Senior Environmental Justice Coordinator/
The San Francisco Environment DepartmentWho We Are – The San Francisco Environment Department (SF Environment) advances climate protection and enhances quality of life for all San Franciscans. SF Environment is a department within the City and County of San Francisco, a local government committed to innovation, leadership and collaboration in creating environmental change. SF Environment is recognized worldwide for its environmental policies and programs, which center on achieving zero waste, reducing toxic chemical hazards, advancing environmental justice, promoting low-carbon transportation modes, expanding clean energy infrastructure, greening our built environment and protecting our urban forest. We’re a passionate, mission-driven team that values credibility, collaboration, impact, innovation and equity. SF Environment is also a great place to work, offering an attractive benefits package that includes healthcare and retirement.
SF Environment Racial Equity Statement – For over 20 years, SF Environment has worked with San Francisco’s Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities to mitigate environmental burdens, increase accessibility of environmental programs and benefits, engage community members, and improve health outcomes. BIPOC communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental stressors that include air and soil pollution, illegal dumping of toxics and other materials, industrial land uses and transportation impacts. They are more likely to live in housing conditions with limited access to green space and where poor indoor air quality from pests, mold, and the use of toxic products contributes to the prevalence of asthma and other health disparities. They are more likely to be employed in areas with high levels of exposure to toxics. Now, they are the first communities feeling the impacts of climate change, with the fewest resources to respond. SF Environment has a longstanding commitment to the principles of environmental justice, whereby communities most impacted by environmental stressors and climate change are prioritized and the long-time work of community leaders is recognized and supported. We are committed to uplifting the contributions of local environmental leaders of diverse racial backgrounds and ensuring that racial equity is the cornerstone of all of our programs, policies, and services.
Job Description
Are you passionate about environmental justice and fighting environmental racism while building capacity in San Francisco’s most affected neighborhoods to combat climate change? San Francisco Environment Department is hiring a Senior Environmental Justice Coordinator (5642).
The Senior Environmental Justice Coordinator will play a pivotal role in advancing environmental justice in San Francisco. Collaborating closely with internal teams and other city departments, they will support environmental efforts in affordable housing and manage an annual grant program aimed to mitigate the impacts of climate change in BIPOC and low-income neighborhoods. The Senior Coordinator also plays a vital role in advancing racial and social equity in San Francisco’s Climate Action Plan and throughout the other Environment Department program areas.
Role description
To excel in this role, the Senior Environmental Justice Coordinator must be well versed in environmental justice principles and have experience working with underserved communities and in grant management. Programmatic areas of focus include healthy affordable housing, integrated pest management, zero waste and climate mitigation. Additionally, they will play a key role in ensuring equitable outcomes of San Francisco’s Climate Action Plan. They will support other Department and City programs building capacity within communities to promote climate action.
Responsibilities include:
- Manage the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of Environmental Justice (EJ) projects with a special focus on areas identified in San Francisco’s Environmental Justice Map.
- Manage the EJ grant program from planning to implementation and assist in department grant and contract management including monitor grantees and contractor work to ensure alignment with program goals and timetables.
- Build and foster strong working relationships within external climate and environmental justice coalitions to advance climate justice goals and collaborate with City departments and other government agencies to create or strengthen relationships with EJ communities and stakeholders across California.
- Develop training programs, workshops, and capacity-building opportunities for underserved communities to advance the Climate Action Plan.
- Research and analyze environmental justice impacts of proposed projects using, but not limited to – CalEnviroScreen, U.S. EPA EJSCREEN, U.S. Census data, and interviews/focus groups. Manage the EJ team, including supervising and guiding2-3 full-time program staff, overseeing individual and team plans and deliverables, and regularly reporting status updates to the Climate Program Manager and other department leadership.
- Present program information to city department boards, commissions, the Board of Supervisors, and other relevant bodies as needed or requested.
- Represent San Francisco in relevant local, regional, and environmental justice events and conferences.
- Perform a wide range of administrative support functions, including those related to human resources, accounting, budgeting, invoicing, and program planning.
May include additional duties, as assigned.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
Education: Possession of a baccalaureate degree in public administration, business administration, communications, social sciences, environmental sciences, or a related field from an accredited college or university; AND,
Experience: Four (4) years of experience performing duties similar to those described in this class, within climate programming such as climate justice, climate change, healthy affordable housing, integrated pest management, zero waste and climate mitigation, or a related field with at least two (2) of those years of experience managing and implementing environmental justice programs.
The above minimum qualifications reflect special conditions associated with the position to be filled. They may differ from the standard minimum qualifications associated with this classification.
Desirable Qualifications:
The desirable qualifications may be used to select among finalists at the end of the selection process. We don’t expect any one candidate to have all the qualifications listed below – please know that you can be a great candidate without all of the below qualifications. If you meet the minimum qualifications and have a mix of the desirable qualifications and a passion for this work – please don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.
- Five years of increasingly responsible experience involving climate justice or environmental justice and staff supervision.
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 – 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 (Weight: Qualifying) – After submitting your application and receiving the confirmation email, you will receive an email with a link to the Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ). Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. The MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding 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 Evaluation (Weight: 100%) – Qualified candidates will be emailed a Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation. In order to advance, candidates must complete the Supplemental Questionnaire and it must be submitted before the provided deadline. The information provided on the Supplemental Questionnaire must be consistent with the information on the application and is subject to verification. Once submitted, applicant responses on the Supplemental Questionnaire cannot be changed. Applicants must achieve a passing score on the Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation in order to be ranked on the eligible list.
The Supplemental Questionnaire is designed to measure knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in job-related areas as described within this announcement. This includes knowledge of:
- Developing and implementing comprehensive strategies to address environmental justice.
- The use of data to uncover environmental justice issues, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of environment justice initiatives and making data-driven solutions.
- San Francisco’s and California’s environmental justice policy landscape, community, and advocacy groups.
- Environmental justice considerations related to local climate action, including disparate impacts of climate change, factors that contribute to climate disparities, and best practices to mitigate and correct for past harms.
- Community outreach and the ability to implement effective engagement strategies and coalition building
The skills and ability to:
- Create and/or strengthen relationships with environmental justice communities and stakeholders to facilitate the exchange of ideas and encourage community participation in the department’s program and the city’s climate action plan.
- Read, analyze, and interpret data, scientific and technical journals, reports, specifications, contracts, and legal documents.
- Synthesize and present information to decision makers and advocacy groups in reports, correspondence, briefings, and presentations.
- Manage multiple programs and projects at the same time. Be detail-oriented, highly organized, and prioritize properly.
- Facilitate groups, engage stakeholders, organize workshops, events and listening sessions
- Communicate verbally and in writing, with a focus on empathetic and kind interactions
- Strong organizational and project management skills
- Take initiative and to work independently
- Adapt to changing circumstances and taking on new roles
- Work in the MS Office Suite of programs including Word and Excel, and a variety of presentation, database and other software applications.
After the eligible list is finalized/adopted, the department may administer additional selection procedures to make a final hiring decision (e.g. interviews, written exercise, etc.). Applicants meeting the Minimum Qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through all steps of the selection process.
Additional Information
Certification – The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of Ten (10) Scores. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making 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 six (6) months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.