Job Description

About the Audits Division

The Audits Division is responsible for conducting thorough and timely audits pursuant to the Commission’s Charter authority and mandate under City law. The purpose of the Commission’s audits is to determine whether auditees have materially complied with applicable requirements of State and local laws, including campaign finance, Form 700 disclosures, conflict of interest, government ethics, lobbying, and public disclosure laws. The Division’s audits are extensive and complex and are carried out within defined deadlines and in accordance with established auditing standards. The Audits Division also supports the work of the Commission’s Enforcement Division, which is responsible for pursuing penalties, where appropriate, for violations of law discovered through audits. The Audits Division collaborates with the Enforcement Division on cases that were developed based on audit findings and other cases in which financial or compliance audit work is warranted.

The Audits Division is also responsible for conducting performance audits of programs within the Ethics Commission. This work supports the Commission’s overall effectiveness by periodically reviewing operations to identify ways to improve internal controls, standardize and optimize processes, track key performance indicators, and improve program outcomes. Internal audits are performed in accordance with established auditing standards.

During election years, the Division also administers San Francisco’s public campaign financing program by reviewing requests and supporting documentation to determine candidate eligibility and public funds disbursements.

Role Description

Under general supervision, incumbents in this position plan, organize, and conduct various types of audits for the Ethics Commission. Auditors interact with City officials, candidates, political treasurers, campaign consultants, lobbyists, permit expediters, and others who are regulated by the Ethics Commission. Auditors also collaborate closely with staff in other Commission divisions to support and review their operations. In a fast-paced and team-oriented environment, our auditors engage in financial, forensic, compliance, investigative, and performance audits, program evaluations, and other analytical activities to ensure compliance with campaign finance and ethics laws and to promote efficient and effective operations within the Commission. Auditors also play a key role in reviewing claims for public financing to ensure that City funds are only distributed to qualified candidates and in accordance with program requirements. This position reports to the Audit Manager and is responsible for leading audits and other projects.

As with all positions at the Ethics Commission, Auditors must be willing to forego involvement in all local political activity while a member of the Commission staff and publicly file an annual Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700).

Essential duties for this job include, but are not limited to:

PERFORMING AUDITS

• Audits and investigates within all areas of the law administered by the Commission to evaluate compliance and identify violations of law.
• Conducts extensive testing, including collecting, analyzing, and documenting audit evidence as it relates to the audit objectives.
• Develops audit findings and recommendations that are fully supported by analysis.
• Conducts audit follow-up activities, including vetting audit findings through the Enforcement Division, providing auditees with notice and comment opportunities, and publishing final audit reports.
• Conducts performance audits of Commission programs and operations. Identifies and evaluates internal controls.
• Performs all assignments in accordance with office policies, division protocols, and Government Auditing Standards, as appropriate.

PLANNING AUDITS

• Scopes audits, including researching legal mandates and other background information, determining needs of key stakeholders, and identifying potential sources of evidence.
• Performs risk assessments to determine audit scope and objectives for different projects of all levels of complexity.
• Develops audit scope and objectives with limited or no prior audit information, and prepares detailed audit plans to conduct testing, detailed timelines, and milestones. Audit plans are prepared in alignment with Division protocols.

COMMUNICATION, PRESENTATION, & WRITING

• Interviews management and staff of audited entities to obtain key information as it relates to the audit objectives.
• Plans, organizes, and conducts audit entrance and exit conferences and periodic meetings with auditees to inform them of audit progress and results.
• Prepares presentations and may present audit results to a variety of audiences including Department management and public hearings.
• Prepares written audit reports that effectively and concisely communicate audit results.
• Critically reads audit reports and provides feedback on persuasiveness, clarity, consistency, style, and grammar.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT, TEAMWORK & LEADERSHIP

• Maintains close contact with the Audit Manager, Director of Enforcement, and/or Executive Director regarding project progress and problems.
• Reviews team members' work for completeness, technical accuracy, organization, content, tone, grammatical accuracy, and compliance with audit standards.
• Provides on-the-job training and evaluation feedback to team members.
• Actively contributes to team effort and takes a lead role in planning, conducting, and completing large, complex audits, or portions thereof.
• Prepares and maintains audit procedures, documents, and trackers in a centralized manner. Publishes and maintains audit guides, reports, web content, and other information on the Commission’s web site.
• Prepares data and performs analysis related to the division’s programs. Assists with preparing budget estimates for the division’s programs and operations.
• Assists with streamlining and automating the division’s business processes to maximize program performance and efficiency.
• Performs other duties as needed, including: providing input into the annual audit work plan to identify audit risks and priorities; maintaining the appropriate level of confidentiality and sensitivity; recommending and/or developing standard operating procedures for the Audits Division; maintaining professional proficiency through continuing professional education and participation in professional associations; may assist in investigating cases in collaboration with the Enforcement program; may construct records and data that may have been destroyed or falsified; may participate in the IT risk assessment and development of the IT audit plan program for the division and lead and execute IT audits, including testing internal IT controls; administration of the City’s public campaign financing program; and performs other related duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in business or public administration, accounting, finance, statistics, the social sciences, English, or a related field.

and

Two (2) years of experience performing audits; functional understanding of local government operations; knowledge of government auditing standards and auditing principles and practices.

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

Desirable Qualifications

• Professional certification as a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, or Certified Fraud Examiner.
• A Master's degree in public administration, business administration, accounting, public policy, or a related field of study.
• Prior professional-level experience using established government auditing standards.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and complete projects of high quality and on time, including effective use of organizational systems to regularly track and report on progress toward established goals and objectives.
• Experience working objectively, efficiently, and effectively under strict deadlines and in highly visible, highly sensitive or highly politicized settings.
• Proficiency with computers and software applications, including with Microsoft Office tools, electronic filings systems, collaboration tools (SharePoint, MS Teams or similar), financial & accounting systems, digital signature tools (DocuSign or similar), and content management systems (WordPress or similar).
• Proficiency with data analysis skills including advanced Excel, PowerBI, Tableau, or other statistical/analytics tools. Comfortable working with complex datasets and databases.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships that foster engagement and creative problem-solving as a member of a diverse staff 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 next stage of the selection process. The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring

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
• Veterans Preference
• 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
• A cover letter that details your interest in this position and the work of the Ethics Commission and describes your relevant skills and experience.
• Current resume

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.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Nikki Chew, Sr. HR Consultant at nikki.chew@sfgov.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.