Deputy City Attorney - Airport Team - City Attorney's Office (8177)

Company Description

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX) position; individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will."

• Application Opening: September 18, 2025
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Thursday, October 2, 2025
• Compensation Range: $153,140 - $268,320
• Recruitment ID: RTF0159264-01158373

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for a qualified and motivated attorney to join its Airport Team.

About The Office

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With nearly 350 talented and dedicated employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers City leaders with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services, and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, and experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/aboutus/dei/

Currently, the Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote. This schedule may change to conform to Citywide standards of four days onsite work.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/

Job Description

About the Airport Team

The Airport Team is a collaborative and dynamic group, currently with seven attorneys and one legal secretary, with plans to add two attorneys and one legal secretary. The Team functions as in-house legal counsel to the Airport Commission, an enterprise department of the City and County of San Francisco, which owns and operates San Francisco International Airport (Airport). The Airport serves over 50,000,000 passengers annually. The Airport Commission has an annual operating budget of over $1 billion and a workforce of over 1,700 employees. The Team is located at the Airport.

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities

Attorneys on the Airport Team provide advice and counsel on a myriad of matters related to Airport management, development and operation. Attorneys advise on general governance under local, state, and federal laws and regulations governing Airport powers and duties. The attorney’s role could include interpreting such laws or regulations; advising on the legal risks of a particular government action; advising on procurements and drafting contract documents; and drafting legislation and regulations. Team deputies primarily specialize in commercial real estate (leases and permits), land use and environmental regulation, design and construction, public finance, ground transportation, operations, procurement and contracts, information technology, and managing defense of government claims and litigation. While we practice in many areas, we are particularly looking for candidates with experience and an interest in at least one or more of the following:

• Experience with public works contracts;
• Experience with advising operations and/or facilities divisions;
• Experience in intellectual property matters;
• Experience with conducting and/or monitoring civil litigation, and legal issues related to defense of government claims subject to the California Tort Claims Act;
• Experience in municipal, airport and/or transportation law, especially matters related to disadvantaged business enterprise programs, Americans with Disabilities Act, and/or Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California.

Desired Qualifications

• Three or more years of experience practicing law, including either advising public agencies or representing public entities in civil litigation.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent legal analytical skills.
• Ability to draft and review agreements, policy documents, and legislation.
• Ability to assume responsibility quickly, work both collaboratively and independently, and think deeply and thoroughly about novel substantive and procedural legal issues.
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment, multi-task, and be curious.
• Ability to work directly with the client in a collaborative environment while maintaining appropriate professional objectivity.
• Ability to manage and appropriately balance an active workload and adjust to occasional workload increases.
• Desire to handle matters and grow in expertise beyond traditional practice areas.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
• Interest and ability to work successfully as part of a team.

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.

Additional Information

Salary And Benefits

The Deputy City Attorney position has a 16-step salary scale ranging from $153,140 to $268,320. The successful applicant is appointed to a salary step based on years of experience as a lawyer. The City offers robust health, retirement and other benefits. For more information please visit: https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview. Attorneys are represented by the Municipal Attorneys Association. Information about compensation and benefits is available by entering Classification Code 8177 at https://careers.sf.gov/classifications/.

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

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
• Make sure to include your CA Bar Number in the education section on your application
• Upload a Cover Letter and a Resume

Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit three references and one writing sample.

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, @sfcityatty.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 Jumy Dang, Senior Human Resources Analyst, at jumy.dang@sfcityatty.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.