Career Opportunity

Project Specialist, Community Benefit District - Office of Economic and Workforce Development (9772)

Recruitment: RTF0135650-01136832

Published: October 04, 2023

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

About:

We Value Equal Employment Opportunity!

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.

About the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD)

The San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) supports the City's ongoing economic vitality through key programs focused on neighborhood commercial corridors, workforce development, joint development projects, industry focused business recruitment and retention, small business assistance, and international business development. OEWD’s goal is to work continually to make San Francisco an even better place to live, work and do business.   

The Project Specialist will be placed in the Community Economic Development Division and work as part of the Community Economic Development team.  The Project Specialist will primarily assist the Community Benefit District Program Director in managing and overseeing the Community Benefit District program and will operate within the Community Economic Development division of OEWD which focuses on supporting small businesses and creating vibrant commercial corridors. 

The Community Benefit Districts (CBD) program strives to improve the overall quality of life in targeted commercial districts and mixed-use neighborhoods through a partnership between the City and local communities. CBDs are formed by property owners within a specific geographical area to provide enhanced services and improvements through the collection of a special assessment fee. Each CBD is directly managed by a nonprofit organization that is overseen by a board of Managers composed of property owners, business owners, and other community stakeholders. OEWD provides oversight, technical assistance, guidance, education, and other generalized support to each CBD and the program as a whole, but is not involved in day-to-day operations of each district.

Role description

Appointment Type: Permanent-Exempt (PEX) Appointment. This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the appointing officer.

The CBD Project Specialist will be responsible for assisting the Community Benefit District Program Director in implementing and overseeing the Community Benefit District program in accordance to the City’s legislatively proscribed oversight.  The CBD team is responsible for coordinating, developing, evaluating review, and implementing both short-term and long-term plans, policies, and procedures.  The CBD Project Specialist will assist with managing and overseeing San Francisco’s CBD program and provide additional support to the Community Economic Development team, as needed, at the request of the Community Benefit District Program Director and the division’s Deputy Director and Director. 

Specific Duties

The Community Benefit District Project Specialist will work under the supervision and direction of the Community Benefit District Program Director.  All duties will be assigned and directed by the Community Benefit District Program Director. Generally speaking, this is a dynamic role but duties generally include:

Program Compliance Oversight

Assist Program Director with the following: 

• Track and analyze performance of individual CBDs and CBD Program as a whole. Prepare quarterly performance reports and District memos. 

• Review and analyze mid-year and annual reports, annual financial statements and other pertinent documents and prepare staff report and budget analysis of each CBD for presentation to the Board of Supervisors at an annual public hearing for each CBD. 

• Coordinate the annual assessment billings and collections with CBD Executive Managers, Controller’s Office, and Treasure Tax Collector. 

• CBD feasibility analysis, specifically work with community stakeholders to identify issues and potential services; advise on property and business owner survey tool; and advise community on whether or not to pursue the formation of a new CBD at the time.   

• Management of formation and renewal campaigns, specifically oversee the drafting of management plans and engineer’s reports, legal review process, legislative authorization process, and balloting process. 

• Management of post-formation tasks, specifically advise on the formation of the Board of Managers and non-profit corporation; advise on the setup of key City Accounts; and draft and execute 

• Coordinate assessment payments to CBDs, which includes payment reconciliation and parcel troubleshooting. 

Communications, Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement

Assist Program Director with the following:

• Meet with district stakeholders (i.e. attend CBD Board or 1-on-1 check-in meetings) on a monthly basis. 

• Coordinate trainings on organizational and board development, public meeting management, Brown Act, CA Public Records Act, neighborhood economic development strategies and CBD program and services delivery. 

• Coordination of information sharing about CBDs for OEWD. Coordinate with OEWD and other city department programs targeting neighborhoods and economic sectors where CBD services exist or are under consideration.  

• Facilitate communication between CBDs and other City departments, state agencies, federal agencies, and community groups. 

• Educate community on the Community Benefit District program via community meetings and presentation (please note, these may occur with little notice and on weekends/after work hours).  

• Coordinate with other City departments regarding individual CBD and programmatic wide goals. 

• Prepare notes and talking points related to the CBD program for use by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Mayor.  

• Create and track calendar of upcoming CBD events, meetings, and deadlines and communicate out to stakeholders accordingly. 

• Identify opportunities for cross-collaboration between CBDs (i.e. as it relates to event planning or possible resource or information sharing (best practices)).

Program Grant Management

Assist Program Director with the following:

• Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Qualification (RFQ) management for General Fund grants associated with the Community Benefit District program. 

• Assist with management of grant and contract agreements for items associated with the Community Benefit District program; ensure all necessary deliverables have been accomplished in accordance with OEWD objectives.  

• Assist with RFP and RFQ panel selection; sitting on RFP and RFQ panels when requested.  

Other Duties 

• Other duties may be assigned at the discretion of the Community Benefit District Program Director, the Community Economic Development Division Deputy Director, and the Community Economic Development Division Director. 

• Occasionally, this position will be required to work non-traditional work hours due to scheduled community meetings 

How to qualify

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

• Degree in business, marketing/public relations, public policy, public administration, urban planning, or a related degree 

• Experience with community benefit district formation, management, or neighborhood business district programming  

• Experience in compliance review and reporting 

• Experience in developing, administering, and monitoring government grants 

• Experience providing technical assistance to community-based organizations 

• Track record in working well with range of City, small business, nonprofit and neighborhood stakeholders 

• Effective communication (verbal and written) and interpersonal skills, as well as track record in leadership of teams 

• Computer skills and proficiency in working with basic software programs e.g., word processing, spreadsheets, presentation applications, and design programs. 

• Bilingual proficiency is desirable (Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, or Vietnamese language)  

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

These minimum qualifications are to be used as a guide for establishing the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license which may be required for employment in the class. Although these minimum qualifications are typical of the class, additional minimum qualifications and special conditions may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the job announcement.

1. Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university AND two (2) years of administrative/professional experience in community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, criminal justice or elections related work; OR

2. Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in one of the following fields: public or business administration, urban planning, government, social work, education, finance or criminal justice AND one (1) year of administrative/professional experience in community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, criminal justice or elections related work; OR

3. Possession of a Master's degree from an accredited college or university in public policy, planning, social work, public administration, finance, education, criminal justice, or business administration; OR

4.Possession of a Ph.D. or Juris Doctor degree from an accredited college or university.

SUBSTITUTION:

Verifiable administrative/professional experience involving community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, criminal justice and/or elections related work may substitute for the educational requirement in Minimum Qualification #1 on a year-for-year basis.

Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

LICENSE AND CERTIFICATION

None

VERIFICATION OF EXPERIENCE AND/OR EDUCATION: 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 http://sfdhr.org/index.aspx?page=456

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. 

What else should I know?

Application Deadline: Wednesday, November 1, 2023- 11:59PM

• 9772- Community Dev Spec | City and County of San Francisco (sf.gov)
• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• 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.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.

All City and County of San Francisco employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law (California Government Code Section 3100-3109). Employment with the City requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to complete all Disaster Service Worker-related training as assigned, and to return to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact: Anabel Simonelli-Kupelian, Chief People Officer, at anabel.simonelli@sfgov.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.