Water Rights Attorney Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX) position; individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will."

• Application Opening: March 6, 2026
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Thursday, April 30, 2026
• Compensation Range: $155,428-$272,350
• Recruitment ID: RTF0162791-01144023

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is seeking a qualified and motivated public finance attorney for advice and transaction work.

About the Office
The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With nearly 350 talented and dedicated employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers City leaders with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services, and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, and experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/aboutus/dei/.

The Office offers a hybrid work schedule for eligible employees.

To learn more about the City Attorney's Office please visit our website.

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities
The Office seeks an attorney with public finance experience and expertise to advise the City (including the Controller’s Office, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and the Port of San Francisco) in structuring and issuing general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, certificates of participation, lease and tax increment financings, and other forms of indebtedness to finance the City’s various capital investment programs and service the City’s multi-billion dollar debt portfolio. The role involves preparing security documents, disclosure documents and related legislation; managing outside bond and disclosure counsel; drafting ballot measures; advising on state legislation related to municipal finance; conducting in-house trainings on the City’s disclosure obligations, IRS post-issuance requirements, and other finance-related issues; and advising on matters that may include but are not limited to the following:

• Legal and policy limitations on debt expenditures
• The application, approval, and expenditure of federal and state grant funds
• The procurement, negotiation, and management of debt-related agreements, such as credit facility agreements, feasibility consulting services, municipal, investment and rebate advisory services, along with other professional service agreements
• Financial, tax, and other compliance audits
• Utility rates, revenues, and expenditures under California Propositions 218 and 26, the acquisition of utility assets (including but not limited to power transmission and distribution assets), and the long-term purchase and development of renewable energy resources

The Office’s public finance attorneys collectively work across all City departments to manage post-issuance security law and disclosure responsibilities and tax issues, including arbitrage, rebate and IRS audit matters. Exemplar public finance work by our Office includes the following:

• A General Fund capital financing program, including issuance of general obligation bonds, lease revenue bonds, certificates of participation and commercial paper program
• San Francisco Public Utilities Commission water, wastewater and power capital financing projects, including the establishment of a credit/liquidity program for community choice aggregation (CleanPower SF)
• A San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency transit capital improvement program, including revenue bonds, commercial paper, and vehicle lease purchasing
• A Port of San Francisco capital improvement program to develop waterfront property, including Mission Rock and Pier 70 developments
• A Treasure Island capital development program, including issuance of special tax and infrastructure tax increment bonds to finance public realm development on Treasure Island
• Various multifamily and single-family affordable housing programs
• San Francisco Public Utilities Commission water revenue bond program, sewer bond refunding, commercial paper program, and state revolving fund loan program

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California.

Desired Qualifications

• At least five years and ideally more of relevant public finance experience.
• Experience serving as bond, disclosure, underwriter’s or issuer’s counsel in connection with municipal bond transactions, and in particular experience with utility, airport, port, or other exempt facility revenue bonds.
• Experience with variable rate bonds, commercial paper notes, interest rate swap agreements, and negotiation of credit and liquidity facilities.
• Ability to assume responsibility quickly and to work independently and efficiently.
• Excellent oral and written communication.
• Ability to manage and appropriately balance an active and varied workload and adjust to occasional workload increases.
• Ability to work directly with multiple City clients in a collaborative environment while maintaining appropriate professional objectivity.
• Ability to exercise good judgment, multi-task, and meet deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• Desire and ability to work successfully as part of a team.

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.

Selection Procedures

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the oral/performance interview.

Salary and Benefits

The Deputy City Attorney position has a 16-step salary scale ranging from $155,428 to $272,350. The successful applicant is appointed to a salary step based on years of experience as a lawyer. The City offers robust health, retirement and other benefits. For more information please visit: https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview. Attorneys are represented by the Municipal Attorneys Association. Information about compensation and benefits is available by entering Classification Code 8177 at https://careers.sf.gov/classifications/.

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

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen
• Make sure to include your CA Bar Number in the education section on your application
• Upload a Cover Letter and a Resume

Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit two references and one writing sample.

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, @sfcityatty.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.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Jumy Dang, Senior Human Resources Analyst, at jumy.dang@sfcityatty.org.

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.