Career Opportunity

Real Estate Transactions Manager (0931) - Real Estate Division, Office of City Administrator

Recruitment: RTF0166429-01148918

Published: September 04, 2026

Accepting applications until: September 28, 2026

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

About:

Permanent Exempt (PEX): Full Time position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the appointment officer.

Specific information regarding this recruitment process are listed below: 

• Application Opening: Friday, September 4, 2026

• Application Deadline: Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 11:59pm PST 

•  ✅ Required Supplemental Questionnaire due at the time of application: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/vYYsv6f5EP

About the Office of the City Administrator:
The Office of the City Administrator and its 25+ divisions and departments operate core internal and public-facing services in San Francisco.   

The Office of the City Administrator’s Mission and Vision 
Our vision is to lead the nation in public administration and to enable City departments to effectively deliver critical public services. We aim to help the city run better, to connect San Francisco residents and constituents to the vital public services they seek, and to create a meaningful and diverse work culture that is the place of choice for people who are invested in a career in public service. 

We are committed to ensuring that City services are inclusive, efficient, equitable, and culturally competent for San Franciscans of all races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and sextual orientations. This commitment requires comprehensive review and thorough analysis of existing practices and policies to remove barriers to real inclusion. We are also committed to ensuring that we have a safe, equitable, and inclusive workplace for individuals of all races. This includes creating opportunities for hiring, promotion, training, and development, for all employees, including but not limited to, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). 

To learn more about our departments, divisions, and programs, visit:  https://sf.gov/departments/city-administrator  

About the Real Estate Division 

The Office of the City Administrator, Real Estate Division (RED) is a team of more than 300 staff delivering professional real estate services to a variety of City departments. RED supports San Francisco’s public mission by delivering two essential services:  

Real Estate Transactions and Property Records: RED manages acquisitions, conveyance, and leasing of real property on behalf of City departments, as well as conducting and documenting these transactions efficiently, transparently, and in alignment with City policies, operational needs, and reporting requirements.   

Property and Facility Management: RED provides services to over 6 million square feet of City-owned property, including civic facilities such as City Hall, 49 South Van Ness, the Hall of Justice, Alemany Farmers Market, Police Headquarters, and other key public assets.  Our property management, building engineering, contracts, security and custodial teams provide operational support to keep City services running safely and effectively. 

Role description

RED is seeking an experienced Real Estate Transactions Manager to lead the Transaction Team and oversee a diverse portfolio of complex real property transactions on behalf of City departments. The position is responsible for the performance and effective delivery of the Division’s transaction program, including commercial leases, acquisitions, conveyances, easements, license and other real property agreements. If you excel at combining commercial real estate expertise with strong people leadership, strategic thinking, and disciplined project management, this is an exciting opportunity to lead a high-impact public real estate program. 

The Transactions Manager supervises Real Property Officers and administrative staff, establishes priorities, monitors transaction schedules, milestones, risks and deliverables, and strengthens staff work product from initiation and negotiation through approval and implementation. The position works closely with client departments, the City Attorney’s Office, third party property owners, consultants, and other stakeholders to develop transaction strategies, resolve issues, and ensure that agreements meet operational needs while complying with applicable City policies and legal requirements.   

 Examples of Important and Essential Duties:

Leadership & Team Management

• Plans, directs, and evaluates the work of the Transactions Team, establishing expectations for quality, timeliness, accountability, and professional performance.  

• Supervises, develops, and evaluates professional and administrative staff; promotes effective communication, collaboration, peer review, knowledge sharing, and timely escalation of significant issues. 

• Allocates and assigns staff resources based on organizational priorities, workload, transaction complexity, and staff capacity.  

• Evaluates new project requests, including feasibility, readiness, priority, and resource requirements.  

• Advises the Real Estate Director and Deputy Director on significant transactions, program performance, emerging risks, policy issues, and operational improvements. 

• Represents RED with City leadership, elected officials, policy-making bodies, client departments, and other stakeholders 

• Effectively communicates and presents real estate strategies, recommendations, and complex transaction matters 

Transaction Management

• Oversees a pipeline of complex real estate transactions from intake through negotiation, approval, execution, and implementation, ensuring projects advance in a timely and coordinated manner.  

• Develops and guides transaction and negotiation strategies that leverage market conditions, property-specific factors, valuation and financial analysis, and the City’s negotiating position to secure favorable economic and business terms and ensure responsible stewardship of public resources.  

• Monitors schedules, milestones, dependencies, deliverables, and outstanding decisions across the Transactions Team's pipeline. 

• Identifies transactions that are delayed, at risk, or require management intervention and works collaboratively with staff, client departments, legal counsel, and other stakeholders to resolve issues and advance work. 

Real Estate Strategy & Financial Analysis

• Provides strategic real estate advice to Division leadership and client departments on complex transactions, market conditions, portfolio opportunities, and real estate risks.  

• Directs and reviews market, financial, valuation, and other due diligence activities and analyses to inform transaction strategy, negotiations, and recommendations.  

• Evaluates transaction alternatives and recommends strategies that balance economics, operational requirements, timing, flexibility, risk, and long-term value to the City.  

• Oversees the selection and effective use of brokers, appraisers, title companies, and other real estate consultants to support transaction and portfolio objectives. 

Portfolio Administration & Compliance

• Oversees administration of the City’s portfolio of more than 200 active leases, ensuring critical dates, options, notice requirements, rent adjustments, and other contractual obligations are proactively managed to protect the City’s interests and avoid missed deadlines or opportunities. 

• Develops and implements policies, procedures, quality standards, and operational controls for leasing, acquisitions, conveyances, and other real property transactions. 

• Ensures compliance with applicable City policies, approval processes, documentation standards, and legal or regulatory requirements. 

How to qualify

Education: Possession of a Baccalaureate degree from an accredited university

Experience:  Five (5) years of verifiable professional experience managing complex commercial real estate transactions from negotiation through approval, execution, and implementation, including acquisitions, dispositions, leases, easements, licenses, and other real property agreements. Qualifying experience must include at least three (3) years of experience supervising professional staff.   

Substitution: Additional years of experience may substitute for up to 2 years of required degree. One year (2,000 hours) of additional qualifying experience will be considered equivalent to 30 semester/45 quarter units. 

Note(s): 

• One-year full-time employment is considered equivalent to 2000 hours (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment. 

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

• 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.   

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

• Leadership: Experience leading a professional real estate transaction program, including establishing priorities, allocating resources, managing workload, and supervising the successful delivery of a portfolio of complex real estate transactions. 

• Strategic Commercial Real Estate Negotiation: Demonstrated expertise in commercial leasing and land transaction principles, with a proven strong track record of negotiating complex real estate agreements. Skilled in conducting financial analyses, evaluating the economic feasibility of proposed property uses, and balancing stakeholder interests while securing successful outcomes. 

• Communication: Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to prepare executive briefings, present recommendations, and explain complex real estate matters clearly to technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to facilitate discussions, build consensus, and develop productive working relationships among client departments, legal counsel, consultants, elected officials, landlords, and other internal and external stakeholders. 

• Executive Advising: Experience developing recommendations, briefing materials, and decision support documents to advise executive leadership on complex real estate matters. 

• Risk Management: Experience identifying and managing legal, financial, operational, and political risks associated with complex commercial real estate transactions. 

• People Management: Experience supervising, coaching, developing, and evaluating staff while fostering accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. 

• Program Management: Experience developing and implementing policies, procedures, quality standards, performance measures, and operational controls for a professional real estate transaction program. 

• Organization: Demonstrated ability to manage multiple high-priority assignments simultaneously, allocate resources effectively, and adjust priorities in response to changing organizational needs. 

What else should I know?

Selection Procedures

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluation qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited for an interview. 

Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed to advance through all of the steps in the selection process.

Verification

• Please make sure it is 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 in the application and/or departmental selection process.  

Supplemental Questionnaire  

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes completion of a supplemental questionnaire at the time of application. Please see this link to submit the supplemental questionnaire: 

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/vYYsv6f5EP

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
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

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. 

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). 

HR Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the HR analyst at Connie.Poon@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.