THE DEPARTMENT
The Public Works department consists of approximately 72 full time employees and is responsible for maintaining and improving the city’s streets, parks, water and stormwater systems, traffic signals, trees, fleet and public buildings. The Engineering Division is responsible for managing the City’s capital improvement program and for the review of development projects for compliance with city standards, ordinances, permits, regulations, and statutes. Public Works is responsible for building and maintaining the City’s infrastructure and facilities, and for providing many of the basic services affecting the daily lives of everyone living, working, visiting, and commuting within the City, including:
- 26 City-owned buildings/facilities and their grounds
- A fleet of over 250 vehicles and pieces of equipment
- 97 miles of streets
- Drinking water delivery for 16,000 customers
- Flood protection and stormwater management programs particularly along the San Francisco Bay, San Francisquito Creek and Atherton Channel
- 14 parks, 2 open spaces, 14 playgrounds, 2 dog parks, 9 sports fields, and 14 tennis/pickleball courts
- Efforts to preserve and expand the urban canopy, including 20,000 public trees
- Multimodal transportation services including 42 traffic signals, safe routes to schools and citywide shuttle programs.
The department has 72 full-time equivalent staff members and a nearly $40 million operating budget supported by over 25 different special/dedicated funding sources for the varied programs and services provided to the community. In addition, the City has an approximately $100 million capital program, in part due to a successful track record in pursuing grants from a variety of local, state and federal sources. Some of the exciting efforts on the horizon include efforts to protect the San Francisco Bay shoreline and adjacent community from sea level rise; efforts to eliminate the City’s reliance on fossil fuels through building and fleet electrification; making investments in transportation safety through strategic quick-build projects and large infrastructure changes like a pedestrian/bicycle undercrossing at Caltrain; and ensuring the equitable delivery of services throughout the entire city in alignment with the goals and programs developed as part of the city’s first environmental justice element underway.
THE POSITION
The Assistant Public Works Director – Engineering is one of three Assistant Director classifications in the Public Works Department and reports directly to the Public Works Director. This position has oversight of the Engineering Division, which includes overseeing the division’s staff and operations. This role will direct and participate in major activities and programs of the Division’s functions including but not limited to civil engineering, capital improvement projects, land development engineering, as well as manage related management-level classifications that may also oversee these functional areas such as the City Engineer/Engineering Services Manager.
In managing and coordinating division service for large and complex capital projects, the incumbent will provide oversight and input into conceptual design while meeting with stakeholders to interpret and explain plan review as well as permitting and inspection processes. The person in this role will review plans and documents, providing comments for development projects associated with permits and environmental review requirements. They will also interpret municipal code related to right-of-way permitting and federal, state, and local regulations for utilities including storm water and water quality.