San Francisco Department of Building Inspection Student Intern Program, Summer 2025 (5380) - City and County of San Francisco

The City and County of San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) is responsible for the privately owned built environment consisting of over 200,000 habitable and non-habitable buildings and structures. We review construction drawings for compliance with national, state, and local building standards that account for fire-, life-, and structural-safety, including disabled-access and sustainability. Our staff comprise of civil/structural/mechanical/electrical and plumbing engineers and inspectors, as well as administrative staff that intake, process, and issue permits. Our Department employees respond to more public safety calls than our Police and Fire departments combined. When we succeed in our jobs, nothing bad happens in or to the buildings in our city.

We are seeking student interns interested in various engineering disciplines, to provide support to in-house engineering and inspection staff. Appointment Type: Temporary Exempt (TEX). TEX position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination pursuant to San Francisco Charter Section 10.104 and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

The duration of this internship can be 3-6 months, with an opportunity to extend it based on exemplary performance, necessity, and funding.

Selected candidates will be placed as Student Design Trainee I (Job code 5380). The compensation is $35.40 per hour.

The DBI Summer 2025 Intern Cohort will start around June 16, 2025.

Interns will gain on-the-job experience under the guidance of experienced professional engineers, architects, and inspectors while participating in various activities in the assigned Department of Building Inspection Division. These tasks will vary according to need, but may include, but not limited to any of the following:

• Author or revise information bulletins, policy memoranda, and other guidance documents based on research of new regulations, practices, and procedures.
• Create illustrations and/or technical drawings using Autodesk AutoCAD, Revit, or other CAD software.
• Update information on layer of the City’s Geographic Information System (GIS) using ESRI software.
• Review technical reports and/or drawings for compliance with local regulations.
• Research the building industry and other jurisdictions to enhance existing practices in the department.
• Survey customers and professionals for potential changes to improve our services.

Work Schedule:
We work in a hybrid and traditional environment, and you may be expected to work onsite in the office up to 5 days per week. In-office workdays are determined by the nature of the work and scheduled by your supervisor.

Exempt Employment: This role is exempt from the San Francisco Civil Service Rules, and employment is at the discretion of the appointing officer for a period not-to-exceed 6 months.

College students in Associate, Undergraduate, and Graduate Degree Programs studying the following are encouraged to apply:

• Civil Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Structural Engineering
• Construction Management
• Project Management

Minimum QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: At the time you submit your application, you must be enrolled in an accredited university or a community college in the following related fields: Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, or Structural Engineering; Construction or Project Management. 

• You must be returning to your undergraduate program or entering/continuing a graduate program in the Fall 2025.
• Students who will soon graduate are encouraged to apply.
• You can still apply if you are in your second-to-last or last semester, as you may still be selected for the program within six months of graduation.

Experience: No previous experience is necessary. However, previous internship experience may be used to determine the possible level of classification into which you are hired.

• Candidates must be willing to learn architectural, engineering and planning practices depending on the various division and areas of interest.
• Candidates must be prepared to receive on-the-job training to acquire the ability to apply professional standards and develop architectural, engineering and planning skills.
• Candidates must be prepared to exercise technical writing skills and perform with critical thinking and sound engineering judgment.

Desired QUALIFICATIONS:

We are looking for individuals who:

• Are highly organized and detailed-oriented to successfully navigate complexity
• Willing to assist professional staff in the preparation of plans and in compiling and preparing technical, and statistical data in the form of reports, graphs, maps, and charts; may assist in field investigations and in collecting data
• Willing to learn how to or can prepare or assist professional staff in preparing studies, calculations, designs, drawings, sketches, and plans using AutoCAD and other software tools
• Can assist in the preparation of maps, charts, photographs, and other graphic presentations to illustrate planning studies
• Receive and review permit and planning applications, construction plans and supporting documentation for completeness, accuracy and conformance with local, state, and federal codes and other applicable established criteria and entering application data into the database and tracking system
• Think critically through their work and continuously recommend improvements
• Are comfortable using professional judgment to provide architectural, engineering and planning knowledge to supervisors and managers
• Are self-motivated, able to work independently, and open to feedback
• Are comfortable with research and formulating potential solutions/ courses of action.

Important Information for Applying – Please read carefully:
Use the ‘upload resume’ feature at the top of the application page in order to pre-fill the page. This will also automatically attach your resume to the application.
The application allows you to include additional attachments. You must attach the following:

• Proof of your undergraduate or graduate school education (Master’s or PhD program). This can be your transcript (official or unofficial), diploma, class schedule, or other document that shows your current enrollment or graduate student status with your school.
  • Submission date for college transcripts may be extended if it is impossible to obtain by January 17, 2025. Applicants must submit a signed statement explaining why transcripts cannot be obtained by the filing date. Extension requests will be granted on a case-by-case basis. It is the applicant’s sole responsibility that all application materials and support documentation be received in a complete and legible form.
• AND Cover letter (PDF only, limited to 1 page) briefly addressing your interest in Engineering, Architecture, Planning, or other discipline area(s) and career goals.

Applications without these attachments will be considered incomplete and may not move on in the hiring process.

Application Deadline: Applicants are encouraged to apply immediately as this recruitment may close at any time, but no earlier than Friday, January 17, 2025.

Next Steps:

• Invitations to interview will be sent tentatively between February 3-7, 2025.
• Interviews will be conducted tentatively between February 18-28, 2025.
• Selected candidates will be notified between March 3-21, 2025.

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, DBI 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 DBI will be invited to participate in the oral/performance interview.

Your resume and cover letter could be used for scoring in selection processes and interviews.

Verification:
Applicants will be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. More information can be found at: https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#verification. 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.

My Application:
Applicants will be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that the email address on the application is accurate and accessible. Also, applicants must ensure that our emails are not blocked by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept mail from @smartrecruiters.com.

After successfully submitting the application, you will receive a confirmation email that your application has been received. You should retain this confirmation email for your records. Failure to receive this email means that your application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions or need assistance, you can email Jason.hammack@sfgov.org

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

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.