Director of Environmental Health (0941 Manager VI)

The Department of Public Health prioritizes equitable and inclusive access to quality healthcare for its community and values the importance of diversity in its workforce. All employees at the Department of Public Health work to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity with a specific lens and focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, disability, and immigration status. 

• Application Opening: October 3, 2025
• Application Deadline: Application filing will close on or after October 17, 2025.
• Salary:  $193,700 to $247,260 Annually (Range A)
• Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt 
• Recruitment ID: PEX-0941-EXEMPT

The Mission of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is to protect and promote the health of all San Franciscans. SFDPH strives to achieve its mission through the work of multiple divisions - the San Francisco Health Network, Population Health, Behavioral Health Services, and Administration. The San Francisco Health Network is the City’s only complete system of care and has locations throughout the City, including Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, and over 15 primary care health centers. The Population Health Division (PHD) provides core public health services for the City and County of San Francisco: health protection, health promotion, disease and injury prevention, and disaster preparedness and response. Behavioral Health Services operates in conjunction with SFHN and provides a range of mental health and substance use treatment services.

The Director of Environmental Health (0941 Manager VI) oversees and directs all activities of the City and County of San Francisco’s Environmental Health Branch (EHB). This position reports to the Deputy Director for Public Health Services, Population Health Division and works in close collaboration with the County Health Officer/Director of Population Health Division. The Director of Environmental Health provides effective leadership for the branch by developing a shared vision, purpose, values, and strategy with managers and staff. The Director positively engages, empowers, and inspires branch team members to pursue and achieve strategic goals and objectives.

The Director of Environmental Health (0941 Manager VI) performs the following essential job functions:

• Develops policies and procedures for all Environmental Health Programs; leads SFDPH’s environmental health strategy to ensure health protection
• Directs the operations and staff of all the environmental health regulatory programs for SFDPH including Food Safety, Hazardous Materials and Hazardous Waste, Healthy Housing, Solid Waste, Water Quality, Local Oversight Program and Site Mitigation for contaminated sites, Massage Parlors, Body Art, Tobacco Sales, Medical Cannabis Dispensaries, and the Air, Noise, and Radiation Program. The Director also supervises the County Agricultural Commissioner, Weights and Measures, Children’s Environmental Health Promotion, Food Systems Programs, and the Program for Health, Equity and Sustainability (PHES)
• Supervises Environmental Health managers and staff engaged in Operations (budget, payments, purchases, and building), Information Technology, and Disaster Planning; addresses personnel and union related issues
• Ensures continuous quality improvement, and performance and service excellence at all levels of the branch; reviews and approves training
• Determines and ensures proper staffing levels for each program within the branch
• Oversees high-quality environmental health assessments, health impact assessments, and data/knowledge management, synthesis, and translation to guide and inform environment health protection efforts, policy development, and regulatory and enforcement actions
• Participates in budget development; reviews and approves the branch budget, expenditures
• Ensures that Environmental Health fees are set to pay for the costs of each program, and that all fees are collected and deposited using the proper codes
• Oversees EHB’s expenditure and revenue budgets of approximately $26,000,000 annually, with approximately 150 staff employees and additional contracted staff
• Works with SFDPH Office of Policy and Planning, the Board of Supervisors, and the City Attorney’s Office to draft and pass city legislation that involves environmental health issues; participates in California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health meetings and conference calls
• Updates the Director of Health and the Health Officer of urgent environmental health concerns with potential city-wide impacts
• Partners with community organizations, private citizens, private industry, environmental justice advocates, and other city departments on environmental health matters
• Interacts extensively with numerous and diverse stakeholders on controversial, high stakes, and emotionally charged environmental and human health issues that require having extensive experience in conflict resolution, negotiation, change management, and ethical leadership.

The Director of Environmental Health (0941 Manager VI) may perform other duties as assigned/required.

Required Minimum Qualifications

• License/Certification: Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) certificate issued by California Department of Public Health, AND
• Experience: Five (5) years of verifiable management experience supervising employees performing food, housing, general sanitation, or other related inspection work. Experience must also include three (3) years working in an environmental health agency*.

Experience Substitution: Possession of a Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Science, Public Administration, or a related field from an accredited college or university may substitute for one (1) year of the required experience working in an environmental health agency.

*This requirement may be met if the management work described above was performed in an environmental health agency.

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

One-year fulltime employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week).

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

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

• Prior leadership experience in local Environmental Health in a California jurisdiction
• Possession of a Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Science, Public Administration or a related field
• Experience managing budgets and developing local ordinances
• Experience supervising a large number of staff
• Possession of a California Driver’s License

Important Note: Please make sure it is absolutely clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Please be aware that any misrepresentation of this information may disqualify you from this recruitment or future job opportunities.

How to apply:

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted online at careers.sf.gov.

Our e-mail communications may come from more than one department so please make sure your email is set to accept messages from all of us at this link.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment. Please consider using a personal email address that you check regularly rather than a work or school account.

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.

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 Workers
• Reasonable Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Marielle Saldajeno at [email protected] or 628-271-6820.  

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. The first message will ask you to opt in to text messaging.

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.