Career Opportunity

Manager of Special Projects and Key Initiatives - Controller's Office (0922)

Recruitment: RTF0147223-01113455

Published: May 29, 2024

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.

The Controller is the City’s chief financial officer. Our team includes financial, technology, analytical and other professionals who work hard to secure the City’s financial integrity and promote efficient, effective and accountable government. We hold ourselves to high standards and strive to be a model for good government. We value the diverse backgrounds, perspectives and lived experiences of our teams and clients in everything we do. We work in a collaborative and inclusive environment, promote equal opportunity, and invest in the professional development and wellbeing of our team members. You can expect to work alongside colleagues who are committed to serving the public with integrity and want to see positive impacts from their work. We are looking for smart, motivated individuals who want to make a difference and use government to play a role in solving our City’s problems, including addressing long-standing and harmful disparities in our communities. For a career with purpose and professional growth, join us in the Controller’s Office.

• Application Opening:  5/29/2024
• Application Deadline:  6/12/2024
• Compensation:  $128,050 and $163,514 (Range A)

Role description

The Manager of Special Projects & Key Initiatives will lead and manage work, under the general direction of the Controller and Deputy Controller.  The Manager of Special Projects & Key Initiatives will develop, implement, and manage the Controller’s Executive Office Department's growing operational and public information initiatives, as well as lead the implementation of a pilot program to update and streamline desk procedures covering all Executive Office operations as well as support, and in some cases, lead the successful implementation of new Municipal Code and Charter-mandated duties. In addition, this position assists the Controller and other senior leaders in the department by building awareness of and promoting staff engagement in key departmentwide priorities and initiatives and cross-divisional goal setting, monitoring, and results. The Manager of Special Projects & Key Initiatives establishes and maintains a broad and deep network across the office, collaborating with all levels of staff on day-to-day activities, special projects, and long-term initiatives related to advancing key department outcomes, public transparency, cross-divisional coordination and continuous improvement in Executive Office operations and workflows.  

Important and Essential Duties include: 

• Manage Controller’s Executive Office procedures, including updating/streamlining workflows and the special projects pilot program. 
• Manage existing and implement new and streamlined workflows for the Controller’s duties included in various SF Municipal Code mandated programs including: the Police Code’s Residential Construction Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance (RCWTPO), the Administrative Code’s Administrative Offsets and Appeals Process & Public Hearings for OLSE and Chapter 100 Fines & Penalties, including various departments (Environment, Rent Board, Fire Department, etc.). 
• Managed the Controller’s Office Public Information Requests program, specifically train departmental staff and manage all open request responses using the City’s NextRequest system and support the Manager of Communications & Engagement as backup for Press requests. 
• Support production efforts, in coordination with the Manger of Communications & Engagement, new media and materials to support distribution of high-profile products, including for example citywide communication needs for the new Office of Refuse Rates Administration, a new voter-mandated transfer of function to the Controller’s Office, which will impact over 160,000 residential and commercial ratepayers over the 2023 citywide refuse rate setting cycle. 
• Support and produce the Citywide CFO Bimonthly convenings. 
• Act as a strategic consultant and collaborator with Controller’s Office staff and as a helpful information resource for other City departments’ staff. 
• Support and produce the Controller’s Office Strategic Plan, Annual Performance Plans and related Performance Measures and Metrics Reporting. 
• Coordinate with and serve as backup to the Controller’s Manager of Emergency Management for the SF Prepared’s Finance & Administration Academy citywide trainings. 
• Manage and staff the Treasury Oversight Committee’s Public Hearings (3 meetings per year). 
• Serve as the Controller’s Office Filing Officer Backup for all Ethics Disclosure Filings, including those for Controller-appointed Boards, Commissions, Work Group, and Advisory Committees Members, as well as coordinate their appointment approvals by the Board, where required, and ensure their successful onboarding and offboarding. 
• Lead implementation and coordinate consolidated reporting of the Controller’s Boards & Commissions (Area #7) action items included the Controller’s 3-Year Racial Equity Action Plan. 
• Manage sensitive and confidential requests, e.g., referrals of Whistleblower Complaints to the CSA-Audits WB Team. 
• Manage Executive Office Operations and Reception Staffing, including at least one full-time direct report and other seasonal interns. 
• Serve as backup support for Controller’s Office website updates, as well as support Staff and Press trainings on SFOpenBook, DataSF Datasets, etc. 
• Coach and manage direct reports to ensure the Controller’s Office inclusion, respect, and other core values are achieved.  
• Support the Controller and senior leadership in articulating the office’s mission, strategies, and financial and operational results to both internal and external audiences. 
• Develop and update the Executive Office’s Desk Procedures & Best Practices manuals and guides, including the posting of all materials to MS Teams and SharePoint. 
• Prepare talking points, speeches, slides, and other materials. 
• Represent the Controller’s Office at public meetings and presentations and in meetings with other City officials, as needed. 
• Ensure the department’s key publications, website and online tools are accessible, useful, and updated periodically to stay timely and helpful to the Public, in coordination with Division Directors and the Manager of Communications & Engagement. 
• Support the Controller and Deputy Controller in managing and implementing departmental committees, meetings, and events. 
• Ensure that staff are familiar with organization mission, values, and key priorities as they evolve and are periodically updated, including effective two-way communications between staff and leadership and other feedback initiatives.  
• Manage the Executive Office to promote a collaborative, inclusive and welcoming workplace, assisting with day-to-day interpersonal work relationships, public interface, and related support for all the Controller’s Executive Office (316) Team. 
• Complete other duties as assigned by the Controller and Deputy Controller, accurately and on time. 

How to qualify

1. Three (3) years of professional experience in the development and implementation of complex management/administrative policies and procedures  AND
2. Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Finance, Public Policy and/or Accounting or closely related field 

Desirable Qualifications: 

• Collaborative, effective interpersonal communications (written and verbal), organizational and engagement skills with a demonstrated proficiency in online meetings production and experience with public hearings both in-person and remote. 
• Excellent attention to detail and commitment to delivering the highest quality work. 
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and under the pressure of tight deadlines, while also ensuring and welcoming feedback and incorporating it quickly into final deliverables and effectively prioritizing and handling multiple, time-sensitive tasks. 
• Highly self-motivated and hardworking with an ability to work and think independently as well as in a collaborative, team-oriented environment. 
• High level of professionalism and an ability to build networks and positive working relationships with key internal and external contacts.  
• Sound judgment, integrity, and adherence to the Controller’s Office core values.  
• Respectfully drive and deliver results even in ambiguous situations, quickly take ownership of process or deliverables.  
• Effectively lead, collaborate, influence, and work with all stakeholders and ensure inclusive and culturally respectful, appropriate interactions. 
• Synthesize ideas and vision into actionable next steps and executable implementation plans. 
• Experience building relationships with internal and external stakeholders. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including ability to communicate with a highly diverse range of clients and coworkers. 
• Demonstrated experience in preparing and providing public information in timely, accessible responses to both technical and non-technical audiences. 
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain good working relations with department personnel, staff, vendors, peers, and management. 
• Knowledge of federal, state, and local laws and regulations; methods and procedures related to data usage, privacy, sharing and disseminating information via print, electronic and other media. 

What else should I know?

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.

Important: 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.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Examination Components:

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this examination process, which includes the following: 

Supplemental Examination (Weight: 100%) Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications will be emailed a Supplemental Questionnaire. The Supplemental Questionnaire is designed to measure the knowledge, skills and abilities required for this position including but not limited to:

Experience with regulatory compliance, public transparency and timely reporting and response to the press and public information requests, Experience with handling complex requests.  Experience with supporting large stakeholder groups, meetings and/or public hearings, such as hearing officer support, serving as hearing clerk and ensuring public transparency. Experience estimating and planning project timelines, resources and applying modern and innovative organization and management methods necessary for successful project completion. Experience managing multiple projects and processes simultaneously and under deadlines. Written and oral communication skills. 

Applicants will be given a deadline to return the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination. Those who do not respond by the established deadline will not be eligible to continue in the examination process and will not be added to the eligibility list resulting from this process. 

All candidates’ responses to the Supplemental Questionnaire are subject to verification. All relevant experience, education and/or training must be included in the responses in order to be reviewed in the rating process.

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.

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 here.

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
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams

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 “Apply Now” 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 updated. 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.

Job Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the job analyst, Karena Phung at Karena.Phung@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.