Director of Policy and Government Affairs

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Director of Policy and Government Affairs

External Affairs - SFPUC (0933) - (149636)

Department: Public Utilities Commission

Job class: 0933-Manager V

Starting salary range: $174,252.00 - $222,430.00 (Range A)

Role type: Permanent Civil Service What does this mean?

Hours: Full-time

Exam type: Position Based Test

Rule: Rule of the List 

List type: Combined Promotive and Entrance

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 22, 2024
• Application Filing Deadline: Thursday, August 22, 2024
• Recruitment ID: PBT-0933-149636
• Annual Salary: $174,252.00 - $222,430.00 (Range A) 

While this is the normal annual salary range for the position, appointment above the maximum of the normal salary range may be considered based on documented and substantiated recruitment and retention issues or exceptional skills. A special approval process is necessary for appointment above the normal salary range. 

ABOUT THE SFPUC

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight San Francisco Bay Area counties serving more than 2.7 million customers – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Our Mission: To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision: We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness.

We are an award-winning and industry-leading utilities organization committed to our customers, community interests, and the environment. To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at https://www.sfpuc.gov/     

We are proud of our infrastructure and programs, but most importantly, we value our highly qualified and dedicated workforce which ensures that this vision becomes a reality.

To learn more about working at the SFPUC, visit our career site at https://www.sfpuc.gov/about-us/careers-sfpuc

Role description

About the Policy & Government Affairs Division of the External Affairs Bureau:

SFPUC is supported by the Business Services, Infrastructure, and External Affairs Bureaus. The External Affairs Bureau includes the following divisions: Strategy, Planning and Innovation, Policy and Government Affairs, Communications, and Community Benefits.  The Policy and Government Affairs Team is responsible for SFPUC's public policy and advocacy strategy at the local, regional, state and federal level around water, wastewater, energy, infrastructure, climate change, and related issues. We work effectively in a fast-paced environment, often managing complex and impactful policy issues and projects with multiple moving parts.

Why work for the SFPUC?

The City and County of San Francisco provides generous benefits:

• Pension Plan and Retiree Healthcare
• Medical, Dental, Vision Benefits including Management Flex Spending Compensation Package
• Municipal Executives Association union membership
• Annual COLA 13% salary increase over next 3 years
• Paid holidays (12 days), Sick leave, family leave, and more
• Additional Paid time off

Vacation: two weeks accrued per year from 0-5 years of service; three weeks accrued per year after 5 years of service; four weeks per year after 15 years of service; 1 week of floating holidays per year and additional one week of management leave; total up to 6 weeks of accrued paid time off.

Position Summary:

Ideally the Director of Policy & Government Affairs is a highly experienced government affairs professional with extensive local, regional, state and federal relationships and legislative track record. In addition to having deep relationships and knowledge of legislative processes, this person will have the acumen to build new relationships, facilitate complex and sometimes contentious policy debates and develop "win-win" legislative and regulatory compromises with sound judgement and integrity. They will also be responsible for identifying, shaping and/or helping create new funding sources for SFPUC priorities and capital programs in response to new legislation or regulations.

Additionally, the Director will be able to skillfully lead:

• a team of seven staff;
• internal collaboration with executive members and managerial staff of SFPUC's Water, Wastewater, and Power Enterprises to translate technical analysis and operational impacts into a strategy that forwards the agency’s legislative agenda;
• strategic, cross-sector partnerships to advance policy and legislative priorities.

Essential Responsibilities Under Your Leadership

Under the direction of the External Affairs Assistant General Manager and Deputy Assistant General Manager, the Director of Policy and Government Affairs will perform a broad range of managerial, professional, and analytical work. The Director of Policy and Government Affairs will:

• Craft the PUC's public policy agenda and strategy for achieving that agenda including providing timely and strategic recommendations to refine advocacy strategies in response to frequent shifts on the legislative and regulatory policy landscape;         
• Direct the development and execution of legislative and advocacy strategies and policies that advance the SFPUC's core objectives, goals, and plans at the local, regional, state and federal levels;     
• Identify, create, shape, and advocate for existing and new funding streams in response to new laws and regulations;
• Build and strengthen external relationships with elected officials, government agencies, industry associations, regulators, environmental justice and environmental organizations and others to advance SFPUC policy priorities;
• Build and lead strategic, cross-sector partnerships to advance policy and legislative priorities;              
• Maintain strong internal working relationships with the SFPUC staff. Briefing them of relevant policy proposals, legislation, regulation or trends including frequent communication and collaboration with Executive Management;
• Collaborate with the Mayor's Office and other City departments to advance complimentary policy and legislative positions;
• Direct and manage the analyzing, tracking and monitoring of federal, state, and local legislation as well as emerging legislative, policy or regulatory issues and proposals;
• Write positions statements, talking points, issue briefs, comment letters and other appropriate responses to bills, regulations, and policies proposed by legislators;       
• Manage daily activities of state and federal lobbyists from multiple lobbying firms. Manage lobbyist contracts and reporting;                
• Supervise daily work of direct reports. Coach direct reports to improve performance and achieve professional development goals. Recruit and retain high-performing direct reports;
• Collaborate with External Affairs Bureau leadership to develop and achieve the Bureau’s goals and priorities.            

The 0933 Manager V, Director of Policy and Government Affairs will perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned.

How to qualify

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited university or college AND

Experience: Eight (8) years of professional experience developing and/or implementing policy, advocacy, government affairs or regulatory affairs; including, three (3) years of supervisory experience.

Education Substitution:  May substitute education with additional qualifying experience for up to two years.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week.)

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement 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:

• Extensive experience developing or implementing legislative proposals and policies especially with high level officials.                                                     
• Extensive relationships at the local, regional, state and federal level with elected officials and their staff.                                                                
• Extensive experience facilitating and negotiating complex legislative and policy development.
• Experience working in a large bureaucratic agency, government entity (especially local government) and/or utility (especially publicly owned utility).
• Extensive relationships with regulatory agency boards and staff especially as it relates to State and Regional Water Boards, U.S. EPA, EPA Region 9, and Army Corp, in response to new regulatory actions and an evolving regulatory landscape around water rights, water quality, nutrient removal, etc.
• Exceptional communication skills especially to simplify technical and operational impacts of legislation and regulations to policy makers.
• Ability to handle a high volume of priorities and issues in a changing and fast paced environment.
• Experiencing managing and developing teams.

VERIFICATION

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Education verification information on 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.

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. 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:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ) (Weight: Qualifying): Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) (Weight: 100%)

Candidates will be prompted to complete a SQ as part of the recruitment process. The SQ is designed to measure applicant’s relative knowledge, skills and abilities in job-related areas, identified as critical for successful performance. These may include but are not limited to: knowledge of legislative advocacy and public policy, analytical and decision making ability, project management skills, interpersonal skills, knowledge of coalition building, leadership skills, knowledge of budget management, and written communication skills. All responses to the SQ are subject to verification and must be consistent with the information provided in your application.

Passing Score: Candidates must obtain a passing score on the Supplemental Questionnaire in order to be placed on the score report for positions in this job Class.

Notices to Candidates: Qualified candidates will be sent notices via email for completion prior to the creation of the score report ("eligible list"). Each notice will include the date by which responses must be received. Failure to complete these steps by the established deadlines will result in disqualification.

What else should I know?

Certification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

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.

This pool of candidates on the eligible list may be used to fill additional vacancies in this class.

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.

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

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.  [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4.  Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at https://sf.gov/departments/civil-service-commission.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Jessica Wong, at jeswong@sfwater.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.