responsibility, leadership and mentoring, safety, community benefits and resource recovery.
• Responsible for the development of high priority, enterprise-wide efforts that require the participation of all WWE Divisions, such as the Resource Recovery Framework, Information Systems Strategies, Employee Engagement and Safety Programs.
• Class 0941 – Business Strategy and Performance Manager performs other related duties as required.

How to qualify

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university; AND

Six (6) years of verifiable managerial experience in any combination of the following areas:  strategic business policy and planning, financial management of projects or programs, and/or workforce and organizational development.  

Substitution:

Education substitution - Additional qualifying work experience may be substituted for the required education on a year for year basis (30 semester / 45 quarter units equal one year) for up to two (2) years. 

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 used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• Verifiable work experience in the water or wastewater utility sector
• Verifiable interagency and public sector experience
• Verifiable project management experience
• Verifiable experience developing and delivering complex budgets

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 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 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.

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:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: Qualifying): Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Exam Component:

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 Federal, State, and local regulations that apply to the operation of a Sewer Operations, as required by all Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW); Knowledge of the principles and practices of management, administration, budgeting, and the training of subordinate staff; Ability to clearly identify and analyze technical issues and problems, and devise appropriate solutions for them; Knowledge of computer applications related to sewer operations information management and document management; Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with Division staff, representatives of other agencies (City, Regional, State, and Federal) and members of the public; Possession of excellent oral and written communication skills; Ability to manage, supervise, train, and coordinate complex functional areas of responsibility and groups of employees.

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 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/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2021-22.pdf.

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.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ .

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
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Victor Mena, at vmena@sfwater.org.

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.