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The Office of the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer is seeking well-qualified candidates for the position of Principal Appraiser.  Principal Appraisers must have thorough knowledge of Property Tax and the Revenue and Taxation Code as it relates to Real Property Valuation, Change in Ownership reassessment or exclusion requirements, New Construction valuation, Decline in Value valuation, Property Classification, etc.
 
The department currently has two vacancies in the areas of Residential and Commercial real property appraisal and assessment.
 
The Principal Appraisers share a critical role in assisting the Chief Appraiser and Deputy Assessor in the completion of the Office's mission to determine the assessed value of all taxable property located in San Mateo County, the creation of the official record of taxable property (approximately 240,000 assessments each year in the local assessment roll), and the sharing of this information with the County Controller and Tax Collector and making it publicly available.
 
This is an exciting time for seasoned Principal Appraisers to join our dynamic team of Appraisal professionals. The Assessor's Office is currently involved in several major projects, including the development of a new Assessor's Property Assessment System (APAS), and the appraisal and assessment of several large-scale new generation commercial, manufacturing, research and development, and mixed-use developments being built throughout San Mateo County.  Principal Appraisers may be called upon to provide subject matter expertise in the development of the Assessor's Property Assessment System.

 

Examples Of Duties

The technically-savvy and experienced individuals hired for these positions will have the responsibility to supervise appraisal and exemption staff in the timely collection, processing, and analysis of valuation data for real, personal, tangible, and intangible property for tax assessment purposes, and to manage the impact of the new regulations.
 

Additional responsibilities and duties of these Principal Appraisers will include (but are not limited to):

• Planning, organizing, training, supervising, reviewing, and evaluating the work of appraisal staff
• Providing advanced support in the most difficult, specialized, or high-value or high-risk appraisals
• Fostering professional growth and effective working relationships
• Managing, analyzing, and evaluating special projects
• Providing subject matter expert (SME) advice to IT analysts/team in the development of the new Assessor Property Assessment System

The ideal candidates will possess:

• Knowledge of supervisory principles and practices including work planning, scheduling, assignment, and review, and employee training, evaluation, and corrective action
• Technical and professional knowledge of appraisal procedures for real, personal, and intangible property
• Understanding of California Property Tax laws, State Board of Equalization guidelines, and Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice; and the ability to read, interpret, and apply these rules, policies, and procedures
• Familiarity with systems, technology, and desktop applications
• Ability to appraise and assess complex property interests as per California statutes and Property Tax Rules and Regulations
• Skill in analyzing information and using sound independent judgment to make decisions and determine appropriate courses of action, including recommending legal actions
• Effective communication skills in both oral and written formats, including formal presentations
• Capability to be adaptable and resourceful
• Team building skills and effective ways of motivating and leading others to meet the challenges of a changing work environment
• Leadership skills, the ability to be a team player, and the ability to build strong interpersonal relationships
• Training experience to train new staff and develop appraisal and property tax assessment skills in all employees
• Ability to manage a heavy workload, including reviewing hundreds of appraisals and assessments per week and providing the appropriate feedback to staff

 
THE DEPARTMENT AND DIVISION
The mission of the Office of the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer is to ensure equitable treatment of County property owners by accurate and fair valuation of land, improvements, and businesses; to create an accurate public record of recorded transactions relating to people and property within San Mateo County; and to register County citizens to vote and efficiently conduct honest elections.
 
The Department is responsible for:

• The maintenance of 240,000 assessments and a local property tax roll of over $238 billion.
• The maintenance of County birth, death, and marriage records.
• The maintenance of over 3,000,000 recorded land records.
• The facilitation of local elections.
• The maintenance of the voter registration rolls representing over 330,000 County voters.

 
The Department is also responsible for a budget of $20 million, election billing to all jurisdictions, and 15 governmental trust funds.
 
 

Qualifications

Licensure/Certification: Acquisition within one year of appointment of a permanent Property Tax Appraiser Certificate issued by the California State Board of Equalization.  
 
Education and Experience: Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying.
 
The preferred qualifications include:

• A Bachelor's degree, and
• Six years of experience performing a full range of appraisals of tangible and taxable property, of which three years are for tax assessment purposes preferably with an Assessor's Office in California, and
• Experience appraising and assessing at least 3,000 or more residential properties, and
• Three years of experience with Assessment Appeals

Additional preferred qualifications include:
 

• Previous completion of advanced level courses offered by the California Board of Equalization and/or the Appraisal Institute
• Advanced Appraiser Certification issued by the State Board of Equalization.

Three years of experience as a Sr. Appraiser with San Mateo County Assessor's Office is considered qualifying experience.
 
The preferred and most highly qualified candidates will have experience in both the commercial and residential areas.
 
Specialized knowledge of Property Tax Rules and Regulations and Revenue and Taxation Code as they relate to Change in Ownership, Transfers, Assessments, etc., is a plus.
 
Knowledge of:

• Supervisory principles and practices, including work planning, scheduling, assignment, and review, and employee training and corrective action
• Technical and professional knowledge of appraisal procedures for real, personal, and intangible property
• Principles, methods, and techniques of effective interviewing, negotiating, and case management
• Training methods, procedures, and requirements
• California Property Tax statues and Rules and Regulations
• California State Board of Equalization guidelines
• Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice
• Court decisions affecting assessment procedures
• Methods to appraise typical real property, personal property, and Possessory interests
• Methods to appraise Special Properties like Ag and Timber Preserves, Historical Mining, etc.
• Policies and procedures related to the department
• Business arithmetic and statistical measures
• Correct English usage, including spelling, grammar, and punctuation
• Record keeping principles and procedures

 
Skill/Ability to:

• Plan, assign, supervise, review, and evaluate the work of others
• Train others in work procedures
• Appraise complex property interests
• Analyze information and situations and use sound independent judgment to make decisions and determine appropriate courses of action, including recommending legal actions
• Organize, manage, and monitor cases and maintain accurate files, records, and statistics
• Select and make appropriate adjustments to property
• Read, interpret, and apply rules, policies, and procedures
• Accurately determine historic, reproduction, and replacement costs
• Accurately identify and measure depreciation and obsolescence
• Measure income-producing characteristics of property and appropriately capitalize the income stream into value
• Identify and classify various types of land, sites, buildings, structures, manufactured homes, vessels, aircraft, trade fixtures, and personal property interests in an accurate and uniform manner
• Travel to a variety of geographic locations throughout the County according to regular schedules as well as on demand
• Produce effective presentations
• Maintain complete and accurate records
• Prepare written appraisal reports
• Operate standard office equipment, including departmental applications
• Use initiative and sound independent judgment within established guidelines
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work 

 

Application/Examination

Open and Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, Confidential and Management extra-help/limited term, and SEIU or AFSCME represented extra help/limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.  
 
Responses to the supplemental questionnaire, in addition to our regular employment application form, must be submitted in order to be included in this recruitment.
 
The first phase of the examination process will consist of an application screening (weight: pass/fail).  Those who pass the application screening will be invited to the second phase of the examination process, the panel interview, which could include the evaluation of a brief written and/or performance exercise given immediately preceding the interview.  In order to be considered for the position, applicants will have to successfully pass the interview.
 
Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations or a screening committee may select those applicants whose education and/or experience appear to best meet the needs of the position. Qualified applicants will be notified of the date, time and place of the test(s).
 
IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to http://jobs.smcgov.org/ to apply. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before 11:59 p.m. on the final filing date.

 This is a continuous recruitment which may close at any time. The final filing date will be posted 5 days in advance in the County of San Mateo Human Resources Department. 

Apply immediately. This recruitment is open on a continuous basis and selections may be made at any time within the process. 

TENTATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
Final Filing Date: Continuous

Please submit your job application as per instructions on the brochure at https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/75257/637611534155330000

The City of San José is seeking an experienced Deputy Director to oversee Energy Resiliency for the Department. The Deputy Director will report directly to the Director and provide City-wide leadership to explore, develop, coordinate, and deliver a comprehensive package of strategies, programs, and projects to improve energy resiliency. This is a time-limited (overstrength) position - budgeted for two years. At the end of this period, this role maybe converted to a regular position within the City of San Jose, evolve into a position within the management team of Google, or another third party, or be eliminated. This is an exciting new role helping to define the future of microgrids within the economic and political infrastructure of one of America’s most dynamic cities. A key responsibility of this position is to oversee all aspects of the City’s approach to enabling an advanced energy microgrid to serve Google's Downtown West Mixed-Use Plan. A major component of the Downtown West Project is an innovative large microgrid to more efficiently handle some of the utility needs of the development. Google is proposing an advanced microgrid electrical distribution system with renewable energy generation and storage resources distributed throughout the development. One of the main benefits of the microgrid is more resilient, clean, and affordable energy for the community within the Project. The Deputy Director will provide strategic leadership to advance the microgrid and is an integral part of the City’s executive team. Responsibilities include:

•Lead the development of a business plan and draft agreements for the City to provide electric distribution service to the development to enable the microgrid. The business plan would include expected rates, tariffs, operations, and organizational structure and include a detailed analysis of the opportunities and risks including the economic, climate, and resiliency risks and benefits of the City providing this service.

•Collaborate and lead technical work streams with Google to advance the microgrid.•Oversee and provide direction to consulting team(s) to develop the business plan, agreements, and any other technical analysis needed.

•Liaise with PG&E and consulting team(s) to advance the transmission interconnection of the microgrid, including overseeing various engineering studies and construction agreements.

•Oversee technical consultants to the develop the City’s engineering design and construction standards for the microgrid.

•Lead the development of City Council memorandums and other documents needed to advance the project.

This position will also work to advance several Citywide initiatives to improve energy resiliency and lessen the impacts of public safety power shutoff (PSPS) events and other power interruptions. These responsibilities include:

•Collaborate with the Office of Emergency Management and City Manager’s Office to provide technical guidance on the City’s Power Vulnerability Plan and response to PSPS events.

•Lead the development of innovative programs to advance onsite generation resources within the community.

•Identify opportunities and funding resources to improve the energy resiliency of City facilities; including evaluating technical resources, cost impacts, and climate impacts.

Please note that applications are currently NOT accepted through CalOpps or any other third-party job board application systems. To be considered for this exceptional opportunity, please follow instructions on the job announcement to submit your application.

The City of San Jose’s Community Energy Department’s is seeking a Principal Power Resources Specialist to join the Power Supply Team. Successful candidates should have a deep knowledge of California energy markets, relationships, and experience working with a variety of energy market participants, including: large energy trading firms,
independent power producers, investor owned and municipal utilities, and CCAs. Experience successfully managing and improving power portfolio performance for a large utility or power trading firm is highly preferred. For more information on the development the Community Energy Department, please click here.

The ideal candidates have strong analytical skills with extensive experience related to power trading and origination, and contract negotiations in California energy markets. The positions will be part of a fast-paced team, often working on multiple high-priority projects and short deadlines. Good judgment, initiative, and cooperation with other staff and outside stakeholders will be an asset to this position.

This position will report to the Deputy Director of the Power Resources Division. Successful candidates should possess the following:

• Extensive knowledge of energy market indices, pricing trends, seasonal market dynamics, and experience using this knowledge to improve power portfolio performance.
• Extensive experience in contract negotiations with large energy trading firms, utilities, and renewable developers.
• Extensive experience with energy contracts including energy and capacity transactions, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) agreement, and short-term Western Systems Power Pool (WSSP) transactions, tolling agreements, and long-term power purchase agreements.
• Strong data analytics skills, experience implementing strategies, data driven in order to improve power portfolio performance.
• Experience in managing power bids and requests for proposals.
• Knowledge related to power generation technologies, major asset owners, risks and benefits of various power sources and contract structures.
• Knowledge and experience working with regulatory compliance agencies such as: the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC), the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) , CEC, FERC
• Experience with CAISO markets, or another RTO, power scheduling and settlement functions to ensure compliance and reduce market risks and costs.
• Experience developing long and short-term resource plans; including utility integrated resource planning to develop an electric utility’s resource needs to cost effectively meet expected electricity demand over a long-term planning horizon.

Education and Experience Requirements

-Education: A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Business, Economics, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Law, Natural Resources, Statistics, or related field to utility business. A Master’s degree is highly desirable.

-Experience: Six (6) years of progressively responsible related experience overseeing and administering energy resources operations, planning, purchasing, scheduling, or contract negotiations.

-Acceptable Substitution: A Master’s degree in a related field, may be substituted for up to two (2) years of the required experience. There is no substitution for the required bachelor’s degree.

Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San José will NOT sponsor, represent, or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

Please note that applications are currently NOT accepted through CalOpps or any other third-party job board application systems. To be considered for this exceptional opportunity, please follow instructions on the job announcement to submit your application.