Communications Specialist - External Affairs - SFPUC (9252)

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.Application Opening: October 25, 2024Application Filing Deadline: November 8, 2024WHO ARE WE?San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) (https://youtu.be/inc4CF4VKFE)Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area 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.govWe 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-sfpucThe External Affairs Bureau at the SFPUC oversees the agency's local, state and federal legislative and policy activities, communications and community engagement, and community benefits and environmental justice programs. The Communications Division guides the SFPUCs brand and promotes the agencys programs, initiatives, and services to internal and external stakeholders. Our goal is to build trust and engagement among our employees, partners, customers, and the communities we serve through equitable, open, and timely communication.The Communications Division is recruiting for a Communications Specialist to join our dynamic, passionate team of marketers, storytellers, writers, and public relations specialists. The 9252 Communications Specialist will bring senior-level professional communications expertise to the Communications Division and assist in the development of strategic marketing and public relations programs that promote SFPUC programs and services. The Communications Specialist will play a leading role in implementing culturally competent, equity-informed customer communications, help manage the execution and evaluation of paid marketing and advertising campaigns, oversee professional services contracts, develop creative customer and stakeholder engagement activities, support media relations and manage crisis communications, and supervise junior-level communications professionals.The essential duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following:+ Contribute to the development and implementation of project strategy and manage the day-to-day components of key communications projects and objectives, such as paid, earned, owned, and shared media, digital and print advertising campaigns, budget management, event and tour management, and management of consultant contracts.+ Develop public relations and marketing programs that support the SFPUCs brand strategy objectives, effectively engage the public, and incorporate innovative methods to bring priority messages to target audiences.+ Manage the development of informative, accessible, and culturally competent content across all distribution channels (i.e. websites, social media, mobile-applications, broadcast, video, photography, and print marketing collateral); write stories, articles, press releases, and marketing copy; copyedit and proofread communications content for internal and external audiences.+ Plan, coordinate, manage, and facilitate in person and virtual tours and other external outreach events.+ Serve as a spokesperson, as needed, for SFPUC programs to media, neighborhood groups, City departments, advisory committees, and other key stakeholders; represent the SFPUC at a variety of events including tours, fairs, festivals, community events, and neighborhood group presentations.+ Maintain excellent collaborative working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.+ Manage contracts, task orders, purchasing orders, and other administrative tasks as needed to support projects.+ Serve as a Public Information Officer for the agency, including on weekends and holidays as needed.+ Related duties as assignedNote: Incumbents in this class must work on on-call assignments, which involve around-the-clock, weekend and holiday work. Due to the nature of this work, mandatory overtime is required.Education: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or universityExperience: Three (3) years of professional experience working in the field of internal communications, public affairs, public information, or public relations unit. Experience must include one (1) year of professional experience in social media, digital engagement or web content management.Substitution: 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). Thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units equal one (1) year.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.) 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 the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.Desirable Qualifications: The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.+ Exceptional written and oral communications skills+ Demonstrated ability to distill complex subjects into coherent and easy-to-understand language+ Direct experience in strategic communications project management: vendor selection, exceptional organizational skills, and experience managing multiple projects (timelines, budgets, priorities) simultaneously+ Demonstrated ability to work independently and within a team; experience working collaboratively with teams across an agency or organization+ Analytical problem-solverEvery 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 ones 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: 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): Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application at a later time. 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 Examination (Weight: 100%): Candidates who meet minimum qualifications will be invited via a separate link to complete the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination. The purpose of the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination is to evaluate the experience, knowledge, skills and abilities that candidates possess in job-related areas, which have been identified as critical for this position and include, but are not limited to:+ Knowledge of public process, local/regional government issues, public sector business and administrative practices+ Knowledge of federal, state, and local regulation and policies+ Knowledge of standard web-based technologies (i.e. internet security, firewall systems, content management systems, and digital transactional services), server administration, network operating systems and platforms and their strengths and limitations+ Knowledge of intranet applications and functionalities, internal communication tools the relationship between stakeholder strategy and information systems+ Knowledge of the principles and techniques of planning and implementing websites+ Ability to effectively communicate in public forums and mass media, as well as communicate information to internal audiences and management, both orally and in writing+ Ability to perform analytical research and prepare clear, concise stories, articles, press releases, reports, etc., including technical information for websites+ Ability to present information effectively to the news media, customers, community partners, Department staff, the Mayors Office, and other City Departments+ Ability to represent the Department before groups and organizations+ Ability to resolve customer/end-user complaints+ Ability to work with the public, governmental agencies, and community organizations in a tactful, diplomatic manner+ Ability to prioritize and manage projects to achieve established goals+ Ability to effectively solve problems with concept and implementation of website designsA passing score must be achieved on the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination in order to continue in the selection process and be placed on the eligible list.Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score. Candidate scores on this examination may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.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 12 months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2023-24.pdfCertification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be 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. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is abuse of discretion or no rational basis for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.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 APPLYApplications 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 screenApplicants 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.Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Stefanie Lim, at SMLim@sfwater.org 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.