Sr. Investigator & Legal Analyst- Ethics Commission (1823)

Category 18:

Temporary Exempt position, special project-based position limited to no more than 3 years in duration. This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process, is considered "at will" and shall serve at the discretion of the Department Head.

Application Opening: May 21, 2025

Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00p.m., June 13, 2025

Compensation Range: $119,444- $145,158

Recruitment ID: RTF0153838-01149105

About the Commission: The San Francisco Ethics Commission was created by the City’s voters with the passage of Proposition K in November 1993. Our mission is to promote the highest standards of integrity in government. We achieve that by delivering impactful programs that promote fair, transparent, and accountable governmental decision making for the benefit of all San Franciscans. The Ethics Commission is responsible for the independent and impartial administration and enforcement of laws related to campaign finance, public financing of candidates, governmental ethics, conflicts of interest, and registration and reporting by lobbyists, campaign consultants, permit consultants, and major developers.

The successful candidate should expect to perform their duties in a hybrid work environment with at least three days onsite per week per current City policy. Additionally, any City employee may be called in for Disaster Service Work duty or to work onsite with 24-hours’ notice.

ABOUT THE TEAM

To fulfill the Ethics Commission’s oversight mandate as an independent administrative enforcement agency, the Enforcement Division is charged with ensuring fair, thorough, and timely investigations and case outcomes that serve as an effective deterrent and promote accountability in government. The Division has responsibility to identify, investigate, and pursue penalties for unlawful conduct within the scope of the Commission’s jurisdiction. The Division’s investigators are responsible for fully and objectively investigating potential violations of the law to ensure that those who violate the law are held publicly accountable for their actions, which can include imposition of monetary penalties levied by the five-member Ethics Commission as provided for under the law.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Commission is seeking a Senior Investigator & Legal Analyst with solid analytical and investigative skills, exceptional judgment, and a demonstrated commitment to accountable government to perform highly complex, sensitive, and detailed investigations. As a member of the Enforcement Division, the Senior Investigator & Legal Analyst will play a central role in developing the Commission’s capacity to identify, investigate, and resolve matters of significant complexity and heightened public harm, including by initiating new matters based on self-generated leads. This position reports to the Ethics Commission’s Director of Enforcement.

As with all positions at the Ethics Commission, the Senior Investigator & Legal Analyst must be willing to forego involvement in all local political activity while a member of the Commission staff and publicly file an annual Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700). All positions at the Ethics Commission are required to comply with the department’s Statement of Incompatible Activities.

Important and Essential Duties

Essential duties of the position include but are not limited to the following:

• Conduct complex investigations of alleged violations of ethics, conflicts of interest, campaign finance, lobbying, whistleblower protection, and public disclosure laws.
• Identify potential violations of the law, both by evaluating complaints filed with the Commission and through proactive investigative work.
• Develop legal strategy to evaluate allegations, evidence, applicable law, regulations, and policies and apply sound independent judgment to determine case resolution strategy, including identifying matters to be prosecuted before the five-member Commission.
• Prepare probable cause report, responses to rebuttals, pre-hearing briefs, witness lists and exhibits, motions, and other legal documents necessary to obtain a complete administrative record.
• Represent the Division before the five-member Commission at administrative hearings, including by offering objections, taking testimony, submitting written and oral evidence, and providing oral argument.
• In coordination with the Director of Enforcement develop, negotiate, and present written stipulated settlements for Commission consideration.
• Perform highly complex, sensitive, and detailed investigative and/or legal research pertaining to alleged violations of the law to support the effectiveness of the Ethics Commission’s mandate as an independent administrative enforcement agency.
• Identify and obtain a wide range of information and source documents to elicit factual information and evaluate compliance with laws within the Commission’s jurisdiction, including through investigative research, document requests, the exercise of subpoena power, and witness interviews.
• Communicate with the subjects of investigations and their representatives regarding case resolution options, based on a full assessment of the facts, law, and evidence, and negotiate and draft settlement agreements.
• In coordination with the Director of Enforcement, assist in reviewing and proposing improvements to investigative and case resolution processes, including the Commission’s hearing process.
• Analyze and evaluate data and information to identify facts and develop evidence-based conclusions.
• Collaborate with other Division members to develop investigative strategies and case theories.
• Prepare and present investigative reports, including detailed exhibits to summarize complex data and other relevant information and document findings, and make recommendations to resolve investigative outcomes, including advising the Director of Enforcement and Executive Director regarding potential dismissals, warning letters, probable cause, and penalties.
• Present cases before the Executive Director and the Ethics Commission through formal conferences and hearings as needed.
• Perform administrative and management duties as assigned, including regular progress updates and assisting management in program reporting and resource planning.
• Act as an investigative, enforcement and/or legal affairs resource as assigned for other units at the Commission to provide general enforcement context for policy development or other matters.
• Represent Enforcement Division or Ethics Commission with other city departments or external parties, including the Controller’s, City Attorney’s, and District Attorney’s Offices, as assigned.
• Promote knowledge sharing among staff members and assist in cross-training team members on policies, procedures, regulations, systems, operations, and processes related to programs administered.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, senior management, representatives of other departments/agencies, officials, contractors, and the public to achieve organizational goals.
• Maintain confidentiality of sensitive and confidential information obtained through the course of completing assignments while working comfortably in an open government environment.
• Supervise and train interns, temporary staff, or other staff on project basis, as assigned.
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including periodic attendance and/or presentation at Commission meetings.

Minimum Qualifications

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university

and

Three (3) years full-time equivalent experience performing professional-level analytical work. Qualifying professional-level analytical work includes analysis, development, administration, and reporting in major programs and functions of an organization in the areas of budgets, contracts, grants, policy, or other functional areas related to the duties of positions in the 182X Class series.

Substitution:

Possession of a graduate degree (Master's degree or higher) from an accredited college or university with major coursework in specialized subject matter areas such as public or business administration, management, business law, contract law, public policy, urban studies, economics, statistical analysis, finance, accounting or other fields of study closely related to the essential functions of positions in the Class series may be substituted for one (1) year of required experience.

Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of 2 years). Thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units equal one year.

Desirable Qualifications

• Possession of a Juris Doctorate from an accredited law school and/or admission to the California State Bar.
• Prior professional experience planning and performing complex investigations, research, and analysis and developing well-supported findings and recommendations.
• Prior professional experience working on matters involving governmental ethics, campaign finance, lobbying or in related areas of government oversight.
• Prior professional experience working in an oversight, regulatory, administrative, or law enforcement agency.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and complete projects with high quality and on time, including effective use of organizational systems to regularly track and report on progress toward established goals and objectives.
• Experience working objectively, efficiently, and effectively under strict deadlines and in highly visible, highly sensitive or highly politicized settings.

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 next stage of the selection process. The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

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
• 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 https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen
• A cover letter that details your interest in this position and the work of the Ethics Commission and describes your relevant skills and experience. Please also address any prior experience or exposure to governmental accountability and oversight work.
• Current resume

Applications that do not contain the requested information will not be considered.

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 up-to-date. 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 (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

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.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Nikki Chew, Sr. HR Consultant at [email protected]

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.