Deputy Director, Legislative Services

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Department: Legislative Services 

Salary Range: $190,000.00 to $213,000.00 

Job Type: Unclassified     

Business Area: City Clerk 

Personnel Area: City Clerk 

Closing Date: 10/24/2025 

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The Deputy Director (DD) position will oversee the Office of the City Clerk’s Legislative Services Division (Division). The Division produces the City Council agenda and records and maintains the official minutes of the City Council meetings. It is also responsible for the processing of notices of land use changes such as rezoning, annexations, and street work. 

This position will assist the City Clerk in providing technical and procedural support to the City Council, ensuring the timely and accurate posting and distribution of the Council docket, as well as the record-keeping and preservation of City legislative proceedings. Additionally, the DD is responsible for the development and administration of policies, programs, contracts, and procedures that meet governing authority mandates (e.g. Ralph M. Brown Act, City Charter, and San Diego Municipal Code).

The Deputy Director of Legislative Services is a highly visible position and requires demonstrated experience working in a complex political environment. The DD serves as the liaison for the Office of the City Clerk between the offices of the Mayor, Council President, City Attorney, Independent Budget Analyst, and Chief Operating Officer, attending weekly meetings to discuss and coordinate the legislative proceedings of the City. Additionally, this position interacts with members of the public not only ensuring the facilitation of access and transparency to the City’s legislative proceedings, but actively engaging with the community.

The DD will be responsible for taking a leadership role and directly supervising one (1) Supervising Management Analyst, and two (2) Associate Management Analysts and managing a division of approximately 14 full-time equivalent staff.

The position is eligible for a hybrid work environment.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

• Provide technical and procedural support to the City Council
• Oversee the record and maintenance of City Council meeting minutes
• Direct the timely and accurate distribution and posting of City Council meeting agenda
• Manage in-person and virtual meeting management ensuring enhanced meeting participation accessibility for both members of the public, City of San Diego personnel, as well as Councilmembers.
• Oversee the processing of land use notices, such as rezoning annexations and street work
• Ensure proper records management of all City Council meeting files, per the City’s records retention governing authority
• Develop, manage, and administer policies, programs, contracts, and procedures
• Ensure compliance with appropriate governing authority mandates (e.g. CA Government Code, Ralph M. Brown Act, City Charter, San Diego Municipal Code, etc.)
• Monitor and manage the accurate and timely incorporation of new laws and/or procedures within the California Government Code, City Charter, San Diego Municipal Code, Council Policy Manual, and the City Clerk’s Administrative Guidelines
• Lead necessary Request for Proposals, Contract Management, and implementation of software and services required for the division functionality and innovation. 
• Oversee the recordation of deeds, processing of council approved contracts, annexation forms, filing of Notices of Exemption and of appeals to Notices of Determination, and filing of leases and permits.
• Coordinate with the Elections & Information Services and Records Management & Research divisions in the development of cross-cutting programs to enhance public participation in all phases of local government legislative proceedings and access to associated documents and council meetings.
• Work collaboratively with City Clerk divisions and sections, City departments and/or offices and other agencies to integrate new technology and streamline processes associated with legislative proceedings, meeting management and access to related documents.
• Perform programmatic audits within the areas of legislative proceedings to ensure the department remains in compliance with all governing authority mandates and personnel related matters for consistency across the department.
• Complete benchmarking and analysis of best practices around legislative proceedings to assist in creating and updating departmental and city policies and procedures, as necessary.
• Serve as the Office of the City Clerk liaison for City legislative proceedings
• Act as the central point of contact between the offices of the Mayor, Council President, City Attorney, Independent Budget Analyst, and Chief Operating Officer regarding the City’s legislative proceeding. When needed manage City Council meetings in lieu of the City Clerk.
• Respond to inquiries and requests received from members of the public and City departments surrounding the City’s legislative proceedings.
• Interact with members of the public and City departments prior to, during and after City Council meetings
• Assist with budget development and monitoring as it relates to the Legislative Services division

• Supervise the Legislative Services division’s one Supervising Management Analyst and two Associate Management Analysts, and oversee all work products associated with each position’s respective desks
• Carry out additional duties as necessary

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, Public Administration, Public Policy, Business Administration, or a related field, and
• Six (6) years of progressive experience in the development, implementation, and management of policies and procedures, business process improvement, and professional staff development would be a typical way to demonstrate these qualifications.
• At least four (4) years of experience in a combination of: legislative support, meeting management, public policy, and work in a political environment.
• Any combination of education and professional experience that demonstrate these qualifications may be qualifying.

Desirable Qualifications: 

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications:

• Master’s degree is highly desirable.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment with tight time constraints
• Extremely organized with meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to effectively manage multiple projects at the same time and shift priorities as necessary
• Ability to manage practical expectations and progressive delivery of changes
• Experience in leading or participating in prioritization and change governance forums to reinforce communication and alignment to key management and stakeholder priorities
• Ability to communicate effectively to different audiences, including elected officials, various levels of City management, department staff, and members of the public
• Ability to describe complex information and procedures in a simple, clear, and straightforward manner, understandable by the public and outside departments and organizations, including the use of matrices and tables as needed
• Ability to comprehend technical details and understand how they relate to and impact the “big picture”
• Ability to generate detailed, but user-friendly procedural documents
• Demonstrates proficiency in the Microsoft 365 platform—including Teams, Copilot, and related IT tools—to enhance communication, collaboration, and workflow management across the organization.
• Interest in municipal activities and services and how they impact the community
• Highly ethical and objective, with the ability to navigate in a political environment without being political
• Energetic, creative, and motivated with the ability and desire to take initiative
• Excellent analytical, written, and verbal communication, organizational, and project and program management skills
• Ability to work collaboratively, ensure deadlines are met, provide quality control, and think critically
• Experience interpreting and communicating federal, State and/or local regulations
• Extensive knowledge and experience developing and implementing complex and diverse projects and programs
• Strong management skills and experience managing varying program disciplines
• Ability to balance competing interests and remain neutral in a highly political environment
• Demonstrated team leadership
• Experience directly leading a sub- and/or professional team
• Experience developing and implementing process improvements that result in improved efficiencies
• Extensive knowledge and experience developing and implementing complex and diverse projects and programs, including information technology projects used to implement new technologies to divisional and/or departmental operations
• Experience leading and managing change efforts
• Interest in municipal activities and services and how they impact access and transparency for the residents of San Diego
• Experience establishing meaningful performance metrics to track and measure success
• Be a highly approachable leader, who can openly accept and work effectively in a climate of interaction, manage and motivate a diverse team to ensure high performance, and communicate horizontally and vertically within the organization

 The Department: 

The City Clerk’s Office in San Diego enhances civic engagement and government transparency as a vital link between residents and City government by overseeing records management. The Legislative Services Division produces the Council agenda and records and maintains the official minutes of City Council meetings. The Elections Division supports the City Clerk as the City's Elections Official in coordinating and conducting municipal elections with integrity. The Office assists designated filers with campaign statements, Statements of Economic Interest, and lobbyist registration and disclosure forms. The Information and Passport Services division responds to thousands of yearly requests and processes passports for residents. For more information, please visit this link.

The City:

With more than 1.4 million residents, the City of San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United States and the second largest in California. The City of San Diego’s strong economy, diverse population, great educational institutions, unsurpassed quality of life, and world-renowned location make it the ideal place to work, live, and play. With its great weather, miles of sandy beaches, and major attractions, San Diego has something to offer for everyone.

The City’s Mission, as stated in the Strategic Plan is “Every day we serve our communities to make San Diego not just a fine city, but a great City.” The City’s Vision is "Opportunity in every neighborhood, excellent service for every San Diegan". 

As one of the region’s largest employers, the City of San Diego employs nearly 13,000 highly dedicated employees and has a combined Fiscal Year 2025 operating and capital budget of approximately $5.65 billion. Additional information about the City of San Diego can be found on the City’s website.

Benefits:

The City offers a robust benefits package that includes:

• Defined retirement plan, including pension reciprocity, dependent on an employee’s eligibility status (new hire, rehire, etc.). 
• A wide variety of cafeteria-style health and wellness plans or in-lieu cash waiver.
• 11 paid City holidays per calendar year and 1 floating holiday per fiscal year.
• Approximately 176 hours of paid annual leave for an employee’s first 15 years of service, and approximately 216 hours for 16+ years of service.
• Up to 24 hours of paid discretionary leave per fiscal year.
• Up to 320 hours of paid Parental Leave per childbirth or placement of a child.
• Up to 40 hours of paid Bereavement Leave per fiscal year.
• Tuition reimbursement up to $2,000 per fiscal year, and complimentary LinkedIn Learning professional development opportunities.
• Free transit pass (including MTS Trolley, MTS Bus, and all Rapid and Rapid Express bus services).
• Access to premier City golf courses at a discounted rate. 
• Reduced-rate fitness center memberships.
• City-paid life insurance. 

For additional details, please review the Benefits Summary for Unclassified Employees  (Download PDF reader) or contact the Benefits Division of the Risk Management Department at (619) 236-5924. 

Pre-Employment Requirements and Screening Process:
Employment offers are conditional, pending the results of all screening processes applicable to the position. All the processes required by the City of San Diego must be successfully completed before employment begins. Please refer to the City’s pre-employment requirements and screening process webpage for additional information.  Nothing in this job posting constitutes or should be construed as part of an express or implied contract for employment with the City of San Diego. 

Resumes will be screened according to the qualifications outlined above and the most qualified candidates will be invited to interview.   
 

The City of San Diego has an active Equal Opportunity/ADA Program for employment and vigorously supports diversity in the workplace.