Communications Specialist - San Francisco Health Service System - (Job Code 9252)

Company Description

The San Francisco Health Service System (SFHSS) is dedicated to preserving and improving sustainable, quality health benefits and to enhancing the well-being of our members and their families.

SFHSS has an exceptional opportunity for the right candidate to serve more than 120,000 employees, retirees and dependents of the City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco Unified School District, City College of San Francisco and the San Francisco Superior Court. SFHSS negotiates and administers health, dental, vision, EAP, Well-Being and voluntary benefits for our members. Learn more at www.sfhss.org

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.

• Application Opening:  May 1, 2023
• Application Deadline:  May 23, 2023
• Compensation Range:  $107,302 - $143,780 per year
• Recruitment ID: PBT-9252-134985

Job Description

Position Description:

The San Francisco Health Service System is looking for a Communications Specialist with a passion for healthcare and desire to help members improve their overall health. This is a great time for the right individual to join the Communications Team as the Health Service System has established new strategic goals to advance our mission and Communications is a core and valued function that will help deliver on those objectives. We are looking for an innovative Communications Specialist who is not afraid of out-of-the-box thinking or trying new approaches to solving problems. We need a go-getter who can hit the ground running by helping the department achieve major miles stones to modernize the way we educate members on their benefits and engage them in improving their health. The Communications specialist will play a key role in developing and implementing three major projects including redesigning the way we conduct Open Enrollment communications by developing a more efficient process to educate members on their benefits and drive members towards online self-service enrollment, overhauling our website to meet the City’s Digital Accessibility Standards and expanding self-service functionality by simplifying the way members can interact with HSS, which include projects such as the Dependent Eligibility Verification Audit communications or developing a member portal for ease of use to meet member communication needs.

General Duties:

• Excellent writer and storyteller with working knowledge of AP Style Guide.
• Implement communications plans and track results for various programs and projects to help achieve HSS goals and objectives.
• Maintains the brand identity and standard for the Health Service System by learning and following the HSS brand style guide.
• Plays key role in developing and distributing the HSS annual report, demographics report, strategic goals report, racial equity report, and other reports, as needed, in compliance with HSS brand standards.
• Collaborates with subject matter experts to design and edit materials for the website, seminars, webinars, workshops, reports and presentations, as needed.
• Drafts articles for monthly newsletter and serve as editor for the HSS monthly eNews to members.
• Coordinates with contracted vendors to produce animation and other educational videos.
• Work with print vendor or administrative staff to mail and distribute materials on time.
• Manage the development and set the project timeline of all Open Enrollment print materials.
• Collaborate with employers and across divisions within HSS to finalize Open Enrollment materials.
• Participates in design and functional development of the HSS website based on industry best practices.
• Update HSS website using HTML and/Drupal content management system.
• Develop content for HSS website such as, but not limited to, news and benefits updates, frequently asked questions; updating enrollment forms and templates; developing digital booklets and fact sheets; adding new events to our events calendar; leveraging educational videos to help explain complex benefits.
• Works with Well-Being division to jointly develop communication plans to promote ongoing and new initiatives.
• Work with subject matter experts to develop and update correspondences, policy documents and other internal and external documents.
• Works with Communications Director and project lead to design surveys and evaluation methods to track our program efficacy.
• Tabulates and analyzes results to understand communication effectiveness and recommend improvements and changes.
• May include additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

1. Possession of a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university in Journalism, Communications, Public Administration, Business, or a related field; AND
2. Three (3) years of professional experience working in the field of internal communications, public affairs, public information, or public relations unit. Experience must include one (1) year of professional experience in social media, digital engagement or web content management.

Substitution: Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of two (2) years). Thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units equal one (1) year.

Desirable Qualifications

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

1. One year of experience in employee benefits administration and/or health care.
2. Excellent writer and storyteller with knowledge of AP Style Guide and mastery of Microsoft Office Suite.
3. Working knowledge of the Adobe suite and comfortable working in Adobe InDesign.
4. Experience using a content management system, such as Drupal, to create and edit webpages.
5. One year of experience developing and tracking budget.
6. Experience executing communication programs and campaigns and measuring results.

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.

Please email Rie Butler, Senior Human Resources Consultant, at [email protected] should you have questions about the application process. For questions regarding the status of your application or the selection process, please refer to the Selection Procedures section.

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

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: Qualifying) - After submitting your application and receiving the confirmation email, you will receive an email with a link to the Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ). Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. The MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation (Weight: 100%) - Candidates who respond to the MQSQ  will be prompted to complete a Supplemental Questionnaire. In order to advance, candidates must complete the Supplemental Questionnaire and it must be submitted before the provided deadline. The information provided on the Supplemental Questionnaire must be consistent with the information on the application and is subject to verification. Once submitted, applicant responses on the Supplemental Questionnaire cannot be changed. Applicants must achieve a passing score on the Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation in order to be ranked on the eligible list.

The Supplemental Questionnaire is designed to measure knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in job-related areas as described within this announcement.

After the eligible list is finalized/adopted, the department may administer additional selection procedures to make a final hiring decision (e.g. interviews, written exercise, etc.). Applicants meeting the Minimum Qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through all steps of the selection process.

Certification - The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of Three Scores. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Eligible List - 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 months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2021-22.pdf.

Additional Information

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

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.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/.

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.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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.

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

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.