Biologist III (2484) - Natural Resources & Lands Management Division - SFPUC (146861)

The result from this eligible list will fill multiple vacancies within the Natural Resources and Lands Management (NRLM) Division. Please review below for more details regarding each respective position.

About the Natural Resources and Lands Management Division
The Natural Resources and Lands Management (NRLM) Division within the Water Enterprise of the SFPUC is responsible for the management of approximately 61000 acres of Bay Area watershed lands under SFPUC ownership as well as 150 miles of utility rightofway. NRLM Division is responsible for managing protecting restoring and monitoring the ecological resources on these lands and environmental compliance for the operations and maintenance of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System which serves 2.7 million customers. We are committed to responsible natural resources management that protects and restores viable populations of native species and maintains the integrity of the ecosystems that support them for current and future generations. We strive to become a leader in sciencebased and collaborative environmental stewardship in order to continue providing highquality and reliable water supplies to our customers.

Position Summary

Senior Biologist for Receiving Waters Monitoring

Under general supervision the 2484 Biologist III Senior Biologist for Receiving Waters Monitoring plans designs develops manages and coordinates environmental studies in support of permitting requirements for San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) wastewater and drinking water operational facilities and the marine estuarine and watershed environments associated with the facilities. This position provides technical experience and leadership for managing NPDES regulatory compliance monitoring for the SFPUCs wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities including SFPUCs Southwest Ocean Outfall Regional Monitoring Program which conducts Beach Water Quality Monitoring; Ocean Monitoring of marine sediment benthic infauna and bioaccumulation and physical anomalies in sentinel marine species; as well as special studies required for regulatory compliance. This position works with SFPUCs Wastewater Enterprise Regulatory and Compliance Division staff to support permit negotiations with regulatory agencies as well as interpretation of new regulations permits or rulings and translation of these into laboratory and field programs; works with diverse stakeholders regarding SFPUC projects permit compliance and other activities; articulately represents the SFPUC to outside stakeholders; works effectively and courteously with multidisciplinary teams departmental officials managers staff regulatory personnel and the public. This position leads report preparation for receiving waters monitoring projects and marine ecological assessment monitoring as well as correspondence memoranda and scientific studies; edits and reviews written materials prepared by Marine Biology Section staff or consultants; may prepare research materials for presentation and technical conferences and performs duties within the laboratory in the field or on monitoring vessels on the ocean San Francisco Bay or SFPUC reservoirs and may exercise supervision during the absence of the Supervising Biologist.

Senior Biologist Bioassay Laboratory Manager

Under general supervision the 2484 Biologist III Bioassay Laboratory Manager plans designs develops and coordinates environmental studies and monitoring projects in support of permitting requirements for San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) wastewater and drinking water operational facilities and the marine estuarine and watershed environments associated with the facilities. This position provides technical experience and leadership for managing NPDES regulatory compliance monitoring including: periodic acute and chronic bioassay testing of effluent from SFPUC wastewater and drinking water facilities environmental monitoring of ocean outfalls and monitoring of San Francisco beach water quality; working with SFPUCs Wastewater Enterprise Regulatory and Compliance Division staff to support permit negotiations with regulatory agencies as well as interpretation of new regulations permits or rulings and translation of these into laboratory and field programs. The Bioassay Laboratory Manager works with diverse stakeholders regarding SFPUC projects permit compliance and other activities; articulately represents the SFPUC to outside stakeholders; works effectively and courteously with multidisciplinary teams departmental officials managers staff regulatory personnel and the public; coordinates with SFPUC Communications. This position leads report preparation for treatment plant bioassay monitoring and marine ecological assessment monitoring as well as correspondence memoranda and scientific studies; edits and reviews written materials prepared by Marine Biology Section staff or consultants; may prepare research materials for presentation and technical conferences and performs duties within the laboratory in the field or on monitoring vessels on the ocean San Francisco Bay or SFPUC reservoirs and may exercise supervision during the absence of the Supervising Biologist. Work under inclement weather conditions may be required.

Essential duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

1. Working independently and with other staff to achieve compliance with existing permits regulations and SFPUC policies fulfilling regulatory monitoring and reporting requirements associated with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting requirements.
2. Modifying developing and designing monitoring programs that that provide defensible scientific data to fulfill existing and future regulatory obligations or satisfy the needs of a variety of projects or legislation relating to environmental concerns.
3. Analyzing environmental and laboratory data and preparing reports with the purpose of meeting regulatory permit requirements and assessing the effectiveness of resource utilization for existing studies and monitoring programs.
4. Responsible for projectlevel technical supervision of other staff biologists technicians interns volunteers and consultants and may be asked to perform managementlevel supervision for short periods during the absence of the Supervising Biologist.
5. Working with SFPUCs Wastewater Enterprise Regulatory and Compliance Division staff to support permit negotiations with regulatory agencies interpretation of new regulations permits or rulings and translation of these into laboratory and field programs to achieve regulatory compliance.
6. Effectively communicating the results of studies and monitoring programs both verbally and through clear concise writing.
7. Interfacing with academic institutions and other professional organizations to keep the Marine Biology Section current with the most recent scientific advances in ocean monitoring marine invertebrate taxonomy bioassay assessment and shoreline water quality monitoring; developing and maintaining intern program to support Marine Biology Section goals.
8. Ensuring work products are peer reviewed; communicates scientific monitoring results at professional conferences.
9. Scheduling and preparing for field work; participating in and leading field work.
10. Overseeing consultants and directing SFPUC staff performing routine monitoring and reporting.
11. Training biologists and other field staff in efficient effective and safe fieldwork quality controls data handling and analyses and report production.
12. Performing related duties as required.

Qualifications :

Minimum Qualifications: Minimum qualifications reflect the lowest level of acceptable education and/or experience required of an individual such that the individual reasonably could be expected to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position.  Candidates must meet all the requirements established by the MQs to be considered for the position. 

• Education: Possession of baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in environmental biology marine biology aquatic biology wildlife biology fisheries biology limnology aquatic toxicology microbiology biochemistry or a related environmental science; AND
• Experience: Six (6) years of verifiable environmental experience in field or laboratory biology; AND
• License: Possession of a California valid drivers license; AND
• Special Conditions: Two (2) years of professional experience in Biological Monitoring Survey in Coastal Marine Environment

Note: One year of fulltime employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40hour work week.) 

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed to advance through all of the steps in the selection process.

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.

• Professional experience leading biological monitoring surveys in coastal marine environments which include whole effluent toxicity testing (both chronic and acute) and bacteriological standards for water contact recreation.
• Experience of recent professional experience conducting acute and chronic aquatic toxicity tests.

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. For more information on how to verify your experience or education please click here. 

Verification of required work experience typically must be on the employers letterhead and must include the applicants name job title description of job duties dates of employment hours per week and signature of the employer supervisor or appropriate representative.

Employees of the City and County of San Francisco may submit performance evaluations showing duties performed to verify qualifying City experience. City employees will receive credit for the duties of the class to which appointed. Credit for experience obtained outside of the employees class will be allowed only if recorded in accordance with the provisions of Civil Service Commission Rules. CCSF employees will not receive credit for experience obtained outside of their classification unless recorded in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Rule 110.9.1/111A.11.2.

Experience claimed in selfemployment will only be accepted if supported by documents verifying income earnings business license and experience comparable to minimum qualifications above. Copies of income tax papers or other documents listing occupation and total earnings must be submitted.

Verification of qualifying education is a copy of your transcript or diploma. For more information please click here.

Verification of required valid licensure/certification typically must be a photocopy of the license/certificate including the name of the issuing agency as well as the name of the license/certificate holder license/certificate number and expiration date.

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.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of twelve (12) months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

Certification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of Ten. The hiring department may administer additional positionspecific selection procedures prior to making final hiring decisions.

To find Departments which use this classification please see here.

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 here.

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
• 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
• Diversity Statement

How to Apply: Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit  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 uptodate. 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 (@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and @).

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.

Having trouble If you are having trouble with the application please visit or email . SmartRecruiters recommends using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge web browser to submit your application.

Recruitment Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process please contact the analyst Laurie Gee via email at .

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.