Public Relations Manager - San Francisco Public Library - (9251) - 153818 - City and County of San Francisco

AMENDED INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY

This announcement has been amended to reflect changes to the terms of announcement and appeal rights.

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.

• Application Opening: Tuesday, January 07, 2025
• Application Deadline: Tuesday, January 14, 2025 by 5:00pm (Pacific Standard Time)
• Compensation Range: $149,500 to $200,356
• Recruitment ID: 153818 - RTF0153817-01134441

ABOUT US:

The San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) is dedicated to connecting our diverse communities to learning, opportunities and each other. The library system includes the architecturally significant Main Library, an anchor institution in the City’s Civic Center, 27 neighborhood branch libraries that serve all neighborhoods throughout the City, two administrative buildings and four bookmobiles. With a collection of more than 3.7 million items, and circulation exceeding 14 million each year, SFPL serves more than 4 million visitors annually. The library embraces its role as the most democratic of institutions, providing safe and welcoming facilities for all. Through a robust array of services and programs, the library places an emphasis on literacy and learning, digital inclusion, social justice, equity, and healthy communities. For more information about SFPL, please visit www.sfpl.org.

The San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) must build a culture, space, and workplace that is accessible and welcoming to all current and future employees, and to actively build an environment in which all people, regardless of background, identity, or ability, can be equal participants. In this way, our staff at all organizational levels can reflect the communities we serve. A safe, equitable public library is an actively anti-racist public library. Creating an inclusive public library means aligning with the lived realities of people of color. The San Francisco Public Library is committed to advancing racial equity for our workforce and community. SFPL will actively engage in anti-racist practice, programs, and collection development in carrying out the Library’s mission.

Under direction of the Chief of Community Programs & Partnerships, the Public Relations Manager works closely with the City Librarian, Library Commissioners and management team to develop and execute effective strategies for both internal and external communication. This position will oversee, initiate, create and participate in marketing, advertising and public relations initiatives for library-wide programs, events and operations; serve as publications editor in writing, reviewing and supervising updates of all publications, websites and social media platforms; assess community needs and develop and implement community engagement strategies to strengthen SFPL programs and initiatives; promote library programs and initiatives to the media and respond to media inquiries. The successful candidate shall develop and maintain effective and collaborative working relationships with library staff, elected officials, City departments and other library systems.

Essential functions of the position include, but are not limited to:

• Creates, produces, oversees and edits documents and updates related to the Library’s services and policies for distribution to the public.
• Supervises and/or participates in the preparation and composition of advertising campaigns, publications and other documents such as press releases, annual reports, award applications, newsletters and brochures, including coordinating all aspects of the publication process from content, editing, style and reproduction to distribution.
• Revises and updates departmental publications regarding changes in library services and facilities.
• Independently plans, organizes, supervises, promotes, coordinates and creates events relating to departmental activities, such as groundbreakings, honoree events, grand openings and special library programs and events.
• Supervises and/or prepares speeches, presentations and talking points for upper management and prepares responses specific to an incident, event or activity.
• Develops and coordinates public relations strategies with non-profit and civic organizations and other City departments.
• Researches library and public relation trends and identifies potential areas where SFPL can invest its marketing efforts. 
• Represents the Library to the media, Board of Supervisors and other elected officials, various community groups, non-profit agencies and delegates from other cities and countries.
• Supervises, evaluates and trains public affairs, exhibitions and administrative staff; and
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Please note that incumbents in this classification may be required to perform duties as listed in the class specification, which can be found on DHR’s website: https://careers.sf.gov/classifications/

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience: Five years of experience in public affairs, public/media relations, community relations, international relations, or a related field.

Substitution: Additional qualifying work experience may be substituted for the required education on a year-for-year basis. (30 semester / 45 quarter units equals one year)

Desirable Qualifications: The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• Demonstrated experience applying public relations strategies and creating proven marketing programs
• Experience with sensitive and challenging community relations and public relations programs
• Knowledge of new and emerging communications technologies such as video trends, social media tools and applications 
• Knowledge of market research and social media analytics
• Experience developing and maintaining effective partnerships with diverse populations including coworkers, general public, media, community organizations and groups
• Ability to effectively create and edit publications, presentations, websites and social media posts
• Knowledge of modern principles and methods of promotion, marketing strategies and tactics in a public library setting
• Knowledge of external outlets and vendors for advertising, marketing and public relations initiatives.
• Experience supervising and managing staff
• Ability to work independently and in a collaborative environment
• Experience with community assessment and engagement campaigns
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated public speaking and presentation skills
• Excellent customer service skills

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 How to Verify Education Requirements | Department of Human Resources

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

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Supplemental Questionnaire – Weight 100% 

Applicants deemed qualified will be sent a Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) designed to measure critical knowledge, skills and/or abilities needed to perform the essential functions of this position which may include but not be limited to: Knowledge of principles, techniques and practices of effective public relations strategies, marketing, public policy processes; social media platforms; knowledge of community input and market research; ability to analyze and implement community relations and public relations programs; ability to develop partnerships with a variety of stakeholders and assess community needs; Supervising skills to assign, supervise and review the work of subordinates.

Candidates will be required to respond to the supplemental questionnaire in the time frame indicated and must submit the completed questionnaire as directed in order to have it evaluated. Responses cannot be changed once submitted. Candidates will be evaluated based on their supplemental questionnaire responses. Candidates must achieve a passing score on the supplemental questionnaire in order to continue in the selection process. 

Note: A passing score must be achieved on the Supplemental Questionnaire in order to continue in the selection process. 

Additional Selection Processes: The hiring department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures prior to making final hiring decisions. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed to advance through all of the steps in the selection process. 

Eligible List/Score Report: A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of six (6) months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

Certification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.

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
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• 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

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 Christian Molina, Senior Human Resources Analyst at christian.molina@sfpl.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.