Chief Financial Officer (0943 Manager VIII) - Department of Public Health — San Francisco, CA

Position Overview

The Department's budget, revenue, reimbursement, capital financing, and financial systems determine what care can be delivered, which programs can be sustained, and how the Department meets the needs of the residents who depend on it. The scale and complexity of these financial functions require strong executive leadership, disciplined stewardship, and the ability to connect financial strategy to performance across a large and highly interconnected organization.

DPH is seeking an impact-driven Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to lead the financial strategy and operations of one of the nation's premier and most complex integrated public health systems. This is both a financial and a strategic role, and a defining leadership opportunity: to secure the long-term financial sustainability of a modern, high-performing public health system. It calls for a leader with a strong vision for financial transformation, deep expertise in health care reimbursement and revenue optimization, and a demonstrated ability to deliver measurable outcomes through disciplined, end-to-end execution that translates strategy into results across the full length of a large and interconnected organization.

The Role

The Chief Financial Officer serves as the Department's senior financial executive, leading all functions of the Finance Division. The CFO reports to a member of the Department's executive leadership team and advises executive leadership, the Director of Health, and the Health Commission on the Department's financial position and the decisions needed to protect and improve it. This is a role for a builder and a driver: the mandate is to strengthen the Department's finances, not simply maintain them.

The CFO translates strategic priorities into sound financial plans and drives financial transformation across the Department, pairing financial discipline with strategic vision and owning delivery end to end so that funding, revenue, and investments produce measurable outcomes. Effective leadership requires a deep understanding of how financing, clinical services, and public health programs intersect to sustain DPH's mission across a complex system. Success requires sound judgment, political acumen, and the ability to build alignment and drive results in a highly visible public-sector environment.

The position provides leadership for a Finance Division of more than 500 employees across functions including:

• Financial Planning, Budget, and Forecasting
• Accounting and Financial Reporting
• Revenue Cycle, Reimbursement, and Billing
• Payer Contracting and Managed Care Finance
• Capital Financing and Financial Systems

Together, these functions provide the financial foundation that sustains every program, facility, and service location across DPH.

Key Responsibilities

Secure Financial Sustainability and Set Strategy

• Lead long-range financial planning, forecasting, and strategy that safeguard the Department's long-term financial sustainability and set clear, multi-year direction
• Develop and execute strategies that strengthen revenue, reimbursement, and financial performance, aligning funding and investments to the Department's highest priorities
• Give executive leadership early warning of financial risk and practical options to address cost overruns before they affect care

Lead Budget and Resource Allocation

• Direct department-wide budget development, controls, and negotiations with City stakeholders, and determine resource allocation in support of strategic goals
• Implement and monitor budgeted expenditures and revenues, connecting spending directly to performance and outcomes
• Advise Executive Leadership, the Director of Health, and Health Commission on resource allocation, revenue opportunities, and the fiscal impact of policy decisions

Strengthen Financial Operations and Systems

• Direct accounting, reimbursement, billing, and collections, and direct capital financing programs, including the repair and replacement of facilities
• Guide modernization of financial information systems so that data is timely, reliable, and decision ready
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local standards, and lead responses to audits and financial reviews

Advance Stewardship and Partnerships

• Promote data-informed decision-making and disciplined stewardship of public resources, and direct financial reporting to executive leaders, the Mayor's Office, and the Controller's Office
• Represent the Department before the Board of Supervisors, Health Commission, and other stakeholders on financial matters
• Build alignment across divisions so that financial planning supports consistent execution and the Department's strategic goals

The Chief Financial Officer (0943 Manager VIII) may perform other duties as assigned/required.

What Success Looks Like

• The Department's financial position is stable, resilient, and sustainable over the long term.
• Budget, revenue, reimbursement, and capital functions operate as integrated systems rather than separate activities.
• Funding and investments are clearly connected to performance, priorities, and outcomes.
• The Department delivers stronger results through greater financial discipline, transparency, and accountability.

Why This Role Matters

• Every program, service, and public health outcome depends on the Department's financial sustainability.
• The budget, revenue, and financial systems led by this role determine what care can be delivered and sustained for the residents who rely on DPH.
• The Chief Financial Officer helps ensure that one of the nation's premier and most complex public health systems has the modern, financially sustainable foundation necessary to deliver results today while preparing for the challenges of tomorrow.

Education and Experience: Possession of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university AND five (5) years of financial managerial experience in a large public health department, public agency, academic medical center, teaching hospital, or private non-profit hospital or health plan, all of which must include supervising employees. Experience must include budget planning and development, accounting, revenue, reimbursement, capital planning and financing, and/or financial information technology systems

OR

Education and Experience: Possession of a Master’s degree from an accredited college or university AND four (4) years of financial managerial experience in a large public health department, public agency, academic medical center, teaching hospital, or private non-profit hospital or health plan, all of which must include supervising employees. Experience must include budget planning and development, accounting, revenue, reimbursement, capital planning and financing, and/or financial information technology systems

Education 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.

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

One-year full-time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week).

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 or experience verification is required, information on how to verify education and experience requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/experience-education/.

• 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.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment. Please consider using a personal email address that you check regularly rather than a work or school account.

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 analyst, Steven Scoles at steven.scoles@sfdph.org or (628) 271-6828.

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. The first message will ask you to opt in to text messaging.