Career Opportunity

CHIEF APPLICATIONS OFFICER (0941 - Manager VI)

Recruitment: RTF0138303-01031335

Published: September 01, 2023

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

About:

The Department of Public Health prioritizes equitable and inclusive access to quality healthcare for its community and values the importance of diversity in its workforce. All employees at the Department of Public Health work to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity with a specific lens and focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, disability, and immigration status.

• Application Opening – August 16th, 2023
• Application Deadline – The application filing will be open continuously at least through Friday, September 15th, 2023 and will close any time thereafter.
• Salary: $180,258 - $230,100 (Range A)
• Appointment Type: Permanent Civil Service
• Recruitment ID: PBT-0941-138306

The mission of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is to protect and promote the health of all San Franciscans. SFDPH strives to achieve its mission through the work of two main Divisions - the San Francisco Health Network and Population Health. The San Francisco Health Network is the City’s only complete system of care and has locations throughout the City, including Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, and over 15 primary care health centers.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Information Technology Department is the technology services provider within Public Health, delivering technology infrastructure and services to approximately 11,000 users within the organization to help support over 100,000 patients annually. The Chief Applications Officer manages the direction of all applications at SFDPH to ensure a cohesive approach that focuses on efficiency and avoids redundancies.

Role description

Reporting to the Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Chief Applications Officer (0941 Manager VI), will direct and develop the enterprise applications strategy for SFDPH.  Responsibility for enterprise applications includes electronic health record applications (e.g., Epic, clinical & billing applications, etc.), public health applications (e.g., disease surveillance, restaurant inspections, etc.), business applications (e.g., workforce management, materials management, etc.), and everything in between. This role is a key member of the IT leadership team at SFDPH and requires close collaboration with peers managing networks and infrastructure, hosting, endpoints/peripherals, and enterprise reporting/data management. The leader selected for this role must bring both experience and an ability to formulate a multi-year strategic plan in support of the organization's goals and objectives.

The Chief Applications Officer (CAO) will set strategic direction and objectives for application teams based on SFDPH strategic goals, overall IT strategy, and improvement opportunities. The CAO oversees cooperation and coordination between applications, facilitates executive-level meetings, and focuses on achieving measurable project outcomes/impacts. This position also develops, defines, and coordinates relationships with affiliate organizations and third-party partners.

Candidates should possess the ability to direct reporting managers and other staff engaged in diverse activities; exercise administrative ingenuity, independent analysis, adaptability, and judgment on highly specialized proposals with difficult, complex decisions for action; make recommendations and present them effectively to executive staff, governing bodies, and the public; apply the principles and practices of public administration as well as financial and personnel management; clearly interpret all applicable laws, ordinances and codes relating to the department; direct research, survey techniques and statistical methods; establish and maintain effective working relations with officials, employees, directors, and members of other departments, civic organizations, agencies, and the public; and encompasses the ability to remain calm and provide guidance to managers in crisis situations.

SFDPH IT is currently a hybrid work environment for both in-person and remote work. This role will require in-person work of at least 50% of the time.

The Chief Applications Officer (0941 Manager VI) performs the following essential functions:

1. Develops and implements division goals, objectives, policies, and priorities; determines service levels and resource allocation.
2. Manages cross-team relationships with entity staff, potential affiliate/partner resources, and other IT resources to identify and respond to risks and opportunities; monitor project progress; and produce deliverables on schedule.
3. Monitors work and coaches staff to improve performance.
4. Assumes primary responsibility in the IT division for contracts and vendor management; responsible for negotiating contract terms, risk management, and monitoring adherence to agreements.
5. Coordinates legal, security, and technical teams to develop appropriate agreements and policy.
6. Manages the budget, providing cost to budget and forecasting to maintain eHR program's sustainability by ensuring that the project is within budget and scope as well as authorizing invoices and purchase orders.
7. Directs the allocation of resources to achieve timely outcomes and measurable goals within budget; adjusts plans and programs to meet emerging or new programs while continuing to address major departmental priorities.
8. Creates a program strategy and vision around how to best utilize Epic program tools to meet the department’s needs.
9. Plans, organizes, directs, manages, and reviews the operation of major departmental functions and activities.
10. Maintains knowledge of emerging industry trends, eHR updates, federal, state, and local initiatives that would affect defined requirements.
11. Monitors the efficiency and effectiveness of the departmental organization structure, staff assignments, service levels, and administrative systems; identifies, analyzes, and implements improvements.
12. Communicates regularly with executive-level management regarding the department's activities and coordination of efforts with other City and County of San Francisco departments in addressing the needs of the City; represents the department before legislative boards, outside organizations, Mayor's Office staff, and the media.
13. Assesses and responds to community needs; provides consultation and advice to boards, committees, and representatives from federal, state, and local agencies.
14. Monitors competing projects; identifies associated risks and mitigation strategies relative to resource contention and timeline impacts.
15. Participates in budget development by providing detailed justification and persuasive arguments for proposals or initiatives; implements and closely monitors budget expenditures of the operating budget for a major area of responsibility typically including multiple divisions.
16. Provides executive management with early notification and practical options to potential cost overruns.
17. Advocates for and promotes the applications and applications team members.
18. The Chief Applications Officer (0941 Manager VI) performs other duties as assigned or required.

How to qualify

Required Minimum Qualifications

1. ​Education:  Possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university; AND
2. Experience:  Six (6) years of managerial experience overseeing enterprise application delivery and management of which all must include supervising professionals

Education Substitution
Additional qualifying experience as described above may substitute for the required degree on a year-for-year basis.  One year is equivalent to thirty (30) semester or forty-five (45) quarter units.

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

One-year full time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above 40 hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full time employment.

Desirable Qualifications

• Three (3) years of experience in a healthcare organization
• Eight (8) years of experience in Information Technology
• Experience with Electronic Health Record (EHR) applications; Epic experience preferred
• Experience and working knowledge of healthcare systems processes and procedures, such as with a hospital, skilled nursing facility, primary care, public health, and jail health services
• Strong knowledge of and experience in creating the end-to-end processes which drive successful communication across information systems
• Experience in project management and process leadership (i.e., experience directing large, integrated projects across teams)
• Experience managing large teams in a complex, integrated environment

Important Note
Please make sure it is absolutely clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Please be aware that any misrepresentation of this information may disqualify you from this recruitment or future job opportunities. For more information, visit https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#verification:~:text=Verification%20of%20Experience%20and/or%20Education

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 (MQSQ Weight: Qualifying): Applicants will be required to complete an MQSQ by email after you submit your 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.

Management Test Battery (Weight: 40%):
Candidates will be invited to participate in a computer-based examination designed to measure competencies in job-related areas which may include but are not limited to:  Problem Solving; Leadership; Decision Making; Interpersonal skill; Human Resources Management; Team Building; Communication & Conflict Management. For more information about this Management Test (and a suggested reading list) please visit: SFDHR.org. Please note: this examination is only held in San Francisco. A passing score must be achieved on the Management Test Battery in order to continue in the selection process. This is a standardized examination, and, therefore, test questions and answers are not available for public inspection or review. Scores attained on the Management Test Battery will be valid and 'banked' for three years, starting from the date of the examination. This means that, during this three-year time period, you will not be required to take the Management Test Battery. The Management Test Battery may be used for many other classes; therefore, your test score may be applied to one or more of these classes if you choose to apply to future recruitments. If the selection process for the future announcement is held within one year of the date of this examination and it includes the Management Test Battery, 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 Management Test Battery. 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 the Management Test Battery is used. Please note that, should you re-test, your retest score would become your official score since it is the most recent. 

Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) Exam (Weight: 60%): Candidates who achieve a passing score on the Management Test Battery (MTB) will be emailed a Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) that is designed to measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities in job related areas which may include but not be limited to: knowledge of and skills in public health administration, operations management, covering a wide variety of areas such as communicable disease control and prevention, environmental health services and sanitation, clinic administration, public health law and policy, emergency medical services, disaster preparedness and response, epidemiology and statistics, finance and accounting, and workforce development; ability to develop both long- and short-term strategic plans and to develop and implement project plans; ability to manage a large, complex budget and allocate resources in view of competing priorities; and knowledge of project management and Lean management systems/principles. The SQ will be emailed to the address listed on the candidate’s online application. Candidates will be required to respond to the SQ in the time frame indicated and must submit the completed questionnaire as directed in order to have it evaluated. Responses cannot be changed once submitted. Candidates will be evaluated based on their SQ responses. Candidates must achieve a passing score on the SQ in order to continue in the selection process and will be placed on the confidential eligible list in rank order according to their final score.

Candidates must achieve a passing score on the Management Test Battery (MTB) and Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) exam in order to continue in the selection process and will be placed on the confidential eligible list in rank order according to their final score.

Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions. 

Certification
The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be the Rule of the List.

Eligible List/Score Report:
Once you pass the exam, you will be placed onto an eligible list and given a score and a rank. For more information, visit https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be 6 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please refer to: https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2022-23.pdf

What else should I know?

How to apply:

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit careers.sf.gov and begin the application process. 

Our e-mail communications may come from more than one department so please make sure your email is set to accept messages from all of us at this link. 

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment therefore, it is their responsibility to contact the Analyst if they update their email address. 

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.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:

This is a Position Based Test (PBT) administered in accordance with Civil Service Rule 111A.

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. 

DPH Health Critical Requirements and Information: Please review the following policies regarding DPH employment requirements that safeguard yourself and others. 

• COVID-19 Policies 

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Medical Examination Prior to Hiring

• Electronic Health Record (EHR)

• Licensure/Certification/Registration

• Note on ICARE 

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 Workers

• Reasonable Accommodation

• Right to Work

• Copies of Application Documents

• Diversity Statement

• Veterans Preference 

• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams 

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Catherine Chafey at:  catherine.chafey@sfdph.org or (628)271-6831.

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. The first message will ask you to opt in to text messaging.

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.