The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for two qualified and motivated attorneys to join its Government Team:

• Attorney #1 will support and advise several City agencies
• Attorney #2 will have as one of their primary responsibilities to support and advise San Francisco’s Assessment Appeals Board

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: October 23, 2024
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 6, 2024
• Compensation Range: $147,914- $259,142
• Recruitment ID: RTF0152321-01156707

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/

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 Government Team

The Government Team provides legal advice and serves as general counsel to San Francisco’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, City Administrator, and an array of other City officials and agencies. This includes City agencies that protect public safety, such as the Police Department, Fire Department, and Department of Emergency Management; those that promote equality and human dignity, such as the Human Rights Commission, Immigrant Rights Commission, and Office of Labor Standards Enforcement; those that enhance the quality of life in the City, such as the Recreation and Park Department, Arts Commission, and Public Library; those that promote good government and accountability, such as the Controller, Civil Service Commission, and Department of Police Accountability; and those that ensure careful review of agency decisions directly affecting the interests of the public, such as the Board of Appeals and the Assessment Appeals Board.

The Government Team also advises City clients and the Office as a whole on a wide range of legal issues arising under local, state, and federal law, including issues of municipal powers, government transparency, preemption, and constitutional questions. The Team generally does not handle litigation, although attorneys on the Team frequently provide input or support regarding litigation handled by others in the Office, including lawsuits challenging City laws or the actions of City agencies.

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities

An attorney on the Government Team typically serves in an advisory role as general counsel to a mix of City officials and agencies. In that capacity, the attorney may perform many functions – providing interpretations and advice, both orally and in writing, formally and informally, on a broad range of legal issues. The attorney’s role could include interpreting City or State law or advising on the legal risks of a particular government action; drafting ordinances, ballot measures, and administrative regulations; reviewing contracts for legal and procedural sufficiency; and providing legal advice to commissioners before and during commission meetings. The attorney functions as the Office’s expert on laws administered by the City officials and agencies that the attorney advises. The attorney also may develop expertise in areas of law that transcend issues particular to the attorney’s client agencies and are relevant to many or all components of City government.

One of the two attorneys who join the Government Team will advise San Francisco’s Assessment Appeals Board (AAB) and the City employees who support it, as one of the attorney’s primary assignments. The AAB is comprised of appointed officials who consider quasi-adjudicatory appeals and resolve disputes between the San Francisco Assessor and taxpayers over values of locally assessed property. The attorney will attend hearings, prepare confidential memoranda for the AAB members, draft public decisions and findings of fact in AAB cases, and provide a range of substantive and procedural advice to the AAB and its members. In addition to advising the AAB, the attorney will also advise other client agencies as described in the previous paragraph.

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California.

Desired Qualifications

• Three or more years of experience, especially in an advice capacity as a government lawyer.
• For the attorney who will advise the Assessment Appeals Board, experience handling advice or litigation related to tax matters, especially property tax matters.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent legal analytical skills.
• Ability to assume responsibility for assignments and to work independently and efficiently.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and clients.
• Ability to manage and appropriately balance multiple assignments, meet deadlines, and adjust to fluctuations in workload.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• An interest in and commitment to public service.

Salary and Benefits

The Deputy City Attorney position has a 16-step salary scale ranging from $147,914 to $259,142. 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/.

Application

To apply for this position, please submit your resume and cover letter. Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit three references and two writing samples.

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-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.

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 next stage of the selection process. The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring. 

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

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

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

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 Asa Nojd, HR 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.