Career Opportunity

Digital Program Strategist, Digital Services (9976/1064)

Recruitment: RTF0119916-01139648

Published: February 24, 2022

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

About:

The San Francisco Digital Services team works across City departments to build user-centered digital services. Its mission is to make it easy for all residents to access the City’s 967 services online, from any device.

Over the past five years, the team has grown and now supports a range of digital services, including sf.gov, the City’s new website. This site has been at the forefront of the City’s Covid-19 response and will replace more than 100 separate websites. Built with Accessibility and Equity as core design principles, it provides a consistent user-centered experience for all San Franciscans.

Digital Services is at an exciting moment of change. Having established credibility and a track record of delivery, the team must now turn its attention to scaling. The team must scale its impact by empowering other departments to build services themselves, using platforms provided by Digital Services.

Digital Services should become the source of standards, platforms, and microservices that allow the City to make services for residents accessible online. This will be achieved through training, support, standardization, shared platforms, and Citywide policies. Digital Services will make its platforms the easiest, fastest, most accessible, and most cost-effective way to build services. It will work with departments to ensure that platforms meet not only the needs of San Franciscans but make staff’s lives easier as well.

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX), this position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

Role description

On the SFDS Delivery team, our guiding principle is, “We say what we do, and we do what we say”.  The 9976 Program Strategist will bring this principle to life in our interdepartmental work across permitting, grants, and other complex administrative processes. They will guide how technology and digital service delivery supports these processes for residents and staff.

They will work with Digital Services product, design, and engineering teams to define our platforms and priorities in collaboration with department stakeholders.

The Program Strategist will help our department partners use our platforms and systems to better deliver digital services. They will work to develop repeatable service and life cycle patterns that meet our partners’ and residents’ needs.

The Program Strategist will work closely with the Delivery Director to define our program delivery playbook and related project management approaches. This playbook will:

• Define how we organize our work
• Set priorities
• Monitor progress
• Evaluate outcomes

The Program Strategist will determine requirements for new systems and enhancements to existing systems. They will modify and document general system design. Working with our partner, they will review departmental workflows and consult with departmental personnel to develop proposals and plans for installing new or revised complex systems.

They will organize work within and across projects to deliver for our partners and for San Franciscans. They will coordinate with other organizations or parts of Digital Services to accomplish our mutual goals, always centering the needs of San Franciscans.

Responsibilities:

Program Strategy & Management

• Support the Delivery Director, along with the rest of the leadership team in defining and measuring our team’s success, and monitoring progress evidenced by user research and data
• Oversee all aspects of interdisciplinary permitting and grants projects
• Monitor and engage with colleagues in various communications channels
• Coordinate the efforts of multi-disciplinary teams, including meetings and training 
• Provide regular status updates to Delivery Director and other senior leadership in Digital Services
• Assist with various operational needs of the team, such as procurement, hiring, user research, etc.
• Navigate local, state, and national policies to ensure successful project delivery. Work to develop policies and/or recommendations that would help successful project delivery.
• Prepare clear strategies, with agreed outcomes and measurable project goals

Stakeholder Engagement

• Work cross-functionally across the City at all levels of seniority, within Digital Services, and other City Departments (i.e. legal, finance, policy, public affairs, etc) to achieve the team’s strategic goals and manage stakeholder concerns
• Manage the onboarding and offboarding of new partner departments as they begin to work with Digital Services
• Communicate our team’s vision with authority and credibility across and outside of government, locally and nationally
• Build communication channels and overcome barriers to information sharing across government
• Help our partners understand the value of human-centered design, digital services, and online communication
• Coordinate training, meetings, and materials for stakeholders as they modernize their  services

Technical Skills

• Google Analytics, Amplitude or other metrics programs
• Proficiency conducting and analyzing user research
• Design software like Figma or Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, PhotoShop, Illustrator)
• Project management tools like Trello or Jira
• Documentation experience with Confluence or Wikis
• Database management systems like AirTable, Coda or Quick Base

How to qualify

1.  Possession of an associate degree in communications or a closely related field from an accredited college or university OR its equivalent in terms of total course credits/units [i.e., at least sixty (60) semester or ninety (90) quarter credits/units with a minimum of twenty (20) semester or thirty (30) quarter credits/units in communications or a closely-related field]; AND

2.  Five (5) years of professional experience in digital communications, product management, or digital program management. 

Substitution:  Possession of a baccalaureate degree in communications or a closely related field may substitute for one (1) year of required experience.

Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of two (2) years).  One (1) year is equivalent to thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units with a minimum of 10 semester/15 quarter units.

Desirable Qualifications

• Program delivery support: Proven ability to oversee and coordinate a wide range of projects and priorities toward specific outcomes.
• Research and data analysis: Experience analyzing and producing meaningful insights across qualitative and quantitative data.
• Relationship management: Demonstrated experience (professional or non-professional) in building and maintaining relationships and executing projects across multiple constituencies.
• Strong communication: Able to distill complex concepts and communicate them to stakeholders at all levels.
• Able to move between concepts and pragmatic next steps with ease, and bring others along with your thinking.
• Familiarity with emerging technologies and software
• Adept in systems analysis and design
• Expertise creating and documenting processes and departmental workflows that improve the way teams work.
• Experience in developing proposals and plans for installing new or revised complex systems.
• Experience coordinating with other agencies, units and vendors about new technical program requirements, product features, and system planning.

Important: Your application must include a cover letter that explains why you are applying for this job, and how your experience makes you a good fit for this role. To upload these items, please attach using the "additional attachments" function.

Guidance for Applying:  Applicants must include all relevant job experience in the online application.

Verification: Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point in the application and/or departmental selection process. Written verification (proof) of qualifying experience must verify that the applicant meets the minimum qualifications stated on the announcement. Written verification must be submitted on employer’s official letterhead, specifying name of employee, dates of employment, types of employment (part-time/full-time), job title(s), description of duties performed, and the verification must be signed by the employer. City employees will receive credit for the duties of the class to which they are appointed. Credit for experience obtained outside of the employee’s class will be allowed only if recorded in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Commission Rules. Experience claimed in self-employment must be supported by documents verifying income, earnings, business license and experience comparable to the minimum qualifications of the position. Copies of income tax papers or other documents listing occupations and total earnings must be submitted. 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?

• 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

Compensation:  $117,936 - $148,382 annually

Applicants are encouraged to apply immediately as this recruitment may close at any time, but not before March 11, 2022.

Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered. Mailed, hand delivered or faxed documents/applications will not be accepted.

In line with the Official Public Health Order to slow the spread of COVID-19, “shelter-in-place” has been issued for all San Francisco residents that is expected to be in effect until further notice. As a result, Department of Human Resources (DHR)’s office (located at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103) is currently closed to the general public. If you have any questions, please feel free to email the Human Resources Analyst listed on this announcement.

Note:  While we are currently remote due to Covid-19, you are expected to attend in-person meetings throughout the City on a regular basis.

Applications will be screened for relevant qualifying experience. Additional screening mechanisms may be implemented in order to determine candidates’ qualifications. Only those applicants who most closely meet the needs of the Agency will be invited to participate in the selection process. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Qualified applicants with disabilities requiring reasonable accommodation in the selection process must contact the Agency by phone at (415) 554-6000 or, if hearing impaired at (415) 554-6015 (TTY).

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment.  For details on how it is applicable to your employment, please click here.

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.