Job Description

San Francisco Public Works (SFPW) currently has vacancies for the position of Gardener. Under general supervision, you will perform routine maintenance and landscaping renovation tasks to care for athletic fields, squares, parks, playgrounds, stadiums, thoroughfares, medians and/or other landscaped areas. 

MAJOR, IMPORTANT, AND ESSENTIAL DUTIES As a Gardener, your duties may include but are not limited to the following:

• Prepares soil by rototilling, grading, spading, and fertilizing to promote plant growth and to prevent drainage problems.
• Maintains plants by planting, transplanting, cultivating, irrigating and pruning to promote plant growth and to prevent plant deterioration.
• Identifies and destroys pests and diseases on plants and/or lawn areas by performing techniques such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control and/or mitigate the pests and diseases.
• Maintains lawn areas by raking, edging, mowing, watering, weeding, aerating, fertilizing, over seeding and/or other landscaping function(s) to promote lawn health and erosion control.
• Maintains grounds of athletic fields, squares, parks, playgrounds, stadiums, thoroughfares and/or other landscape areas by clearing brush and debris, sweeping and raking areas, cleaning up litter, clearing drains, and preventing hazardous conditions.
• Operates power and manual equipment and/or tools such as mowers, water equipment, gopher traps, and other types of gardening equipment and/or tools to assist in maintaining landscape areas.
• Performs routine maintenance on gardening equipment and/or tools to ensure they are maintained and in good working condition.
• Performs general maintenance duties on grounds and facilities such as athletic fields, sandboxes in parks, public easements, restroom facilities, irrigating systems, and other ground and facility areas to ensure clean and safe premises.
• May be assigned to work with and/or direct the work of park volunteers.
• May include additional duties as assigned.

Working Conditions: The nature of the work may require exposure to inclement weather conditions and may require exposure to hazardous conditions and/or materials which may include feces and/or urine, used syringes, etc. All positions require driving. Some positions may require riding mowers and driving small utility vehicles. Some positions may require weekend or shift work.

Special Requirements: The Gardener requires the ability to lift, drag and/or move with assistance large and/or heavy plants and equipment to truck bed level and ability to kneel, bend, and squat for considerable periods of time safely and correctly. The probationary period will be used to evaluate these abilities.

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Experience:

1. Three years of verified experience in the care, construction or maintenance of landscaped areas by planting, weeding, fertilizing, irrigating, pruning, and controlling pests in the following areas: sports and athletic natural turf fields, golf courses, parks, ornamental gardens, arboreta, greenhouses, nurseries, botanical gardens and/or public landscaped areas; OR

2. Possession of a Certificate of Achievement from an accredited college or university in horticulture, landscaping, gardening, nursery and garden center operation, commercial cut flower and greenhouse production or related field and two years of verifiable experience in the care, construction or maintenance of landscaped areas by planting, weeding, fertilizing, irrigating, pruning, and controlling pests in the following areas: sports and athletic natural turf fields, golf courses, parks, ornamental gardens, arboreta, greenhouses, nurseries, botanical gardens and/or public landscaped areas; OR

3. Possession of an Associate of Arts or Science degree from an accredited college or university in horticulture, landscaping, gardening, nursery and garden center operation, commercial cut flower and greenhouse production or related field and 18 months of verifiable experience in the care, construction or maintenance of landscaped areas by planting, weeding, fertilizing, irrigating, pruning, and controlling pests in the following areas: sports and athletic natural turf fields, golf courses, parks, ornamental gardens, arboreta, greenhouses, nurseries, botanical gardens and/or public landscaped areas; OR

4. Completion of 3,000 hours of the City and County of San Francisco's gardener apprenticeship program.

License: Requires possession of a valid California driver's license.

NOTES: 1. Candidates must be insurable under the department’s automobile liability insurance policy. After employment, employees must maintain insurability and valid driver license.

2. Some positions require twelve (12) months verifiable experience in the design, installation and maintenance of large interior landscapes which includes plant identification and the ability to recognize pest and disease that are specific to interior landscape plants.

3.  Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

4.  One (1) year full-time employment is 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.

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 an evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. 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 move forward in the recruitment process. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through all of the steps in the selection procedure.

MEDICAL EXAMINATION Prior to appointment, all candidates must successfully pass a medical examination to determine his/her ability to perform the essential functions of the job and/or the ability to meet the physical minimum requirements.

DRUG TEST REQUIREMENT Applicants for positions in this classification who are not currently employed by the City and County of San Francisco in a safety-sensitive position represented by Local 261 are required to pass pre-employment drug (including marijuana) and alcohol testing upon reasonable suspicion or after-work related accident. Applicants with positive result from pre-employment drug test will be restricted from hire in safety-sensitive positions for six months after the date of the positive test.

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
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

STATEMENT ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION: At the City and County of San Francisco, we share a commitment to a diverse, inclusive and equitable community. Each member of our organization is responsible and accountable for what they say and do to make San Francisco an inclusive and equitable place to live and work by employing fair and just practices to and for all.

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 “I’m Interested” button and follow the 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 the analyst, Arleene Brice, at arleene.brice@sfdpw.org

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.