San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Water Resources Engineer

•  Application Opening: 11/5/2025

•  Annual Salary: $169,806 - $206,414

•  Recruitment ID: RTF0159248 / PEX-5241-159249

APPOINTMENT TYPE: Temporary Exempt: This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. The duration of the appointment shall not exceed 36 months.

WHO ARE WE?

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Our Mission: To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision: We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness.

We are an award-winning and industry-leading utilities organization committed to our customers, community interests, and the environment. To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at https://www.sfpuc.org/.

We are proud of our infrastructure and programs, but most importantly, we value our highly qualified and dedicated workforce which ensures that this vision becomes a reality.

To learn more about working at the SFPUC, visit our career site at https://www.sfpuc.org/about-us/careers-sfpuc.   

Job Description

Project: Improving and Modernizing SFPUC's Hydrologic and Water Systems Models

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is hiring a water resources modeler in the Hydrology and Water Systems (HAWS) group within the SFPUC Regional Water System (RWS).  The RWS is a regional water utility that operates water supply reservoirs in the Sierra Nevada and San Francisco Bay Area and serves drinking water to approximately 2.8 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The water resources modeler will perform watershed and water systems analyses associated with the planning and operations of the RWS.  The modeler will develop and use analytical tools and models to support capital projects and evaluate regulatory changes associated with instream flow requirements, water rights and reservoir and watershed operation.  The modeler will also evaluate the effect of droughts and other weather extremes on the RWS, and will support SFPUC’s work in understanding the effects of climate change on RWS water supply reliability.  The position is responsible for developing, improving, maintaining and documenting analytical tools and models used by the HAWS group.                             

Essential Duties: 

•  Use and develop hydrologic and water supply models

•  Prepare drought water supply analyses for the Regional Water System (RWS)

•  Develop and communicate reservoir inflow forecasts and work with RWS operators to support operational planning

•  Evaluate the effects of potential regulatory changes on RWS water supply reliability

•  Evaluate the effects of alternative water supply projects on RWS water supply reliability

•  Support evaluation of climate change within RWS watersheds and service area; develop analyses of potential future effects of climate change on RWS water supply reliability

•  Work closely with other departments within SFPUC to support the analytical work performed by those departments

•  Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

1. Five (5) years of verifiable professional Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, or Environmental Engineering experience, which includes two (2) years experience equivalent to City and County of San Francisco class 5207 Associate Engineer or higher;

AND

 2. Possession of a current Certificate of Registration as a Professional Engineer in the State of California in Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, or Environmental Engineering. (Please indicate your PE license number and expiration dates in Education Section) 

Substitutions/Notes:

1. There is no substitution for the required two years of work experience equivalent to a 5207 Associate Engineer or higher.

2. A Masters degree in Environmental Engineering disciplines may substitute for (1) one year of work experience in the environmental specialty.

3. A Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering disciplines may substitute for 2 (two) years of work experience in the environmental specialty.

License or Certificate: Some positions may require a valid driver license.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week.) Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Desirable Qualifications: The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

•  Graduate degree in civil or environmental engineering or a closely related field

•  Experience in using hydrologic models to support water supply analysis for a large water utility

•  Experience in developing watershed-specific hydrologic models

•  Experience in developing water yield analyses to support water supply projects

•  Experience using programs such as Python, R, and Visual Basic

•  Experience working in cloud environments such as Microsoft Azure

•  Experience using data management tools (e.g., databases)

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. Education verification information on verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at How to Verify Education Requirements | Department of Human Resources (sfdhr.org).

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.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ 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 updated. 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 from notification@smartrecruiters.com 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.

Job Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the job analyst, Crystal Liu at CLiu@sfwater.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.