Position and Duties:
The City Council has a Digital Inclusion and Broadband Strategy that seeks to accelerate the deployment of wired and wireless broadband for all people while making it more inclusive for the digitally underserved (the digital divide). Executing this strategy requires negotiating value exchange relationships with telecom providers, overseeing the creation, adoption, and execution of balanced broadband friendly policies, working collaboratively with the community on the aesthetics and other community concerns associated with broadband deployment, and setting the vision, strategy, and priorities for the Small Cell Team in the Department of Public Works, and the Macro Site Team in the Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement Department that executes the Permit to Inspect processes for the City.
The Broadband Manager reports directly to the Director of Civic Innovation and works closely with the Deputy City Manager responsible for 21st Century Infrastructure.
The Broadband Manager directly influences over $1B in private sector investments into the City of San José over the next seven years. This private sector investment creates thousands of jobs, dramatically increases regional GDP, delivers hundreds of millions of dollars of Smart City capability, and delivers tens of millions of economic opportunities for the digitally underserved.
The Broadband Manager requires a broad set of skills including strategic thinking, negotiation, telecommunications experience, public policy, team leadership, and public collaboration. They will negotiate value exchange agreements to generate the demand for broadband deployments and ensure City’s departments fulfill that demand by permitting communications facilities including macro site, small cells, and underground fiber optics. This role requires collaboration with various City departments including, but not limited to the City Manager’s Office of Administration, Policy, and Intergovernmental Relations; City Manager’s Budget Office; Mayor’s Office; Information Technology; Planning, Building and Code Enforcement; Public Works; and Transportation. The Broadband Manager will also work closely with innovative technology companies to evaluate ways to accelerate broadband deployment, including Smart City technology within the new context of COVID-19 public health, and the shelter-in-place dynamics that highlight the value of digital inclusion. Collaboration with public interest groups, community organizations, and other stakeholders will also be required to ensure public adoption of broadband deployment, especially the deployment of small cells on street lights. Finally, the Broadband Manager will work closely with the City’s Library Department and external stakeholders to ensure progress of social justice for the digitally underserved people in San José.
The Broadband Manager responsibilities include the following:
Negotiate value trading agreements with broadband providers that promote economic development, digital inclusion, and support for Smart Cities.
Direct the development of balanced broadband friendly policies.
Direct the City departments involved with broadband deployment.
Collaborate with external stakeholders on community concerns with broadband deployments.
Measure compliance with agreement terms and conditions.
Evaluate new technologies and approaches to accelerate broadband.
Report progress to City Council and external stakeholders.
Advise on federal, state, and local regulations including rulings from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and recent court decisions.
Advise on proposed telecommunications resiliency standards for broadband deployments from and emergency operations perspective such as the CPUC Wireless Resiliency Strategy and the City of San José Power Vulnerability Plan.
Supervise and manage the Small Cell Permitting Project Manager.
Manage the Digital Inclusion Program in relation to public-private partnership contract requirements and in relation to City and community stakeholders to advance digital inclusion.
This is a permanent position in the City Manager’s Office.
