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Department: The Port of San Francisco
Job class: 5299-Planner IV-Environmental Review
Salary range: $150,384.00 - $182,702.00
Role type: Permanent Exempt What does this mean?
Hours: Full-time
About:
Appointment Type: This is a Permanent Exempt (PEX), Full-Time position with an anticipated duration of up to three (3) years. This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination process and incumbents are considered “at will” and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.
Specific information regarding this recruitment process is listed below:
- Application Opening: 9/03/2025
- Application Deadline: 9/24/2025
- Compensation Range: $150,384 – $182,702 annually
- Recruitment ID: RTF0149588-01139676
- Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
- Work Location: Pier 1, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105
The Port of San Francisco is an enterprise agency of the City and County of San Francisco and is governed by a Commission of five members appointed by the Mayor. The Port Commission is responsible for overseeing a broad range of waterfront commercial, maritime, and public access facilities that are held in public trust for the people of California. The Port’s jurisdiction covers approximately 7.5 miles of waterfront land from Pier 98, near Hunter’s Point in the southern part of San Francisco, to Fisherman’s Wharf in the northern part of the City.
The Port’s diverse business portfolio includes over 550 ground, commercial, retail, office, industrial and maritime industrial leases including cargo shipping, layberthing, excursion boats, ferry boats, fishing and fish processing/distribution, tourism, filming, harbor services, and cruise operations. With some of the most flexible cargo handling facilities on the West Coast, as well as naturally deep water, the Port can handle various types of cargo such as, dry-bulk, neo-bulk, roll-on/roll-off, and project cargoes.
The Port of San Francisco has many internationally recognized landmarks such as Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, the Exploratorium, the Ferry Building and Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. With its unique and historic properties, the Port is home to a variety of tenants and uses. The Port Commission over the last five decades has led a remarkable transformation of the Port; maintaining its industrial maritime heritage while developing new uses, including commercial and public activities, that have helped San Francisco remain one of the most visited and popular cities on the globe.
The Port’s jurisdiction covers approximately 7.5 miles of waterfront land from Heron’s Head, near Hunter’s Point in the southern part, to Fisherman’s Wharf in the northern part of the City. The Port’s diverse business portfolio includes over 550 ground, commercial, retail, office, industrial and maritime industrial leases, including cargo shipping, layberthing, excursion and ferry boats, fishing and fish processing, tourism, filming, harbor services, and cruise operations. With some of the most flexible cargo handling facilities on the West Coast and naturally deep water, the Port can handle various types of cargo such as dry/neo-bulk, roll-on/roll-off and project cargoes.
The Port of San Francisco has many internationally recognized landmarks such as Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, the Exploratorium, the Ferry Building and Oracle Park, and is home to a variety of tenants and uses, including historic uses. The Port of San Francisco embraces environmental and community stewardship of its waterfront, while promoting the infrastructure development necessary to maintain and expand its operations.
For more information about the Port of San Francisco, visit SFPort.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Waterfront Resilience Program
The Waterfront Resilience Program (WRP), led by the Port of San Francisco, is a multi-decade initiative to strengthen the Port's 7.5-mile Bay urban waterfront against climate and seismic hazards. The WRP addresses coastal and combined flooding, sea level rise, earthquakes, shoreline erosion and other threats facing this vital stretch of infrastructure and public space. Wherever possible, the WRP examines opportunities to enhance City infrastructure and services; increase the resilience of lifeline corridors along the waterfront; promote equitable access, enjoyment and use of the Port’s public waterfront; and encourage enhancements to habitat and the public realm along what is largely a human-made shoreline. Altogether, WRP efforts reflect the Port’s commitment to creating a resilient, equitable, and vibrant waterfront for current and future generations.
A key component of the WRP is the San Francisco Waterfront Coastal Flood Study (Flood Study), developed in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Released for public review in 2024, the Flood Study includes a $13.5 billion Draft Plan that outlines coastal flood defenses, floodproofing, water management measures, and potential future actions designed to defend the waterfront through 2140. The Port and USACE are preparing a Recommended Plan and Final Report for congress consideration by 2026. If approved, the Federal government may fund as much as 65% of the design and construction cost. The USACE Flood Study and Plan are one piece of the Port’s overall strategy to build a waterfront that is more resilient to flooding and seismic risks. The Port is also advancing planning, design and construction of Early Projects funded through the 2018 Proposition A Seawall Earthquake Safety Bond to reduce near-term seismic and flood risk and strengthen the Embarcadero Seawall in targeted areas. In some cases, these are interim fixes, and in others, they are a first step toward future adaptation. Early Projects are being prioritized using criteria developed with community input, such as improving life safety and citywide disaster/emergency response capabilities; enhancing economic and ecological opportunities; supporting an adaptable, equitable waterfront; ensuring public access to the waterfront; and preserving historic and maritime resources. Additional workstreams within the WRP for the next three years (mid-2025 to mid-2028) include the Living Seawall Pilot, permitting and environmental review, community engagement, design and engineering, and alignment with local, state, and federal policy.
For more information about the Waterfront Resilience Program (WRP) and Early Projects, please visit: https://sfport.com/wrp. and Embarcadero Early Projects | SF Port.
Role description
Under direction from the WRP Deputy Program Manager (Environmental), the Principal Environmental Planner will work collaboratively with the WRP Team, Port staff, including the Port’s Planning & Environment Division staff, and other City staff and consultants to identify and reduce WRP program and project environmental impacts and support environmental regulatory compliance on WRP projects and sites. Over the next three years, the Principal Environmental Planner will help develop programmatic and project-level regulatory permitting strategies, help advance environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the USACE Flood Study and Plan, its early implementation actions and projects, as well as some of the WRP Early Projects that are not part of the Recommended Plan, and assist WRP Project Managers by facilitating project-level environmental review and helping obtain regulatory permits for their projects.
This Principal Environmental Planner will also assist on investigation and remediation of contamination and hazardous materials as well as assist with developing and evaluating nature-based adaptation strategies for San Francisco’s waterfront, working with consultants and agencies.
The essential duties may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Provides regulatory and environmental input to inform WRP project plans and help prepare scopes of work, schedules and budgets for consultants working on WRP projects’ environmental analysis and regulatory permitting.
- Manage consultants in the preparation of environmental technical studies, quantitative analyses, proposed mitigation, cost estimates and timelines to comply with regulatory agency permits.
- Provides input on project-related contract specifications for construction best management practices, environmental compliance requirements, and permit conditions. In addition, monitors progress to assure quality, timeliness, and cost effectiveness of environmental consultant work, and resolving change order management issues.
- Serves as the environmental regulatory permitting lead for multi-disciplinary project design and delivery teams.
- Collaborates with a solutions-oriented approach.
- Develops environmental regulatory permitting strategies.
- Schedules individual or joint regulatory agencies pre-application meetings, preparing pre-application meeting materials and permit applications.
- Provides expert permitting advice to project teams during project development, including on schedules and risks.
- Reviews and finalize consultant products.
- Manages consultant scopes, schedules, budgets related to environmental review, regulatory permitting, and environmental site investigation and remediation.
- Assists with the planning and execution of environmental studies, including coordination and preparation of environmental impact analyses under NEPA and CEQA; and monitoring and reporting compliance related to environmental mitigation measures.
- Prepares project applications to the San Francisco Planning Department for environmental determinations.
- Prepares materials to submit to pertinent NEPA lead agencies.
- Assists with coordinating input of City, Port and WRP staff into relevant technical studies and regulatory permitting materials and deliverables prepared for WRP’s upland and in-water construction projects, including demolition, dredging, infrastructure repair and replacement, environmental site investigation and remediation, and hazardous waste abatement.
- Works on planning and execution of investigation and remediation of contamination and hazardous materials related to specific WRP Flood Study and Plan’s implementation actions and Early Projects.
- Manages implementation of hazardous materials surveys (including lead, asbestos, PCBs) for projects involving demolition.
- Assists with regulatory compliance, monitoring and reporting.
- Coordinates with the Port’s Planning & Environment Division staff on managing scope of work for consultant services for site sampling and analysis of environmental media (soil, soil gas, groundwater, sediment) and hazardous building materials (lead, asbestos, PCBs) to characterize site conditions, delineate nature and extent of impacts, determine proper management of environmental media and waste handling, storage, treatment and disposal procedures, and implement and support risk management plans and vulnerability assessments.
- Supports WRP projects on compliance with mitigation monitoring and reporting programs for construction dust, naturally occurring asbestos, stormwater, biological resources impacts, underwater and above-ground noise and vibration, water quality monitoring, waste classification and disposal, and clean and contaminant dredge monitoring and inspection, to ensure permit conditions and specifications are properly implemented before, during and after construction.
- Assists with the Engagement Plan for the Resource Agency Working Group, i.e., regulatory and resource agencies with jurisdiction over development and construction activities in San Francisco Bay, including the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Bay Conservation and Development Commission, San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Marine Fisheries Service, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Responds to agency information requests, negotiating project permit conditions and mitigation requirements, and preparing materials for stakeholder meetings.
- Works collaboratively with all members of the Port and WRP team to identify and resolve issues promptly, escalating issues for resolution appropriately.
How to qualify
- Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in environmental studies, environmental sciences, earth sciences, water management, planning, geology, architecture, civil engineering, law, public administration, or a related field; AND
- Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in the areas of planning, environmental review, environmental regulatory review or environmental law; AND
- Possession of a valid California driver’s license (to be presented at time of appointment). Employees must be insurable under the Port’s automobile liability insurance. Insurability must be maintained throughout employment; AND
- Incumbents in class 5299 Planner IV-Environmental Review position will be required to have, or to obtain 24-hr Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training within one year of employment at the Port of San Francisco.
Substitution
Education Substitution: Additional qualifying work experience as described above may substitute for the education requirement on a year-for-year basis, up to two (2) years (One year of work experience is equal to 30 semester units or 45 quarter units).
Experience Substitution: Possession of master's or doctorate degree from an accredited college or university in environmental studies, environmental sciences, earth sciences, water management, planning, geology, architecture, civil engineering, law, public administration, or a related field may substitute for one year of the required experience as described above.
Important Note(s):
- 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.
- One-year full-time employment is considered 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 minimum qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.
- Please be aware that any misrepresentation of this information may disqualify you from this recruitment or future job opportunities.
Maritime Transportation System (MTS) Access
Candidates for employment with the San Francisco Port Commission whose job duties require unescorted Maritime Transportation System (MTS) access will be required upon appointment to undergo a terrorist threat assessment including FBI fingerprints and immigration check in order to determine eligibility for security clearance.
