Capital Planning Director -San Francisco Public Utilities Commission- (0942) (Exempt) (San Francisco)

Company Description

• Application Opening: June 9, 2025
• Application Filing Deadline: July 8, 2025
• Recruitment ID: TEX-0942-153532 (RTF0153531)

APPOINTMENT TYPE: Temporary Exempt: These positions are excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. The duration of the appointment shall not exceed 36 months.

This recruitment is for two separate SFPUC positions: Water Enterprise Capital Planning Director and Power Enterprise Capital Planning Director. If you are interested in either position, please complete the application. The initial review for minimum qualifications will be the same for both positions.

WHO ARE WE?
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)
Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area - 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Our Mission: To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision: We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness. We are an award-winning and industry-leading utilities organization committed to our customers, community interests, and the environment. To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at We are proud of our infrastructure and programs, but most importantly, we value our highly qualified and dedicated workforce which ensures that this vision becomes a reality.

To learn more about working at the SFPUC, visit our career site at

About the Capital Plan

The SFPUC is entrusted with the critical responsibility of providing vital water, wastewater and power services to San Francisco, as well as providing essential water services to millions of residents across the Bay Area. To fulfill this mission effectively, the SFPUC requires a comprehensive and forward-looking plan for investing in and maintaining its extensive infrastructure. This blueprint for the future takes the form of the 10-Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), a dynamic document mandated by the City Charter and crucial for ensuring reliable and resilient services for generations to come.

Built on robust risk analysis of current assets, projected customer growth, evolving regulations, and emerging technologies, the plan provides a long-range forecast of capital investments necessary and critical to safeguard the provision of services long term. The most recently approved SFPUC CIP includes a major increase requiring significant additional oversight and leadership to effectively manage the overall size and scope of capital investments.

These new senior level positions demonstrate the agency's commitment to providing stronger oversight and leadership of the capital planning and delivery process. There will be one Capital Planning Director each for the Water Enterprise and the Power Enterprise.

About the Water Enterprise Capital Improvement Plan

For the Water Enterprise - which consists of several Regional Water Systems (Hetch Hetchy System; separate Regional Water Systems in the- East Bay and Peninsula/West Bay) and the Local Water distribution which includes an In-City Distribution System - the 10-Year CIP accounts for approximately $2.9B in capital investments over the next ten years between FY 2025-26 to FY 2034-35. This plan includes high priority projects to replace aging infrastructure as well as extensive water main maintenance and replacement.

About the Power Enterprise Capital Improvement Plan

The Power Enterprise capital programs for FY 2025-26 to FY 2034-35 include the CleanPowerSF 10-Year Capital Program ($48.5M) and the Hetch Hetchy Power portion ($1.3B) of the Hetch Hetchy Enterprise 10-Year Capital Plan. This includes transmission and distribution projects and upgrades to meet reliability in an environment of growing reliance on electricity, Streetlight Replacement, the Public Power Expansion Project and others.

Job Description

Reporting to the Assistant General Manager of the Enterprise, the Capital Planning Director assumes full responsibility for Capital Plan development and reporting. This senior position serves as the central organizing function for leading and developing the Enterprise 10-year capital plan, including ongoing oversight of the long-term capital strategy in alignment with enterprise and agency priorities. This includes contributing to the development of Level of Service goals, asset management standards and practices, emerging regulatory requirements, long-term operation and maintenance requirements, long-term enterprise resource and staffing requirements, and aligning with customer growth strategies, as necessary.

In partnership with the Infrastructure Division Capital Delivery Director, this role also monitors implementation of the Enterprise CIP to address emerging needs across the capital program. The Capital Planning Director serves as the primary liaison between operations, engineering, finance, and project management to facilitate the flow of information and coordinate dependencies between projects to support successful delivery and handover of projects at completion.

This is a central leadership role for overseeing the capital investment strategy for the Enterprise, developing the 10-year CIP and managing the Enterprise partnership with the Infrastructure Division for capital delivery. They serve a key role identifying and managing portfolio level risks, recommending and supporting procurement of needed resources for long-term facility operation and maintenance, and lead the transfer of the assets at construction completion into operations.

Duties and responsibilities include:

1. Develop strategy for prioritizing capital investments: Develop and implement a framework for prioritizing capital investments considering factors such as enterprise Levels of Service, asset management risks, regulatory requirements, and long-term strategic goals.

2. Produce 10-year capital plan: Lead development of the 10-year Capital Improvement Plan for the Enterprise in accordance with agency guidelines. This includes validating project information for active projects, initiating new projects and documenting risks associated with deferred capital investments.

3. Manage capital project resources and partnerships: Serve as the Enterprise's primary liaison to evaluate and address capital delivery resource needs by project and across the capital portfolio. Oversee program management contracts in partnership with Infrastructure Division Capital Delivery Director to ensure alignment with enterprise priorities.

4. Oversee capital project planning: Conduct needs assessments and develop performance criteria for capital projects led by the Enterprise.

5. Monitor capital project impacts to operations: Facilitate the enterprise's participation in project planning and design phases. Monitor the project during development and construction to determine impact to operations, and enable successful start-up, operation, and long-term maintenance of the asset.

6. Report on capital project information: Ensure consistent project tracking and monitoring to allow for transparency and progress monitoring. In partnership with Infrastructure Division Capital Delivery Director, document and communicate project and portfolio information via reports and presentations for stakeholders including staff, SFPUC Commissioners, legislative boards, mayor's office staff.

7. Capital budget management: Provide leadership and direction to the Enterprise Capital Budget Lead and other budget staff to align capital budget management activities with project management and delivery requirements. Oversee project budget re-allocations and mid-cycle budget requests.

8. Coordinate emergency repair and recovery: Initial point of contact for repair strategy following an emergency that results in failure or disruptions of assets within the capital program. Working with the Enterprise Budget Lead, coordinates asset recovery, re-prioritization of capital investments, and use of emergency contracts.

9. Manage resiliency of the capital planning function: Identifies and fills resource / staffing gaps to effectively develop and oversee the enterprise capital program strategy. Maintains understanding of best practices and promotes knowledge transfer, employee development, and succession planning for critical staff.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Possession of a Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university; AND

Experience: Six years of managerial experience involving management of major capital programs and/or projects for power, water, wastewater, or other infrastructure facilities, in a large agency, of which all must include supervisory experience; AND

License: Possession of a valid California Class C driver's license.

Education Substitution: Additional qualifying experience as described above may substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis up to two years. Thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units equal one (1) year of work experience.

Desirable Qualifications: The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are refe