Job Description

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management manages disaster preparation, mitigation, and response; 9-1-1 dispatch, and homeland security grant distribution for the City and County of San Francisco. DEM was created in 2006 by local legislation that reorganized the Emergency Communications Department and the Office of Emergency Services into a single agency. For more information on the Department of Emergency Management, please visit: http://www.sfdem.org/

Application Opening: Friday, July 17, 2026
Application Deadline: Interested applicants are encouraged to apply immediately as the filing period may close at any time but no sooner than 4 PM (PDT) on July 31, 2026.
Recruitment ID: PEX-0942-0166602

Appointment Type: This is a Permanent Exempt (PEX) appointment not to exceed three (3) years. This position is exempt from Civil Service Commission rules pursuant to the City and County of San Francisco, Charter Section 10.104, and incumbents are considered “at will” and serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. This is a full time, 40 hours per week appointment.

The Director of Emergency Services reports to the Chief Deputy Director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (SFDEM). This position serves as the lead emergency manager for the City and County of San Francisco. Under policy direction, this position establishes and implements the mission and long-term vision of SFDEM’s Emergency Services. This position oversees the development of strategic plans and interim goals, establishes policies and determines priorities, adjusts plans to respond to emerging and/or urgent issues, and directs the allocation of resources to achieve timely outcomes and measurable goals within budget guidelines. The Director of Emergency Services makes decisions of critical impact affecting the safety and resiliency of the City and the public. This position assumes major responsibility for all programs and activities under Emergency Services.

Given the nature of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery requirements, the Director of Emergency Services will be expected to be on-call outside of normal business hours and will be expected to respond and/or report to work in the event of an emergency or other incident impacting San Francisco. This includes the ability to work nights, weekends, and holidays - sometimes with very little notice.

Major, important, and essential duties of the Director of Emergency Services position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Prioritize and align emergency management activities to executive direction, ensuring that operational priorities, messaging, and resource allocation reflect the City’s executive leadership needs and expectations.
• Demonstrate flexibility and adaptability by adjusting operational plans, staffing assignments, and response strategies as conditions evolve, including during rapidly developing incidents, shifting political priorities, or unexpected resource limitations.
• Exercise sound judgment under pressure by evaluating limited or conflicting information, making timely operational decisions, and clearly communicating next steps to staff, partner agencies, and departmental and city leadership.
• Model high‑performance behavior by setting expectations for responsiveness, accountability, and adaptability, reinforcing a culture of operational excellence within the Emergency Services team.
• Determine the organizational structure, staff assignments, service levels, and administrative systems required to accomplish mission and objectives in an effective and efficient manner that meet the needs of the City.
• Support and implement the Executive Director’s department-wide priorities and initiatives, including operations and incident management, preparedness and planning, training and exercise, external partnerships, and coordination of city resources related to citywide special events.
• Activate the City and County of San Francisco Emergency Operations Center (EOC) when appropriate; identify the appropriate level of activation and secure necessary staffing, and serve as primary EOC Director for all major incidents or events.
• Direct the production of citywide or regional preparedness trainings, exercises, workshops, and associated deliverables.
• Ensure compliance with federal and state Homeland Security and other applicable regulations.
• Consult with Mayor’s Office staff and Chief Deputy Director regarding the activities within Emergency Services and proper prioritization of citywide initiatives related to emergency preparedness.
• Coordinate with other City Departments regarding compliance with federal, state and local guidelines and directives, and their overall emergency preparedness responsibilities as agencies serving the City and County of San Francisco. This includes managing the network of citywide emergency managers across multiple City Departments.
• Coordinate with partner agencies, including representatives from the private sector, not-for-profit groups, community-based organizations, and other non-governmental organizations to ensure coordinated citywide emergency preparedness and response.
• Represent the Department before commissions, boards and committees, and representatives from federal, state and local agencies and jurisdictions.
• Oversee long-term financial planning, including directing the preparation and implementation of the unit’s annual budget, monitoring expenditures to ensure adherence to the approved budget, ensuring compliance with grant-funded position requirements, and coordinating with the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative for grant submissions and allocations.
• Facilitate citywide working groups, briefings, or large coordinating meetings as needed.
• Guide the development of standard operating procedures for emergency operations and response.
• Promote and prioritize City Department and partner agency emergency preparedness and compliance through training, exercise, and experience opportunities.
• Support and work directly with the External Affairs team to promote citywide preparedness efforts and legislative initiatives.
• Ensure timely review and response to all work‑related communications, including email, phone calls, and text messages, to support rapid decision‑making and effective coordination with internal and external partners.
• Maintain staff productivity during both routine operations and emergency activations by managing workflows, setting priorities, and ensuring personnel remain responsive and engaged.
• Provide insight and recommendations to the Chief Deputy Director as appropriate.
• Maintain positive working relationships with local, state, and federal partners.
• Foster a positive workplace culture that invests in professional development, expands team perspective and experience, and focuses staff time on Emergency Services priorities and deliverables.
• Oversee the overall operation and quality control of the unit and its functions and programs, including setting objectives and monitoring the performance of subordinate staff.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

1.Possession of a Bachelor’s Degree in Emergency Management, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university; AND

2. Five (5) years of experience in a responsible managerial capacity involving the delivery of emergency communication services or emergency management services with a government agency public safety environment, all of which must include supervisory experience.

3. Possession and maintenance of a valid driver's license (Note: A valid California driver's license is required at the time of appointment)

Substitution: Additional full-time work experience as described above may substitute for the degree requirement on a year for year basis for up to two (2) years of the required education. One (1) year of work experience is equivalent to 30 semester units or 45 quarter units.

Note: One year of full-time employment is 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.

Desirable Qualifications

• Verifiable completion of Incident Command System courses 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, 706, 800, or equivalent.
• Verifiable completion of Incident Command System/Emergency Operations Center courses 2200, G-191, E/L/G 2300 or equivalent within the last 5 years.
• Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers.
• Possession of an advanced degree in Emergency Management, Public Policy, Public Administration, City Planning, or equivalent field.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

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. 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.

Additional Information

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 for an interview.

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
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

Submit your application through this job ad. Applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@careers.sf.gov 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.

Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Emily Liang, at emily.s.liang@sfgov.org.

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.