Performance Analyst Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX), Category 18. This position is excluded by the City Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. Duration of this appointment shall not exceed 36 months.

• Application Opening: 6/3/2026
• Application Deadline: Apply Immediately. This recruitment is considered open until filled and will close no sooner than Friday, 6/26/2026 at 5:00PM (PDT).
• Salary Range: $125,528 - $152,646 annually (click here to learn more)

The Controller’s Office

The Controller is the City’s chief financial officer. We hold ourselves to high standards and strive to be a model for good government. We value the diverse backgrounds, perspectives and lived experiences of our teams and clients in everything we do. We work in a collaborative and inclusive environment, promote equal opportunity, and invest in the professional development and wellbeing of our team members. You can expect to work alongside colleagues who are committed to serving the public with integrity and want to see positive impacts from their work. We are looking for smart, motivated individuals who want to make a difference and use government to play a role in solving our City’s problems, including working with departments to address long-standing and harmful disparities in our communities.

About City Performance

The City Performance team is part of the City Services Auditor (CSA) within the Controller’s Office. CSA’s mandate, shared with the Audits Division, is to monitor and improve the overall performance and efficiency of City Government. The team works with City departments across a range of subject areas, including transportation, public health, human services, homelessness, capital planning, and public safety.

City Performance Goals:

• Support City departments in making transparent, data-driven decisions in policy development and operational management. 
• Guide City departments in aligning programming with resources for greater efficiency and impact.
• Provide City departments with the tools they need to innovate, test, and learn. 

Our staff are skilled in data analysis, performance management, facilitation, project management, and process improvement. City Performance staff members provide consulting services to multiple departments every year to streamline and coordinate City processes, conduct analyses to answer key policy questions, promote meaningful collaboration between departments, and support a culture of transparency and accountability.

Learn more by viewing our fiscal year 2025-2026 work plan.

The Ideal Candidate:

• You are a critical thinker and have experience using analysis and problem-solving skills to examine problems, develop strategies and plans, and work toward solutions.
• You have work or educational experience in the public sector or related content areas. We welcome work experience in direct service provision or operations in addition to strategy, policy, and planning.
• You have strong communication and organizational skills.   
• You are comfortable and have developed expertise in several of the following skill areas: quantitative and qualitative data analysis. process improvement, project management, stakeholder engagement, facilitation, performance management, and public procurement and contracting.
• You are eager to improve City services and have an impact on our community

Job Description

Senior Performance Analysts work in teams with Project Managers, analysts, and departmental partners to improve public services in San Francisco. Analysts typically work on 2-4 projects at a time and activities vary day to day. Analysts plan and assist in facilitating in-person and virtual meetings, spend time working independently on data analysis or writing, and/or collaborate with a team of analysts and managers on process mapping and other project work.

Senior Performance Analysts bring to our team experience with specialized skills and policy area expertise in some of the areas listed below. Successful analysts have advanced skills in certain skills and/or policy areas while having a comprehensive set of core analytical and project management skills. Some analysts have expertise in particular policy areas, such as transportation, public health, homelessness, while others are policy generalists.

Our projects cover a range of citywide and departmental policy areas. Typical projects and duties include:

Analysis, Data Visualization, and Performance Reporting

• Create data analysis plans, and gather, analyze, and visualize qualitative and quantitative data. Use statistical and data visualization software programs (e.g., Excel, R, PowerBI, ArcGIS, etc.). 
• Design, implement and analyze data from interviews, focus groups, and surveys; conduct policy, benchmarking, and best practice research.
• Develop dashboards, presentations and reports explaining complex data to a variety of audiences.
• Help departments identify, develop and implement robust performance measures to measure progress and help drive policy and program decision-making.

Assessments, Process Improvement, and Policy Projects

• Conduct research, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement to answer policy questions and summarize key themes and issues through project work, and draft reports and other materials to clearly present findings and actionable opportunities.

• Use a variety of techniques to identify and design improvements to operational challenges, including continuous improvement methods such as Lean Process Improvement.
• Produce high-quality, detailed and accurate project deliverables with clear insights, findings, and/or recommendations and opportunities.
• Develop scopes of work and manage consultant contracts to provide expert technical assistance to City departments.

Facilitation, Communication, and Project Management

• Facilitate meetings, workshops, and ongoing working groups to enable City stakeholders to collaborate on initiatives and improve programs and policies.
• Foster collaborative relationships with City Performance teams and department stakeholders.
• Prepare and deliver reports, dashboards, and/or presentations to communicate project results to the public and City stakeholders.

All positions are in the Controller's Office only.

City Performance has a hybrid/remote weekly schedule. Staff work four (4) days per week in person at our offices in City Hall and may work remotely one (1) day per week.

Education: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in business or public administration, statistics, the social sciences, humanities, or a related field.

Experience: Two (2) years of experience performing complex policy analysis, project management, public administration, or consulting; functional understanding of local government operations.

Substitution: A master's degree in business or public administration, public policy, statistics, or a related field may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience.

**IMPORTANT: Please upload a resume and cover letter. Cover letters should explain your interest in the role and how the experience and skills detailed on your resume makes you a qualified applicant. Please limit cover letters to no more than 1 page. Applications with a cover letter will be given priority consideration.

Verification of Education and Experience:

Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Review SF Careers Employment Applications for considerations taken when reviewing applications.

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://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/experience-education/.

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.

Selection Procedures 

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Candidates whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will move forward in the recruitment process.

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

Where to Apply

All job applications for the City and County of San Francisco must be submitted through our online portal. Please visit https://careers.sf.gov/ to begin your application process.

Computers are available for the public (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) to file online applications in the lobby of the Dept. of Human Resources at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor and at the City Career Center at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 110.

Ensure your application information is accurate, as changes may not be possible after submission. Your first and last name must match your legal ID for verification, and preferred names can be included in parentheses. Use your personal email address, not a shared or work email, to avoid unfixable issues.

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@smartrecruiters.com 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 the Nancy Giang at nancy.giang@sfgov.org. Recruitment ID: RTF0164698-01115194

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.