Engineering Manager, Backend (1054) - Systems and Analytics - Department of Human Resources

City and County of San Francisco•San Francisco, CA

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

The DHR Systems and Analytics Team is responsible for designing, maintaining, and continuously improving the technology systems that power HR operations and analytics across the City and County of San Francisco. The team manages the core platforms, integrations, and infrastructure that enable DHR to deliver reliable, secure, and scalable digital services supporting the City’s 35,000+ employees and hundreds of thousands of job applicants annually. Supporting internal and Citywide departments and programs, the Systems and Analytics Team ensures that HR platforms, workflows, and analytics function effectively at scale — supporting everything from employee service delivery and HR case management to workflow automation, data modeling and reporting, and platform integrations. The team plays a critical role in modernizing HR operations across the HR landscape Citywide. Becoming a City employee means being a part of a team that cares about making a difference. Your work will shape both the present and future of San Francisco. When you work for the City, you’re choosing a job with purpose. The City and County of San Francisco is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead development work building DHR's data infrastructure and hiring systems. Under the leadership of the Head of People Technology, this role supervises engineers developing data pipelines, integrations, and cloud applications that implement and automate HR processes. The Engineering Manager works closely with product development staff, subject matter experts, and software engineers to ensure our applications are efficient, secure, and meet the needs of users across the City.

Requirements

An associate degree in business administration, public administration, information systems, economics, finance, computer science, UX/UI design, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university OR its equivalent in terms of total course credits/units [i.e., at least sixty (60) semester or ninety (90) quarter credits/units with a minimum of twenty (20) semester or thirty (30) quarter credits/units in one of the fields above or a closely-related field].
Five (5) years of experience in the information systems field, including system analysis, business process design, development and implementation of business application solutions or IT project management.
One year of additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree.
Completion of the 1010 Information Systems Trainee Program may be substituted for the required degree.

Nice To Haves

At least two (2) years of experience supervising or leading a team of software engineers.
Experience supervising or leading engineers on mid‑sized teams within a large organization or bureaucratic environment.
Strong ability to engage with users, gather requirements, and translate needs into technical solutions with measurable impact.
Demonstrated experience working with systems integrations and navigating cross‑system dependencies and complexities.
Experience handling sensitive or high‑liability data, with strong knowledge of privacy and security best practices.
Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects or workstreams, including those with long pauses or shifting external dependencies.
Extensive experience using work‑tracking and project‑management systems to manage engineering workflows.
Ability to make pragmatic, context‑aware technical decisions and advocate for best practices in design, development, and operations.

Responsibilities

Supervise data engineers and backend engineers responsible for data infrastructure, system integrations, and automations supporting civil service hiring.
Prioritize and triage engineering work, ensuring the team balances immediate demands with long term improvements.
Review development work and provide feedback on code quality and technical design.
Contribute hands‑on development when engineering team is short-handed or urgent requests require a high level of technical expertise.
Learn complex business processes, how they relate to existing technical infrastructure and automations, and develop an understanding of how technology can streamline them further.
Make technical decisions by evaluating tradeoffs across data architecture, integrations, and backend design.
Translate business requirements into clear technical specifications for data pipelines, backend services, and system automations.
Communicate technical decisions and constraints clearly to non‑technical stakeholders across HR and partner departments.
Oversee integrations between hiring systems and other enterprise platforms, ensuring reliability, data consistency, and minimal disruption.
Support engineering practices related to privacy, data classification, and handling of sensitive or high‑liability information.
Manage multiple workstreams with shifting priorities, dependencies, and external timelines.
Ensure consistent use of work‑tracking systems and maintain visibility into progress, risks, and operational issues.