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THIS IS A CITYWIDE RECRUITMENT FOR CURRENT CITY EMPLOYEES ONLY

This is an Exempt to Permanent recruitment in accordance with Class-Based Test (CBT) Civil Service Rules. Only currently active, exempt employees of the City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco Unified School District, or San Francisco City College, working within the 5602 Utility Specialist classification will be placed on the eligible list for consideration of future permanent positions.

ABOUT THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city, on the forefront of economic growth & innovation, urban development, arts & entertainment, as well as social issues & change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City's commitment to heighten the quality of life for the diverse population of San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco.

Application Opening: January 12, 2026

Application Deadline:  Apply immediately. Application filing will be open at least through January 19, 2026 and will close any time thereafter.

Recruitment ID: ETP-5602-162740

Under direction, the 5602 Utility Specialist independently conducts complex studies and analyses; develops analytical models and systems; independently conducts contract negotiations; works with other program controls staff in developing cost, schedule and technical tracking systems for new projects, collecting data on the cost, schedule and technical progress on those projects; develops and implements seasonal and long-term operating, financial and capital plans; develops and implements operational goals and procedures; manages and administers wholesale and retail contracts, projects and programs; conducts infrastructure planning for new service territories; provides training of analysts and technical personnel; serves as a technical expert.

The essential duties include but are not limited to the following:

1. Monitors operations to ensure compliance with policy directives, laws, regulations and contractual constraints.

2. Develops analytical and predictive models; conducts technical and economic feasibility evaluations of proposed capital projects; incorporates results of analyses into cost/benefit assessments; conducts a wide variety of analytical studies related to assessment of operational effectiveness, financial and market risk, price sensitivity, and other complex studies as assigned.

3. Develops and implements seasonal, monthly and multi-year operating, financial and capital plans. Develops and maintains Critical Path Method (CPM) schedules; reviews and analyzes Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) schedules for variances and trends; maintains and makes recommendation for improvements to the cost control system to track spending relative to project budgets and schedules; and maintains a cost estimate database by providing project cost estimates and reviewing actual construction costs relative to engineers' estimates.

4. Directly negotiates large seasonal and yearly contracts, rates and service terms; provides negotiation support on division-wide multi-year contracts; establishes rate policies and negotiating parameters for short-term purchase and sale transactions and agreements.

5. Identifies operational constraints and develops, evaluates or recommends policies and procedures to improve operations, mitigate risks, increase revenues and decrease costs.

6. Develops training programs to implement policies and programs; trains analysts, technicians and other personnel on policies, procedures and compliance issues.

7. Writes a variety of documents including reports; work plans; general correspondence; operating, financial and marketing plans; program descriptions; operating procedures and policy recommendations; meeting minutes; documentation of forecast methodologies and model assumptions; legal and regulatory interpretations and issues; reports that explain schedule and cost variances and trends, provide cost-effective recommendations to mitigate adverse variances and to support negotiation of change order costs with contractors; and other types of written documents as needed to support the diverse work activities as-signed to this class.

8. Develops, implements and maintains database systems for hydrologic, water supply, power operations, marketing, energy consumption and other data.

9. Supervises Utility Analysts and other technical personnel and provides technical sup-port and expertise for assigned specialty area.

10. Supervises the preparation of section operating and capital budgets, including revenue and expense forecasts and analyses and reporting of variances.

1. Must be a Current Category 16, 17, or 18 Exempt Employee in Class 5602 who has worked at least 2,080 hours in Class 5602 with no break in service; AND

2. Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university preferably with major coursework in Law, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Natural Resources, Computer Science, Business Administration, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics or other field related to the utility business; AND

3. Four years of verifiable journey-level work experience in one or more of the following areas: planning, scheduling, cost estimating and resource projecting for mid to large scale projects; water supply/infrastructure management and planning; power operations planning and scheduling; analysis, interpretation and application of utility contracts and regulations in either water, power (electric and/or natural gas), telecommunications, or a wastewater/clean water program; utility market and environmental analysis and planning; power supply and transmission rates and contracts; generation, transmission or distribution planning and design; or long-term utility systems planning.

License: Specified positions may require possession of a valid California Class C driver's license.

Substitution: Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the degree requirement on a year-for-year basis.

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 (https://sfdhr.org/recruitment-details#qualifications)  and Verification of Experience and/or Education (https://sfdhr.org/recruitment-details#verification)  for considerations taken when reviewing applications.

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 How to Verify Education Requirements (https://sfdhr.org/node/765) .

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: Candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Preliminary Questionnaire – Training and Experience Assessment (100% Weight) - During the application process, applicants will be prompted to complete a Preliminary Questionnaire as part of the online employment process. Please answer the Preliminary Questionnaire carefully and thoroughly.  It will serve as the Training and Experience Assessment for this recruitment and will be used to determine your eligibility for this recruitment as well as your score and rank on the eligible list. Qualified applicants will be ranked on the eligible list based on the length of their exempt (in Category 16, 17, and/or 18) City service in the 5602 Utility Specialist class, along with any additional qualifying points (e.g., promotive status), as outlined in Civil Service Commission (CSC) rules. All work history will be verified using official City records, which will serve as the final authority in determining qualifying service.

The department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures to make 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.

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.

Certification Rule: The certification rule for this recruitment is Rule of the List.

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.

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

+ Information About the Hiring Process (https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/)

+ Conviction History

+ Employee Benefits Overview  (https://careers.sf.gov/benefits/)

+ Equal Employment Opportunity (https://www.sf.gov/what-equal-employment-opportunity-and-how-file-claim)

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

+ ADA Accommodation

+ Veterans Preference (https://sfdhr.org/recruitment-details#veteranspreference)

+ Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams

+ Right to Work (https://sfdhr.org/recruitment-details#identification)

+ Copies of Application Documents

+ Diversity Statement (https://sfdhr.org/recruitment-details#diversitystatement)

HOW TO APPLY

All job applications for the City and County of San Francisco must be submitted through our online portal. Please visit https://careers.sf.gov/ to begin your application process.

Computers are available for the public (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) to file online applications in the lobby of the Dept. of Human Resources at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor and at the City Career Center at City Hall (https://www.sf.gov/city-career-center) , 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 110.

Ensure your application information is accurate, as changes may not be possible after submission. Your first and last name must match your legal ID for verification, and preferred names can be included in parentheses. Use your personal email address, not a shared or work email, to avoid unfixable issues.

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 from [email protected] 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.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Stefanie Lim, at [email protected] or 415-916-6632.

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.