Principal Project Analyst (1824)-Office of the City Administrator

Recruitment: RTF0164371-01148053

Contact: Melanie S. Bautista-melanie.sotto@sfgov.org

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About:

IMPORTANT: AS PART OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS, PLEASE SUBMIT AN APPLICATION AND CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SUBMIT A RESPONSE TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE.  BOTH ARE REQUIRED AS PART OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS.

Permanent Exempt (PEX): This PEX position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the appointment officer. The anticipated duration of this project position is thirty-six (36) months and will not result in an eligible list or permanent civil service hiring. Project-based positions cannot be ongoing or exceed 36 months.

Permanent Exempt (PEX): individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will."

Specific information regarding this recruitment process is listed below:

• Application Opening: Thursday, September 3, 2026
• Application Deadline: This recruitment may close at anytime but not sooner than 11:59PM, Friday, September 18, 2026.

• Salary Range: $146,016 to $177,528 annually (click to learn more)

• REQUIRED: Supplemental Questionnaire is due at the time of application: Supplemental Questionnaire

About the Office of the City Administrator

The Office of the City Administrator and its 25+ divisions and departments operate core internal and public-facing essential services in to San Francisco residents and businesses. Our aim is to strengthen San Francisco by providing efficient and effective government services to increase safety and resiliency, support our local economy, and optimize capital planning and infrastructure all while prioritizing equity and inclusion.

The Office of the City Administrator’s Mission and Vision

Our vision is to lead the nation in public administration and to enable City departments to effectively deliver critical public services. We aim to help the city run better, to connect San Francisco residents and constituents to the vital public services they seek, and to create a meaningful and diverse work culture that is the place of choice for people who are invested in a career in public service.

We are committed to ensuring that the City services are inclusive, efficient, equitable, and culturally competent for San Franciscans of all races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and sextual orientations. This commitment requires comprehensive review and thorough analysis of existing practices and policies to remove barriers to real inclusion. We are also committed to ensuring that we have a safe, equitable, and inclusive workplace for individuals of all races. This includes creating opportunities for hiring, promotion, training, and development, for all employees, including but not limited to, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).

To learn more about our departments, divisions, and programs, visit:  https://sf.gov/departments/city-administrator

Telecommute: The City & County of San Francisco supports hybrid work schedules with regular, re-occurring onsite work in compliance with City & County of San Francisco policies on remote work.

Work Location: 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett PI, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Role Description The Office of the City Administrator is seeking a Principal Project Analyst to join our team, where you will play a key role in a portfolio of complex, high-priority initiatives led by the City Administrator’s Office. This is a unique opportunity to work as a senior generalist on a wide range of new and time-sensitive projects across City divisions and departments, including work related to real estate, technology, policy, operations, and interdepartmental initiatives. The ideal candidate is a highly skilled analyst with strong project management skills who is intellectually curious, communicates complex ideas clearly and effectively, enjoys collaboration, research, and strategic problem-solving, is comfortable bringing structure to complex or underdefined issues, and takes pride producing thoughtful, high-quality work.

You’ll work closely with senior leaders, department partners, and other stakeholders on sensitive, consequential, and politically nuanced issues in a fast-paced, high-performing, and supportive environment. If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work improving government, this might be the position for you.

Under the general direction of the Project Director, you will:

Project Leadership & Delivery

• Lead the planning and advancement of complex initiatives and workstreams.
• Independently drive workstreams forward, maintaining ownership of follow-through and surfacing risks, decisions, and issues requiring escalation.
• Manage competing priorities and adapt quickly as new leadership questions and time-sensitive assignments arise, while maintaining high-quality results.

Research, Analysis & Strategic Problem-Solving

• Bring structure to complex or underdefined issues and develop effective analytical approaches.
• Conduct independent research and policy analysis to understand complex issues and support strategic decision‑making.
• Synthesize complex legal, operational, and stakeholder information, identifying the findings and insights that matter most.
• Interpret evidence, assess implications and tradeoffs, and develop clear, actionable recommendations, including processes, operating models, or other solutions where appropriate.

Stakeholder Engagement & Cross-Departmental Coordination

• Plan and facilitate stakeholder engagement, meetings and multi‑stakeholder processes.
• Lead and coordinate work across organizational boundaries without formal authority, navigating differing responsibilities and perspectives and recognizing when disagreements or decisions should be surfaced or escalated.

Executive Communication & Decision Support

• Prepare concise briefings, slide decks, written analyses, and recommendations for senior leadership.
• Distill research, analysis, and stakeholder perspectives into clear, actionable insights that support decision-making on complex, sensitive, or underdefined issues.
• Respond to sensitive information requests with discretion, professionalism, and sound judgment.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university

Experience: Five (5) years full-time equivalent experience performing professional-level analytical work. Qualifying professional-level analytical work includes analysis, development, administration, and reporting in major programs and functions of an organization in the areas of budgets, contracts, grants, policy, or other functional areas related to the duties of positions in the 182X Class series.

Substitution:

Possession of a graduate degree (Master's degree or higher) from an accredited college or university with major coursework in specialized subject matter areas such as public or business administration, management, business law, contract law, public policy, urban studies, economics, statistical analysis, finance, accounting or other fields of study closely related to the essential functions of positions in the Class series may be substituted for one (1) year of required experience.

Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of 2 years). Thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units equal one year.

Note(s):

• One-year full-time employment is considered 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 minimum qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

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. Desirable experience includes:

• Leading Complex, Cross-Functional Work – leading or advancing complex projects or initiatives involving multiple functions, departments, or organizational units, particularly in a large or decentralized organization.
• Conducting Qualitative and Organizational Research – conducting stakeholder interviews, qualitative research, process analysis, organizational analysis, or similar work to understand complex problems and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Communicating with Executive Audiences – preparing concise written analyses, presentations, briefings, or recommendations for senior leaders and other decision-makers.
• Designing and Improving How Organizations Work – developing or implementing improvements to policies, processes, operating models, organizational structures, roles and responsibilities, or other ways of working.
• Navigating Diverse Stakeholder Perspectives – facilitating groups or coordinating work among stakeholders with differing responsibilities, priorities, expertise, or organizational interests.
• Government or Other Complex Institutional Environments – Familiarity with government operations or experience working in another large, complex institutional or bureaucratic environment. Experience with the City and County of San Francisco is helpful but not required.
• Breadth Across Public Administration or Related Functions – Familiarity with one or more areas such as policy, budgeting, contracting, capital planning, real estate, technology, organizational development, or other functions relevant to public administration. Deep expertise in any particular subject area is not required.

Verification:

Please make sure it is clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. 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 and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications. Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point in the application and/or departmental selection process.

Note: Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores. 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. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

What else should I know? Selection Procedure

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements and assessment of candidates’ job-related knowledge, skills and abilities. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to evaluate candidate qualifications. This typically includes an oral interview and/or a written or performance exercise.

If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the Department needs will be invited to continue in the selection process. Applicants meeting the minimum requirements are not guaranteed advancement in the selection process.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see: Position Counts by Job Codes and Departments.

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
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents

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