Career Opportunity

Collections Officer - Port of San Francisco (4306)

Recruitment: RTF0141306-01155736

Published: December 22, 2023

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

About:

Appointment Type: This is a Temporary Exempt (TEX), Full-Time position with an anticipated duration of up to three (3) years. This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination process and incumbents are considered “at will” and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

Specific information regarding this recruitment process is listed below:

• Application Opening: 12/22/23
• Application Deadline: 1/12/24
• Compensation Range: $79,248 - $96,330 annually (effective on 1/6/24)
• Recruitment ID: RTF#0141306-01155736

The Port of San Francisco is an enterprise agency of the City and County of San Francisco and is governed by a Commission of five members appointed by the Mayor. The Port Commission is responsible for overseeing a broad range of waterfront commercial, maritime, and public access facilities that are held in public trust for the people of California. The Port’s jurisdiction covers approximately 7.5 miles of waterfront land from Pier 98, near Hunter’s Point in the southern part of San Francisco, to Fisherman’s Wharf in the northern part of the City.

The Port’s diverse business portfolio includes over 550 ground, commercial, retail, office, industrial and maritime industrial leases including cargo shipping, layberthing, excursion boats, ferry boats, fishing and fish processing/distribution, tourism, filming, harbor services, and cruise operations. With some of the most flexible cargo handling facilities on the West Coast, as well as naturally deep water, the Port can handle various types of cargo such as, dry-bulk, neo-bulk, roll-on/roll-off, and project cargoes.

The Port of San Francisco has many internationally recognized landmarks such as Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, the Exploratorium, the Ferry Building and Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. With its unique and historic properties, the Port is home to a variety of tenants and uses. The Port Commission over the last five decades has led a remarkable transformation of the Port; maintaining its industrial maritime heritage while developing new uses, including commercial and public activities, that have helped San Francisco remain one of the most visited and popular cities on the globe.

For more information about the Port of San Francisco, visit SFPort.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.   

Role description

Under general supervision, the Collections Officer performs specialized revenue collection work relative to the collection of delinquent monies owed to the Port. And is responsible for collection through personal and telephone contact and various types of correspondence, tracks repayment schedules; maintains collection records; and explains Port’s policies.

This work entails a high level of interaction via phone, email, and other types of correspondence with tenants. And requires exemplary customer service skills including the ability to firmly communicate, both diplomatically and professionally, difficult financial and sometimes personal matters and able to communicate through clear, concise reports and correspondence.  

In addition, this position works very closely with the Port’s property managers, and Finance and Accounting divisions. And provides a high level of customer service to internal colleagues in the Port’s Real Estate & Development, Maritime, Finance and Legal Divisions as well as to Port tenants and vendors.

The essential functions of this position include: 

• Collects on all Port accounts, delinquent, and non-delinquent through direct contact with tenants and assists with the establishment of repayment plans. 
• Works with staff and tenants daily to conduct Port wide collections of unpaid revenues and ensure payments are properly applied to tenant accounts.
• Reports on delinquent accounts, meets with Port's property management staff regarding delinquent accounts, and updates relevant management, legal and accounting staff of delinquent accounts.
• Communicates with debtors to elicit payment, explain and implement Port’s collection policies and requirements.  
• Obtains and verifies prospective tenant or permit requestor information regarding financial creditworthiness such as employment, earnings, property holdings, credit rating, bank account, assets, liabilities, and related financial information. 
• Conducts as needed new tenant financial stability and creditworthiness reviews and credit checks using commercial credit reporting providers.  
• May employ skip-tracing techniques to obtain information to locate debtors. 
• Uses financial and revenue systems to obtain information and financial status of tenant/customer balances.
• Reviews and reconciles accounts, including payment application, as needed to resolve tenant billing questions, settle accounts, and process tenant terminations. 
• Reviews notices of payments, cross check billing data and security deposit information. 
• Tracks repayment schedules.
• Maintains tenant collection files. 
• Maintains documentation and collection records that may be needed for legal actions and to support litigation.
• Provides routine monthly, quarterly, and annual reports for collections, processes past due accounts, Dunning letters, demand notices, customers statements and invoices.
• Provides ad hoc tenant ledger balances and general accounts receivable analysis. 
• Performs related duties and responsibilities as assigned. 

How to qualify

Experience

Two (2) years of verifiable journey-level experience in the collection of delinquent accounts.

Substitution

Experience performing high volume accounts receivable duties, including analyses of complex billing and financial information, and generating reports of financial liabilities, may substitute for the required collections experience on a year for year basis.

The stated desirable qualifications below may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

Desirable Qualifications

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including intermediate to advanced Excel and Word skills, with a focus on Excel formulas, PivotTables, and Word's mail merge feature.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Self-starter who excels at prioritizing tasks. 
• Tactful interpersonal skills in customer interactions, coupled with experience handling sensitive personal information. 

Verification

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. More information can be found at: https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#verification. 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?

Selection Procedures: Applications will be screened for relevant qualifying experience. Additional mechanisms may be implemented in order to determine candidate’s qualifications. Only those applicants who most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to continue in the selection process.  

Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview.

HOW TO APPLY

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

• Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact Phuong Tieu at phuong.tieu@sfport.com.

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 from notification@careers.sf.gov 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.

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

• ADA Accommodation
• Conviction History
• Copies of Application Documents
• Disaster Service Worker
• Diversity Statement
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Information About the Hiring Process
• Right to Work

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

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.