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Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX) position; individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will."

+ Application Opening: May 16, 2025

+ Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Friday, May 30, 2025

+ Compensation Range: $150,124 - $263,042 (https://careers.sf.gov/classifications/?classCode=8177&setId=COMMN)

+ Recruitment ID: RTF0152864-01077004

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for a qualified and motivated litigation attorney to join its Code Enforcement Team.

About the Office

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With over 300 talented and dedicated employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers City leaders with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services, and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, ideas, and lived experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected for their full authentic selves, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/aboutus/dei/.

Currently, the Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/.

About the Code Enforcement Team

The team is a collaborative and dynamic group of six attorneys, one legal assistant, and two legal secretaries. The team investigates and civilly prosecutes property owners and businesses that violate local and state codes, or who are otherwise misusing their property to endanger public health and safety. Team members direct investigation into cases and handle all phases of litigation. Representative lawsuits have addressed unpermitted construction, substandard housing, blight, health hazards, affordable housing fraud, and unlawful business practices such as the operation of illicit gambling dens and brothels. Team members also are responsible for Gun Violence Restraining Order and Workplace Violence Restraining Order.

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities

Attorneys on the Team use the legal tools under state and local laws to address public nuisance issues and other unlawful conduct in the City, working with Office investigators, individuals and groups from the community, City agencies, and other government entities. Each attorney is assigned two police districts within the City, where the attorney has primary responsibility for monitoring, investigating, and abating public nuisance issues. Attorneys are expected to attend community events in their districts, which may be outside of regular business hours. Attorneys promote communication across City departments and with outside agencies to ensure a coordinated response to illegal conduct. During investigations, attorneys analyze potentially applicable regulations and advise City departments about Fourth Amendment law as well as the use of warrants, subpoenas, and emergency orders. Attorneys manage cases from pre-litigation investigation and demands, through civil case filing, settlement evaluation, discovery, trial, and appeal.

Minimum Qualification

+ Licensed to practice law in California.

Desired Qualifications

+ Five or more years of litigation experience, including case development and trial.

+ Excellent oral and written communication and advocacy skills.

+ Ability to handle all phases of litigation, including intake and investigation, written discovery, depositions, motion practice, settlement negotiations, trial, and appeal.

+ Ability to manage and appropriately balance an active caseload of investigative and litigation matters, meet deadlines, and manage workload changes.

+ Demonstrated initiative in efficiently and effectively advancing investigations and litigation.

+ Experience handling court appearances and oral argument.

+ Excellent judgment, ethics, and commitment to public service.

+ Ability to work effectively with paralegals, legal assistants, investigators, other colleagues, and City clients.

+ Strong interpersonal skills and a problem-solving attitude.

+ Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.

+ Ability to assume responsibility quickly and work independently and efficiently.

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-requirement (https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements) s.

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

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the oral/performance interview.

Salary and Benefits

The Deputy City Attorney position has a 16-step salary scale ranging from $150,124 to $263,042. The successful applicant is appointed to a salary step based on years of experience as a lawyer. The City offers robust health, retirement and other benefits. For more information please visit: https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview. Attorneys are represented by the Municipal Attorneys Association. Information about compensation and benefits is available by entering Classification Code 8177 at https://careers.sf.gov/classifications/.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

+ Information About the Hiring Process (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process)

+ Conviction History

+ Employee Benefits Overview  (https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview)

+ Equal Employment Opportunity (https://sfdhr.org/equal-employment-opportunity)

+ Disaster Service Worker (https://sfdhr.org/disaster-service-workers)

+ ADA Accommodation

+ Right to Work (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#identification)

+ Copies of Application Documents

+ Diversity Statement (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#diversitystatement)

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

+ Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen

+ Include your CA Bar Number in the education section on your application

+ Upload a Cover Letter and a Resume

Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit at least two references and at least one writing sample, preferably a brief that was filed in a court or administrative proceeding.

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.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Jumy Dang, Senior Human Resources Analyst, at [email protected].

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.