The Department of Public Health prioritizes equitable and inclusive access to quality healthcare for its community and values the importance of diversity in its workforce. All employees at the Department of Public Health work to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity with a specific lens and focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, disability, and immigration status.
The Mission of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) is to protect and promote the health of all San Franciscans. Fulfilling this mission requires employees working across our hospitals, clinics, programs, and offices to deliver services and support the communities we serve. Individuals interested in joining DPH should expect to work in person across these settings.
DPH operates one of the most complex and integrated public health systems in the nation, encompassing approximately $3.6 billion in annual funding, a workforce of nearly 9,000 employees, and services delivered through two hospitals, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and Laguna Honda Hospital & Rehabilitation Center, and more than 45 primary and specialty care clinics, behavioral health programs, population health services, emergency preparedness, managed care, and a broad network of community-based partners.
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER (1165-Manager, Department of Public Health)
The Department's workforce, technology, facilities, safety, security, compliance, and administrative systems support healthcare delivery, public health services, emergency response, and daily operations across DPH. The scale and complexity of these functions require strong operational leadership, effective coordination, and the ability to execute priorities across a large and highly interconnected organization.
DPH is seeking an impact-driven Chief Operating Officer (COO) to lead the operational systems that support one of the nation's premier and most complex integrated public health systems. This is both an operational and a strategic role, and a defining leadership opportunity: to build and drive the operational foundation of a modern, high-performing public health system. It calls for a leader with a strong vision for performance transformation and a demonstrated ability to deliver measurable outcomes through top-to-bottom, end-to-end execution, translating strategy into results across the full length of a large and interconnected organization. Depending on the final organizational design, the COO may also lead financial planning and budget for the Department, aligning resources to strategy and connecting funding directly to performance and outcomes.
The COO serves as the Department's senior executive responsible for enterprise operations, operational excellence, and organizational performance. Reporting to the Director of Health, the position ensures that these functions operate effectively and remain aligned with departmental priorities. This is a role for a builder and a driver: the mandate is to raise operational performance.
The COO translates strategic priorities into operational execution, aligns resources with organizational needs, and drives continuous improvement and performance transformation across administrative and operational functions. Effective leadership requires a deep understanding of how clinical services, public health programs, administrative operations, and workforce dynamics intersect to support DPH's mission and deliver results across a complex public health system.
The COO works closely with City leaders, elected officials, labor representatives, regulatory agencies, and external stakeholders to advance departmental priorities and address complex operational challenges. Success in this role requires sound judgment, political acumen, strong negotiation skills, and the ability to build alignment, navigate competing interests, and drive results in a highly visible public-sector environment.
The position provides leadership for approximately 650 employees across:
Together, these functions provide the operational foundation that supports every employee, program, facility, and service location across DPH.
Where this work is assigned to the COO, the following responsibilities apply:
Education: Possession of a master’s degree from an accredited college or university in Hospital Administration, Nursing, Medicine, Public Health Administration, Public Administration, Public Policy, Business Administration, Behavioral Science, or a closely related field.
Experience: Requires at least three years of experience as an administrator of a large hospital, public health network, or related organization; three years of complex health care administrative experience; or three years of executive public administration experience.
Substitution: Possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Hospital Administration, Nursing, Public Health Administration, Public Administration, Public Policy, Business Administration, Behavioral Science or a closely related field AND two additional years of qualifying work experience as described above may be substituted for the required master’s degree.
Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Review SF Careers Employment Applications for considerations taken when reviewing applications.
Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education or experience verification is required, information on how to verify education and experience requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/experience-education/.
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.
Additional information regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:
All job applications for the City and County of San Francisco must be submitted through our online portal. Please visit https://careers.sf.gov/ to begin your application process.
Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment. Please consider using a personal email address that you check regularly rather than a work or school account.
Computers are available for the public (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) to file online applications in the lobby of the Dept. of Human Resources at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor and at the City Career Center at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 110.
Ensure your application information is accurate, as changes may not be possible after submission. Your first and last name must match your legal ID for verification, and preferred names can be included in parentheses. Use your personal email address, not a shared or work email, to avoid unfixable issues.
Applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@smartrecruiters.com 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.
If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Marielle Saldajeno at marielle.saldajeno@sfdph.org or (628) 271-6820.
We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. By applying, you accept the Trust and Privacy Policy and you may opt out of text messaging anytime.
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.
San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city, on the forefront of economic growth & innovation, urban development, arts & entertainment, as well as social issues & change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City's commitment to heighten the quality of life for San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco. The City & County of San Francisco employs more than 34,000 individuals in a diverse array of services such as maintaining city streets and parks, driving buses and cable cars, providing public health services, keeping the streets safe and firefighting.
If you ever wondered what’s it like to work for The City, check out our latest video.
http://youtu.be/WXf9E_mAbJw
Follow us on Twitter for featured jobs: @Work4sf
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Work4SF
