Career Opportunity

Senior Environmental Planner (5299) - SFO - 156631

Recruitment: RTF0156630-01126502

Published: July 15, 2025

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. Learn more about the City’s hiring process here: https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/

Application Opening: Monday, July 14, 2025

Application Deadline: Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as this announcement may close at any time after 5:00 p.m. PDT on Monday, July 28, 2025.

Annual Compensation: $ 150,384 - $ 182,702

Recruitment ID: PBT-5299-156631 (Multiple positions)

Working at SFO

San Francisco International Airport (SFO), an enterprise department of the City and County of San Francisco (CCSF), has approximately 1,700 CCSF employees and strives to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive employer.

SFO’s mission is delivering an airport experience where people and our planet come first and our core values are Safety and Security, Teamwork, Excellence, Care, and Equity. Learn more about careers at SFO.

For more information about SFO, visit www.flysfo.com. Follow us on X and Facebook.

As a team member of SFO, you will embrace SFO’s core values and SFO’s Racial Equity Action Plan.

Role description

Under general direction from the Environmental Affairs Manager, the Senior Environmental Planner will successfully prepare and manage federal and state environmental reviews supporting critical airport projects/programs, and obtain resource permits when required. The Senior Environmental Planner will work collaboratively in a team environment.

You are excited about this opportunity because you will:

1. Manage and analyze complex federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental reviews that are prepared according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Orders 1050.1F and 5050.4B implementing NEPA; and state California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) environmental reviews according to State CEQA Guidelines, CEQA Statute, and Chapter 31 of the SF Administrative Code, to advance Airport strategic goals, objectives, and the capital program.
2. Obtain regulatory permitting for projects by formulating and executing streamlined permitting strategies to successfully comply with special purpose laws and other relevant statutes.
3. Review engineering, airport planning and programming studies that are carried forward into environmental reviews, FAA submittals, and regulatory permits.
4. Supervise tasks and assignments performed by other staff planners, administrative support staff, and technical consultants supporting projects.
5. Review off-airport development projects and prepare responses maintaining the importance of airport land use compatibility, according to FAA rules and regulations and state laws.
6. Promote positive public relations, identify solutions, and serve as liaison to outside agencies and communities, including but not limited to the FAA, local municipalities, and airlines/pilots, to advance airport strategic goals and objectives.
7. Prepare presentations, briefings, memos, recommendations, and reports on environmental planning/permitting for projects to Airport leadership, Airport Commission, internal staff, regulatory agencies such as the FAA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other external stakeholders and entities.
8. Manage, draft, and administer competitive procurements, professional services contracts, invoices, task and contract budgets to effectively execute environmental review and permitting projects.
9. Review, evaluate, and communicate proposed relevant legislation, studies, and policies affecting environmental planning and permitting.
10. Perform other functions outlined in the 5299 Planner IV-Environmental Review.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications:

Education

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

AND

Experience 

Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in the areas of planning, environmental review, or environmental law, of which at least four (4) years must be in environmental review or environmental law, including management and scheduling experience.

Substitution

Experience Substitution: Advanced degrees in related fields of planning, science or law may be substituted for up to two years of experience; or an equivalent combination of training and experience. 

Special Conditions (Additional requirements for this position):

Three (3) years of recent and verifiable experience in airport/aviation planning, including airport facilities planning, airport master planning, airfield/airspace planning, aviation demand forecasting, and environmental planning/permitting in aviation/airport (i.e. CEQA and NEPA environmental approvals; and permitting from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Regional Water Quality Control Board, and Bay Conservation and Development Commission).

AND

Licenses/Certifications:

Possession of a valid California driver’s license (California driver’s license must be obtained prior to appointment).

The above minimum qualifications reflect special conditions associated with the position(s) to be filled. They may differ from the standard minimum qualifications associated with this classification.

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:

The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring:

1. Experience leading technical environmental planning studies such as air quality modeling, aircraft noise modeling, among others. 
2. Experience presenting to and communicating effectively and tactfully with the public and government officials.
3. Experience writing clear and concise technical documents.
4. Experience managing administrative procedures and budgets.
5. Experience managing, mentoring and training direct and indirect staff.
6. Experience facilitating Airport policy discussions relating to airports and representing the Airport’s interests at industry conferences.

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

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.

Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Please review our articles on Employment Application and Minimum Qualifications and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications.  

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.

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.

Selection Procedures

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

Oral/Performance Examination: (Weight - 100%)

Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and special requirement will be invited to participate in an oral/performance examination designed to measure their relative knowledge, ability and skill levels in job related areas. Written, assessment type, or other performance-based exercises may be utilized. Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final scores. Candidates’ scores on this examination process may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.

A passing score on the Oral Exam must be achieved in order to be placed/ranked on the eligible list. Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score.

Note: Only those applicants meeting the minimum qualifications will be notified of the exact date, time  and/or place for the examinations. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed to advance through all of the steps in the selection process.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Security Clearance:
Candidates for employment with the San Francisco Airport Commission are required to undergo a criminal history record check, including FBI fingerprints, and Security Threat Assessment in order to determine eligibility for security clearance and may be required to undergo drug/alcohol screening. Per Civil Service Commission Rule Section 110.9.1, every applicant for an examination must possess and maintain the qualifications required by law and by the examination announcement for the examination. Failure to obtain and maintain security clearance may be basis for termination from employment with the Airport Commission.

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 six (6) months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see Position Counts by Job Codes and Departments..

Certification:

The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of 10. The hiring department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures prior to making final hiring decisions.

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 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.

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 in Promotional Exams
• 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.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact exam analyst Sandra Aguayo at Sandra.Aguayo@flysfo.com.  

Recruitment ID: RTF0156630-01126502 

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.