Description:
Job Description:About the Transportation Team
The Transportation Team is a collaborative and dynamic group of seven attorneys, one paralegal, and two legal secretaries. The Team serves as General Counsel to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). The SFMTA is the department of the City and County of San Francisco responsible for managing all ground transportation in the City. With an annual operating budget of over $1 billion and approximately 6,000 employees, the SFMTA has oversight over the Municipal Railway (Muni), the City's public transit system, as well as paratransit, parking, traffic, taxis, and bicycling and pedestrian facilities. The Team also advises other City departments, including the Mayor's Office and Board of Supervisors, on transportation-related issues. The Team works closely with other teams in the Office, including the Labor, Government, Land Use, Contracts/Construction, Tax, and Trial Teams.
Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities
Attorneys on the Transportation Team are assigned a variety of advice matters, legislative drafting, and contracting. On the advice side, attorneys handle a range of transactional issues, including federal, state, and local-funded contracting for professional services, technology acquisition, transit vehicle purchases, public works, and materials procurement; US Department of Transportation and Caltrans grant requirements; general real estate matters related to the SFMTA's facilities including transit facilities and public parking garages; and legal advice related to emerging mobility modes, including Transportation Network Carriers (TNCs), autonomous vehicles, e-bikes, and electric scooters. We advise the SFMTA and its Board of Directors on compliance with state and local public records and meeting requirements; state and local regulatory requirements and proceedings including in front of the California Public Utilities Commission; intergovernmental cooperation agreements; fees, fares and fines; the City's budget process; permitting and enforcing permit conditions; data privacy; and intellectual property. Attorneys on our Team also draft and analyze local, state, and federal legislation on a broad array of transportation issues.
In addition to the range of work described above, the ideal candidate would be qualified to advise City clients in one or more of the following areas:
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:
Licensed to practice law in California.
Desired Qualifications:
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 oral/performance interview.
The Transportation Team is a collaborative and dynamic group of seven attorneys, one paralegal, and two legal secretaries. The Team serves as General Counsel to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). The SFMTA is the department of the City and County of San Francisco responsible for managing all ground transportation in the City. With an annual operating budget of over $1 billion and approximately 6,000 employees, the SFMTA has oversight over the Municipal Railway (Muni), the City's public transit system, as well as paratransit, parking, traffic, taxis, and bicycling and pedestrian facilities. The Team also advises other City departments, including the Mayor's Office and Board of Supervisors, on transportation-related issues. The Team works closely with other teams in the Office, including the Labor, Government, Land Use, Contracts/Construction, Tax, and Trial Teams.
Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities
Attorneys on the Transportation Team are assigned a variety of advice matters, legislative drafting, and contracting. On the advice side, attorneys handle a range of transactional issues, including federal, state, and local-funded contracting for professional services, technology acquisition, transit vehicle purchases, public works, and materials procurement; US Department of Transportation and Caltrans grant requirements; general real estate matters related to the SFMTA's facilities including transit facilities and public parking garages; and legal advice related to emerging mobility modes, including Transportation Network Carriers (TNCs), autonomous vehicles, e-bikes, and electric scooters. We advise the SFMTA and its Board of Directors on compliance with state and local public records and meeting requirements; state and local regulatory requirements and proceedings including in front of the California Public Utilities Commission; intergovernmental cooperation agreements; fees, fares and fines; the City's budget process; permitting and enforcing permit conditions; data privacy; and intellectual property. Attorneys on our Team also draft and analyze local, state, and federal legislation on a broad array of transportation issues.
In addition to the range of work described above, the ideal candidate would be qualified to advise City clients in one or more of the following areas:
- Vehicle procurements: provide advice over the life cycle of transit vehicle procurement and rehabilitation and alignment of the procurement process with industry standards, federal requirements, and best practices. Familiarity with various types of mass transit vehicles including buses, light rail vehicles, and paratransit vehicles, and familiarity with the use of consultant agreements and cooperative purchase agreements is a plus.
- Federal and/or State regulatory and grant compliance: advice on compliance with federal Uniform Grant Guidance and other conditions on grants from the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration (usually through Caltrans), including Buy America regulations, drug and alcohol testing, and third-party procurement requirements including required contract provisions.
- Construction projects: provide advice over the life cycle of procurement and contracts related to large public works construction projects, including advising on alternative delivery methods and professional services agreements, reviewing contract provisions, addressing proposal and bidding issues, and reviewing change orders and claims.
- Technology system procurements: draft and review requests for proposals and contracts for technology systems, including related software and professional services, to support the SFMTA's transit system operations.
- Intergovernmental agreements: negotiate agreements with other City departments and with other local government agencies, including joint powers authorities.
- Developments in public transportation law, industry and government relations: provide advice on current national issues and trends through coordination with national public transportation organizations.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:
Licensed to practice law in California.
Desired Qualifications:
- Five or more years of legal experience in government procurement, transportation, municipal or other government law, grants law, public works, and technology/systems procurement.
- Ability to assume responsibility quickly and work independently and efficiently.
- Excellent oral and written communication and advocacy skills.
- Ability to manage and appropriately balance an active and varied workload and adjust to occasional workload increases.
- Ability to exercise good judgment, multi-task, and meet deadlines.
- Strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
- Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
- Desire and ability to work successfully as part of a team.
- Ability to work closely with clients to assist them in achieving program and policy goals, and provide informed risk analyses and legal options.
- 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 oral/performance interview.
