Senior Community Development Specialist I (9774)

  • Full-time
  • Job Code and Title: 9774-Senior Community Development Specialist I
  • Fill Type: Temporary Exempt

Company Description

The San Francisco Planning Department is recruiting for one (1) Temporary Exempt (TEX) 9774 Senior Community Development Specialist I position in our Community Equity Division.

**This recruitment has reopened for additional applications. If you have previously applied, you do not need to submit another application.**

Specific information regarding this recruitment process are listed below.

  • Application Opening:  February 14, 2023
  • Application Deadline:  March 13, 2023, 11:55 PM PST, Reopened March 23, 2023 through March 27, 2023, 11:55 PM PST for additional applications.
  • Recruitment ID:  RTF0132034-01153875
  • Analyst:  Zoey Feng

The Department 
The San Francisco Planning Department (CPC) plays a central role supporting the wellbeing of our communities today and tomorrow and guiding the growth and development in our City. The Department works with other City agencies and the community to achieve a just, healthy, and vital city.    

The Community Equity Division
The Planning Department prioritizes racial and social equity tasks across all divisions coordinated through the new Community Equity Division. The purpose of this Division is to reflect upon our historical and current inequities and revise our policies and implementation strategies to reverse inequities for our American Indian, Black communities, other communities of color, and other historically marginalized communities. The Division includes four teams: Equity Plan , Community Engagement, Tenderloin Community Plan, and Policies and Strategies. The Community Equity Division works closely with community leaders and the Office of Racial Equity. The Division is a collaborative, team-oriented environment with opportunities to work both individually and on project teams on a wide variety of issues to advance racial and social equity internally and externally. 

The Team  
The Policies and Strategies team is responsible for connecting the work of the Community Equity Division to the work of other City agencies and organizations working on key issues related to equity outcomes including housing affordability and economic and community development.  The Policies and Strategies team works with colleagues across the Planning Department to support development and implementation of citywide and neighborhood plans. 

Our Racial and Social Equity Vision  
The Department’s racial and social equity vision is:   

  • We envision inclusive neighborhoods that provide all with the opportunity to lead fulfilling, meaningful, and healthy lives. We envision a city where public life and public spaces reflect the past, present and future of San Franciscans. We envision a city where a person’s race does not determine their lives’ prospects and success.   

  • We envision an inclusive Planning Department and Commissions that represent and engage the communities we serve. We envision a Department that proactively infuses racial and social equity in both internal operations and external Planning work. Together, we are reimagining what the Planning field is and can be – inclusive, diverse and one that centers racial and social equity both as a practice and as an indicator of success.   

  • In order to achieve this broader city vision, we must do our part and address racial and social equity within the Planning Department’s policies and practices. 

Job Description

Appointment Type:  Temporary Exempt (TEX).  TEX position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination pursuant to San Francisco Charter Section 10.104 and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.   

This position is being filled as TEX due to the lack of an available eligible list from which a Permanent (PCS) appointment can be made.  A 9774 Senior Community Development Specialist I Civil Service examination is currently in development and will be administered within the next several months in order to produce an eligible list.  It is the intent of the Planning Department to fill this position as Permanent when the eligible list is available.  The candidate selected for this TEX position must participate and be successful in a Civil Service Examination process for this classification and be selected through an open competitive process in order to be considered for a Permanent appointment. 

The Opportunity:  Under general direction, the Senior Community Development Specialist I will be responsible for working with colleagues at City, regional, and state Agencies, in the nonprofit and private sectors, and members of diverse local communities, to support implementation of the Housing Element and housing affordability strategies as well as address other community development needs. This work will support policymakers and residents to expand and strengthen the tools needed to achieve the City’s housing production and preservation and community stabilization goals. The work will include analyzing and explaining existing and new mechanisms for funding affordable housing and producing housing in general, and how these tools interact with land use and planning processes. This work will involve analysis, meetings with technical experts and practitioners, as well as work with communities to help demystify housing development and planning processes, encouraging stakeholders to use available resources to shape their communities. Additional duties will include working through racial and social equity issues, anti-displacement and community stabilization, small business and other economic opportunity strategies, family retention, and transportation challenges.  The position will also collaborate with colleagues working in vulnerable neighborhoods that are experiencing displacement to help develop strategies to address these needs.  

The Senior Community Development Specialist I will work alongside team members to carry out assignments but will also be required to have the ability to work independently. They may also independently manage some projects or community development portions of projects. This position’s work will involve both focused analytic work as well as work presenting and engaging with colleagues in other agencies and organizations. This position would be part of the Policies and Strategies Team. 

The essential duties include, but are not limited to: 

  1. Analyze, report and present on affordable housing financing and funding tools and broader housing development feasibility, including factors and strategies affecting housing development and preservation. Provide research, reporting, and coordination on implementation of the Housing Element, including housing and community stabilization policies and programs. 
  2. Coordinate with local, regional, state, and federal agencies and organizations on affordable housing funding programs and housing policies and share information with colleagues within the Department and with policymakers and community organizations.  
  3. Work in partnership with San Francisco communities and colleagues at the Department and other city agencies to develop implementation programs, policies, and strategies on a variety of community issues in addition to housing affordability that may include small business retention, family retention, transportation challenges, social equity, and anti-displacement.   
  4. Conduct research studies and formulate policy or program recommendations for the Department, Planning Commissions, stakeholders, and other city Commissions/Boards actions, by selecting, collecting, recording, tabulating, organizing, and analyzing technical, physical, economic, social, and statistical data.  
  5. Provide information orally and in writing to city agencies, property owners, developers, community organizations, the Planning Commission and the general public regarding Planning Department activities, goals, and programs. 
  6. Provide support for colleagues working with vulnerable communities and neighborhood stakeholders, by contributing to development and presentation of reports and other documentation, one-on-one interactions, outreach to neighborhood organizations, public forums, and community advisory committees. 

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

  1. Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university AND three (3) years of administrative/professional experience in community development, housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, or criminal justice; OR
     
  2. Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in one of the following fields: public or business administration, urban planning, government, social work, education, finance or criminal justice AND two (2) year of administrative/professional experience in community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, criminal justice; OR
     
  3. Possession of a Master's degree from an accredited college or university in public policy, planning, social work, public administration, finance, education, criminal justice, or business administration; AND one (1) year of administrative/professional experience in community development, housing and /or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, or criminal justice; OR
     
  4. Possession of a Juris Doctor degree from an accredited college or university AND one (1) year of administrative/professional experience in community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, or criminal justice.

SUBSTITUTION:

Verifiable administrative/professional experience involving community development, housing and/or housing development, workforce development, finance, education, social work, children/youth work, or criminal justice may substitute for the educational requirement in Minimum Qualification #1 on a year-for-year basis.

Desirable Qualifications
The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

  • 3+ years of experience in affordable housing finance, development, and/ or housing policy including knowledge of affordable housing funding and financing, the housing development process, and/ or experience working on housing advocacy, with a focus on affordability and equity solutions.  

  • 3+ years of experience in land use policy and planning processes related to housing development, housing preservation and stabilization, or equity, including work on community-level, citywide, and/or regional planning for housing, with government agencies, housing developers, nonprofit organizations, and/ or community-based organizations. 

  • 3+ years of experience with analytic tasks related to housing and planning including quantitative and qualitative research such as data analysis, financial analysis, and reading and summary of complex written materials such as legislation, regulation, and policy studies. 

  • Strong public speaking skills and ability to communicate effectively and sensitively, both orally and in writing and to work with a broad variety of people and agencies including developers, contractors, property owners, public sector, and community organizations. 

  • Strong meeting facilitation skills, community outreach, engagement and communication experience, people-skills and experience working with multicultural communities. 

  • Strategic and creative problem solver, action-oriented, experience working among stakeholder groups and City agencies with diverse interests and sometimes conflicting agendas. 

  • Ability to project manage and to effectively handle multiple projects and demands within deadlines. 

  • Excellent organizational skills, strong leadership, and ability to work collaboratively in teams. 

  • Excellent written communication and analytic skills. 

  • Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and/or Spanish-speaking and writing skills desired. 

Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

 

Verification of Education and Experience
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-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.

Additional Information

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

How to Apply:

To be considered, please submit a SmartRecruiters application and attach to your application:

  • An updated resume (required)
  • A cover letter (required, no more than one page)

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process.

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.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Zoey Feng, by telephone at 628-652-7628, or by email at [email protected].

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

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.

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