Assistant Director, Public Works Agency

City-of-Oakland,-Ca; Oakland (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

15 paid holidays

Vacation accrual

CalPERS retirement

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Sick leave 12 days per year

Deferred Compensation 457/ROTH 401(k)

Flexible Spending Account

Job summary

The City of Oakland seeks a dynamic Division Manager for Public Works to lead a diverse team, set strategic goals, and drive high-quality public services. You will report on budgets, translate complex topics for policymakers, and foster engagement across the bureau.

Ideal candidates have a civil engineering or public administration background and 5 years in a division-management role, with strong communication and change-management skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree as specified in the education section.
• Five (5) years of experience comparable to a division manager position.
• Ability to travel or valid California driver's license required.
• Experience with hiring, procurement, contracting in public sector.

Responsibilities

• Set clear goals for the bureau and track progress.
• Report to Council on OPW's budget development and monitoring.
• Translate complex topics into plain language for colleagues and policymakers.
• Build staff morale and improve employee engagement.
• Improve intra-bureau and inter-bureau communication and collaboration.

Skills

Leadership

Relationship building

Strategic thinking

Communication

Problem solving

Change management

Political savvy

Professional & technical expertise

Public sector navigation

Education

Bachelor's degree in civil engineering or public administration

Professional Civil Engineer (PE) license

Job description

The City of Oakland is an equal opportunity employer that values workforce diversity, inclusion, and equity. Oakland has a long history of activism around issues of justice and equity. Both oppression and this resistance to oppression have shaped the city’s historical roots and the lives of its residents to this day. As public servants in one of the most diverse cities in the nation, we strive to develop employees who understand the harm and impacts of systemic inequity to create lasting, meaningful outcomes for everyone. Oakland strives to establish an environment that embraces the richness of culture, community, and individualism of employees.

Why join the City of Oakland's Public Works Department?

Oakland Public Works (OPW) strives to maintain, improve, and preserve Oakland's infrastructure and environment for residents, businesses, visitors, and future generations of every neighborhood in our diverse City. The Bureau of Administration provides HR, IT, business Analysis, and other support to OPW. The Bureau serves three bureaus: Environment, Maintenance, and Internal Systems that help us deliver well-maintained public infrastructure. We are seeking a dynamic leader who sets a great course for the bureau.

We are looking for someone who is:

• A proven leader who brings people together. You know how to set a clear direction, build trust, motivate staff, and lead teams through competing priorities while keeping them focused on shared goals.
• A relationship builder, collaborator, and champion of employee engagement. You build productive relationships across organizational boundaries, bring people together to achieve shared goals, and foster a workplace where employees feel supported, engaged, and motivated to do their best work.
• A strategic thinker and creative problem solver. You see the big picture while understanding the details needed to move work forward, navigate complex issues, evaluate options, weigh risks, and find practical solutions.
• Results-oriented and accountable. You set clear goals, follow through, use data and sound judgment to track progress, and deliver high-quality services while balancing competing demands, complex budgets, limited resources, and organizational priorities.
• An effective communicator. You explain complex operational, financial, and policy issues clearly to different audiences and communicate with confidence when presenting to the City Council, City Administrator's staff, bureau employees, community stakeholders, and other public bodies.
• Someone who understands and can navigate complex public-sector systems. You understand organizational processes, know how to move work forward through hiring, procurement, contracting, and other City systems, and help others navigate these processes effectively.

What you will typically be responsible for:

• Setting and tracking clear goals for the bureau and troubleshooting where the bureau is not meeting goals.
• Reporting to Council and its Committees on OPW's budget development and monitoring.
• Translating complex topics and reporting to colleagues and policy makers in plain, easy to understand language.
• Building staff morale and improving employee engagement.
• Improving intra-Bureau and inter-Bureau communication and collaboration.

A few reasons you might love this job:

• You will interact with and support Oakland's amazing staff.
• You will help make Public Works a great place to work.
• You will exercise your experience, creativity, and nimbleness every day.
• You will be an important bridge between stakeholders, public officials, the City Administrator's staff, and the Bureau.

A few challenges you might face in this job:

• You will navigate our bureau's high vacancy rate, significant workload, and some turnover.
• You will have to be creative to "get to yes."
• You will stay organized and aligned in a fast-paced environment.

Competencies Required:

• Action & Results Focused (taking Initiative): Initiating tasks and focusing on accomplishment.
• Building & Maintaining Relationships: Establishing rapport and maintaining mutually productive relationships.
• Critical Thinking: Analytically and logically evaluating information, propositions, and claims.
• Customer Focus: Attending to the needs and expectations of customers.
• Innovative Problem Solving: Identifying and analyzing problems in order to propose new and better ways of doing things.
• Managing & Facilitating Change: Addressing key factors that influence successful organizational change.
• Political & Organizational Savvy: Working skillfully with politics, procedures, and protocols across organizational levels and boundaries.
• Professional & Technical Expertise: Applying technical subject matter to the job.
• Strategic Thinking & Perspective: Evaluating immediate actions in context of achieving long range objectives.

Education:

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in civil engineering, public administration or a closely related field.

Experience:

Five (5) years of experience comparable to a division manager position in the City of Oakland.

License or Certificate/ Other Requirements

Individuals who are appointed to this position will be required to maintain a valid California Driver's License throughout the tenure or employment OR demonstrate the ability to travel to various locations in a timely manner as required in the performance of duties. Possession of a Certificate of Registration as a Professional Civil Engineer in the State of California may be required for certain positions.

Desirable Qualifications:

• American Public Works Association (APWA) and/or Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) certifications

The Recruitment Process:

This is an at-will position, exempt from the provisions of the City of Oakland Civil Service Rules, per Charter Section 902. All applications received will be forwarded to the Public Works Department for further consideration.

Meeting the minimum qualification requirements may not result in further consideration; only the most qualified candidates will be contacted for interviews.

What's in it for you?

• 15 paid holidays
• Vacation- 2 weeks per year minimum with the ability to accrue more depending on public sector years of service
• Retirement- CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System) with a pension formula of 2.5% @ 55 (for Classic CalPERS members) and % @ 62 for new CalPERS members. Classic employees contribute 8% of pre-tax wages. The City of Oakland does not participate in Social Security
• Health- The City of Oakland pays for the cost of employee and eligible dependent coverage at the Kaiser rate. Other plans include Anthem, Blue Shield, United Health Care and other HMO and PPO plans
• Dental- The City of Oakland pays for Delta Dental full premium for employees and eligible dependents
• Vision- The City of Oakland pays for VSP full premium for employees and eligible dependents
• Sick leave- Employees accrue 12 days per year
• Deferred Compensation- 457 (b) pre-tax plan and an after-tax ROTH 401 (k) plan
• Other benefits include a Flexible Spending Account, Wellness Program, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Employee Training, & Telecommuting

Salary is negotiable within the defined range depending on qualifications

Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice.

Additional information can be found at:

Disaster Service Workers:

All employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law. Employees are required to complete all Disaster Service Worker-related training as assigned and to return to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.