Deputy City Attorney - Health & Human Services Team - City Attorney's Office (8177)

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX) position; individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will."

• Application Opening: July 29, 2025
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 12, 2025
• Compensation Range: $153,140 - $268,320
• Recruitment ID: RTF0158070-01076897

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for a qualified and motivated attorney to join its Health & Human Services Team.

About the Office

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With over 300 talented and dedicated employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers City leaders with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services, and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, ideas, and lived experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected for their full authentic selves, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/aboutus/dei/

Currently, the Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote. This schedule may change to conform to Citywide standards of four days onsite work.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/

About the Health & Human Services Team

The Health & Human Services Team is a collaborative and dynamic group of nine attorneys, one paralegal, and two legal secretaries. The team serves as general counsel for the Department of Public Health, the Human Services Agency, the City’s programs for people experiencing homelessness, and certain other health-related City departments.  This includes working with:  The City’s two public hospital facilities, its ambulatory and mental health clinics, and its street medicine teams; the Medical Examiner’s Office; Jail Health; the Health Officer and Population Health; the Department of Disability and Aging Services (DAS); the Department of Children, Youth & Their Families (DCYF); Environmental Health; and the Department of Homelessness & Supportive Housing (HSH).  This work includes assisting with Medical Probate (Probate Code Section 3200) petitions, tuberculosis (TB) civil detention petitions, legal issues related to involuntary mental health hold petitions (Welfare & Institutions Code Section 5150, etc.), Health Officer orders and directives related to the COVID-19 pandemic, other litigation as assigned, and permit and enforcement proceedings.

The team also advises the Mayor’s Office, the Board of Supervisors, and other City officials and departments on matters relating to health care and human service programs.  The team’s responsibilities include:  providing general legal counsel to the team’s clients, including in relation to privacy and compliance, health care issues, and state and federal regulatory oversight of licensed facilities and professionals; interpreting myriad federal, state, and local laws governing the provision and funding of health and human service programs; drafting related local and state legislation; drafting and approving a high volume of contracts and advising on the City’s procurement processes (including requests for proposals); advising the Health Commission, the Human Services Commission, and other policy and advisory bodies; and advising on the day-to-day legal issues that arise in the operation of major City departments, including in relation to public meeting and public records laws. 

Certain matters involving these clients require specialized legal expertise and are either referred to other teams or advice is provided in coordination with other teams.  The Trial Team generally represents these departments in litigation and the Labor Team advises them on personnel issues and handles employment litigation matters, generally with assistance from the Health & Human Services Team. 

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities

Attorneys on the Health & Human Services Team are assigned a mix of client work and specific projects or assignments.  Assignments change over time depending on client needs and attorney interests.  The team’s attorneys handle all aspects of their assignments, including issue spotting, legal research, client communication and coordination, document drafting and review, and other tasks as needed or assigned.

Minimum Qualification

• Licensed to practice law in California.

Desired Qualifications

• At least seven years of experience in the practice of law.
• Experience advising on legal issues related to daily hospital operations, including patient care, consent, bioethics, risk management, medical staff issues, and licensing and certification.
• Experience advising covered entities and business associates on adherence to HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, including familiarity with privacy/security breach protocols.
• Familiarity with federal and state laws protecting the privacy of information relating to individuals’ participation in public benefit programs.
• Demonstrated longer term legal experience handling complex matters, including proven writing and research proficiency and analytical expertise.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities.
• Excellent organization skills to manage work flow.
• Ability to assume responsibility quickly and work independently and efficiently. Excellent oral and written communication and advocacy skills.
• Ability to manage and appropriately balance an active caseload of client assignments and other matters, and adjust to occasional workload increases.
• Ability to exercise good judgment, multi-task, and meet deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
• Experience in advising and handling a high volume of contracts.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• Desire and ability to work successfully as part of a team.
• Ability to use legal technology tools (basic document review, redaction, and similar tools).
• Government experience, including knowledge of public meetings and public records laws.

Verification

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

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.

Selection Procedures

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the oral/performance interview.

Salary and Benefits

The Deputy City Attorney position has a 16-step salary scale ranging from $153,140 to $268,320. The successful applicant is appointed to a salary step based on years of experience as a lawyer. The City offers robust health, retirement and other benefits. For more information please visit: https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview. Attorneys are represented by the Municipal Attorneys Association. Information about compensation and benefits is available by entering Classification Code 8177 at https://careers.sf.gov/classifications/.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen
• Include your CA Bar Number in the education section on your application
• Upload a Cover Letter and a Resume

Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit at least two references and two writing samples.

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 kept up-to-date. 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, @sfcityatty.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 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.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Jumy Dang, Senior Human Resources Analyst, at [email protected].

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.