STRATEGIC MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

This is a position-based test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A. Learn more about the City’s hiring process here: https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/

Application Opening: Thursday, September 11, 2025

Application Deadline: Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as this announcement may close at any time after 5:00 p.m. PDT on September 17, 2025.

Compensation: $155,870 - $198,952 annually

Recruitment ID: PBT-0931-157582

San Francisco International Airport (SFO), an enterprise department of the City and County of San Francisco, has a workforce of approximately 1,900 City employees and is committed to being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive employer.

SFO is more than an airport—we are a dynamic organization where employees collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders to support global travel, economic development, and public service. We are recognized as a leader in environmental sustainability, equity, and forward-thinking infrastructure, and continue to be at the forefront of transforming the travel experience.

Our mission is to deliver an airport experience where people and our planet come first.

Our Vision, Mission, and Core Values shape our culture and operations as we continue to build a supportive, purpose-driven workplace where all employees can thrive.

Learn more about careers at SFO at flysfo.com, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Bluesky and Threads.

As a team member of SFO, you will embrace SFO’s core values and SFO’s Racial Equity Action Plan.

Under general administrative direction and reporting to the Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications, the Strategic Marketing & Communications Manager sets the strategy and plans for Consumer Marketing, Internal Communications Content Development, and the Social Media program.

This position leads their team to deliver on the plans and is responsible for developing and executing marketing and communications strategy, objectives, plans, and budgets for assigned projects including but not limited to consumer marketing programs (e.g. airline, concessions, parking), internal communications, social media programs, email marketing programs, and advertising planning. This position is also responsible for administrative functions such as operational logistics for marketing and communications activities, budgeting, generating reports, inventory control, purchasing, and contract management.

This role demands a strong leader capable of driving strategic initiatives, fostering collaboration, and delivering impactful marketing and communications programs.

You are excited about this opportunity because you will:

1. Lead strategic marketing research efforts to inform marketing initiatives and oversee collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, including survey design, audience segmentation, brand awareness tracking, and service needs assessment for the assigned programs
2. Develop, execute and oversee campaign strategy and creative development, including media planning, public engagement initiatives, and A/B testing to optimize media spend and creative content.
3. Oversee consumer marketing programs, including developing creative briefs, budgets, timelines, and implementation schedules for agencies and staff as well as identifying, tracking, and reporting on key performance indicators.
4. Develop and implement internal communication strategies to keep employees and airport workers informed and engaged.
5. Collaborate with internal departments and external partners to ensure research and marketing strategies support the Airport’s programmatic goals.
6. Partner with airport leadership and key contributors to align internal messaging with the Airport's vision and values; coordinate with Airport Director on Executive Communications.
7. Oversee the creation of award-winning digital, video, print, and presentation materials that advance the Airport’s brand and messaging.
8. Manage marketing and communications technology—evaluate SaaS tools, administer subscriptions, and integrate platforms to enhance content, analytics, and workflow efficiency.
9. Plan and execute public events and facility activations and logistics (e.g., facility openings, milestone celebrations, in-terminal programs), including all logistics, sign installations, and vendor coordination.
10. Manage MarCom budgets and contract administration, including RFP/SOW development, budget forecasting, invoice approvals, and oversight of professional services and staffing allocations.
11. Oversee legal and compliance activities, ensuring adherence to applicable laws, regulations, Digital Access & Inclusion Standards, and language translation and accessibility requirements.
12. Provide leadership and mentorship to the marketing and communications team, setting objectives, monitoring performance, and driving continuous improvement.
13. Perform other functions outlined in the 0931 Manager III.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education:

Possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university; AND

Experience:

Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in marketing and/or public relations in either public or private sectors, of which 3 years must include experience supervising professionals.

Substitution:

Qualifying experience as described above may be substituted for the education requirement on a year-for-year basis for up to two (2) years.  (One year of work experience is equal to 30 semester or 45 quarter units).

One-year full-time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above 40 hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

Note: Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications 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 to for hiring:

1. Five (5) years of management experience working in the aviation/airport industry including strategic planning, resource allocation, leadership techniques, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
2. Five (5) years of experience with media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
3. Excellent oral and written communication skills.
4. Five (5) years of experience working and communicating with diverse cultural backgrounds.
5. Five (5) years of experience with marketing strategies and tactics for international and domestic markets.

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.

Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Please review our articles on Employment Application and Minimum Qualifications and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications.  

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

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation (Weight: 100%)
Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications will be sent a Supplemental Questionnaire. The Supplemental Questionnaire is designed to measure the knowledge, skills and abilities required for this position.  All candidates’ responses to the Supplemental Questionnaire are subject to verification. All relevant experience, education and/or training must be included in the responses in order to be reviewed in the rating process.

 A passing score on the Supplemental Questionnaire must be achieved in order to be placed/ranked on the eligible list. Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score.

Note: Only those applicants meeting the minimum qualifications will be notified of the exact date, time and/or place for the examinations. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed to advance through all of the steps in the selection process.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Security Clearance:
Candidates for employment with the San Francisco Airport Commission are required to undergo a criminal history record check, including FBI fingerprints, and Security Threat Assessment in order to determine eligibility for security clearance and may be required to undergo drug/alcohol screening. Per Civil Service Commission Rule Section 110.9.1, every applicant for an examination must possess and maintain the qualifications required by law and by the examination announcement for the examination. Failure to obtain and maintain security clearance may be basis for termination from employment with the Airport Commission.

Eligible List/Score Report: A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be six (6) months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see Position Counts by Job Codes and Departments..

Certification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List. The hiring department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures prior to making final hiring decisions.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.

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
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• 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.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” 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 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, @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.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact exam analyst Sandra Aguayo at [email protected]. 

Recruitment ID: RTF0157504- 01110876

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.