Manager IV, MTA Manager of Special Events - Streets Division - San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (9174)

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA or “the agency”) connects San Franciscans with their communities to enhance the economy, environment and, ultimately, the quality of life in the city. As an agency within the City and County of San Francisco, the SFMTA is responsible for managing the city’s transportation network. The agency has more than 6,000 employees who are responsible for the management of all ground and some underground transportation in the city. The SFMTA has oversight over public transit, as well as bicycling, paratransit, parking and curb management, street operations, walking, and taxis.

APPOINTMENT TYPE: Permanent Exempt, Full Time – This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

Application Opening: November 9, 2026

Application Deadline to Apply: November 30, 2026

Contact: Yvonne Lee at Yvonne.Lee@sfmta.com

Salary: The normal annual salary range is up to $205,972. Appointments above the maximum of the normal range may be considered based on documented and substantiated recruitment and retention issues or exceptional skills.

Recruitment ID: PEX-9174-169405

Please Note: ⚠️A copy of your resume and cover letter must be attached to the online application. ⚠️

Division: Streets

Section/Unit: Transportation Engineering

Work Location: One South Van Ness Avenue, 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm with some evening, weekend and holiday work depending on the event calendar.

The Streets Division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is responsible for designing, directing and managing all transportation planning and engineering functions within San Francisco to promote the safe and efficient movement of people and goods throughout the City.

San Francisco’s special events bring people together and support neighborhood and business vitality. At the same time events can place complex demands on the transportation network. In recent years San Francisco has seen an increase in the number and variety of special events.

The SFMTA Manager of Special Events is a newly established position that will lead transportation-related special event strategy, policy, stakeholder management, and operational coordination. The Manager of Special Events will oversee the SFMTA staff assigned to special event permitting and transit event operations.

The position will bring together SFMTA special events staff working in transit operations, transportation engineering, parking and curb management, parking enforcement, temporary signage, emergency management, accessible services, communications, finance, and governmental affairs. Working with the Mayor’s Office and other City and regional partners, the Manager of Special Events will resolve cross-functional issues within delegated authority and elevate decisions requiring executive action. The position will also lead efficiency initiatives to improve customer experience and reduce costs through experimentation and innovation.

This is a highly visible, fast paced, cross-functional role for someone who is customer-service oriented, comfortable working in a complex urban transportation environment, and able to quickly translate a wide-range of technical input into clear policy recommendations, permit conditions, and staffing assignments.

Examples of Important and Essential Duties

The duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

Substitution: Additional experience in urban transportation in the fields of design, planning or program management at any level (i.e., supervisory, non-supervisory) may be substituted for the required education on a year-for-year basis. One year (2000 hours) will be considered equivalent to thirty (30) semester unit/forty-five (45) quarter units.

Notes

- Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.
- One year of full-time experience is equivalent to 2000 hours (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hours work week.) Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time experience.

Desirable Qualifications

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify candidates advancing to the interview process and/or to identify job finalist(s) at the end of the selection process when referred for hiring.

Responsibilities

Develops and implements SFMTA’s special events strategy, annual priorities, policies, and service standards. Advises agency executives and City partners on transportation implications of proposed events by presenting options, risks, resource needs, and recommended actions.; Oversees all aspects of SFMTA’s special events program, including the intake, review, coordination, approval, staffing, implementation, and post-event evaluation, manages the multi-modal review of special event applications, site plans, transit routes, traffic control plans, temporary parking restrictions, accessibility routes, emergency access, and other operational requirements.; Serves as a primary liaison between SFMTA and partner City and Regional agencies involved in special event review and operations.; Facilitates coordination meetings, event walk-throughs, internal briefings, public meetings, interdepartmental hearings, and post-event debriefs.; Leads a comprehensive review of SFMTA’s special events permitting practices, fee structures, service levels, customer experience, internal workflows, and policy framework, develops and implements recommendations on how to make the program more transparent, equitable, sustainable, and customer-focused, identifies and advances legislative or regulatory changes to modernize the program.; Manages, supervises, trains, and supports staff assigned to the special events permitting and transit operations functions.; Serves as Agency liaison to the interdepartmental special events teams and policy-making officials, chairs the Interdepartmental Staff Council on Traffic and Transportation, attends SFMTA Board of Directors and Board of Supervisors hearings related to special events.; Staffs the City’s Emergency Operations Center and the SFMTA Department Operations Center, as needed, when activated for special events.; Collaborates with SFMTA finance and operational staff to continuously evaluate the program’s budget, cost recovery model, fee structure, billing practices, waivers, and overall resource needs.; Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Education: Possession of a Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. AND; Experience: Eight (8) years of professional-level urban transportation experience in the fields of design, planning, or program management. Professional-level experience consists of interpreting laws and regulations, and/or exercising independent judgment in the application of defined principles, practices, and regulations. Three (3) years of this experience must include supervising staff.

Nice to have

Experience with special event organization, permitting or management in a major city or complex public sector environment; Knowledge of urban transportation operations, temporary traffic control, transit service planning, parking and curb management, pedestrian and bicycle access, emergency access and street closure operations.; Experience managing or coordinating multidisciplinary teams such as consultants, engineers, transit staff, permitting officials, traffic control crews, emergency services, and law enforcement.; Experience working with event sponsors, government agencies, elected officials, community organizations, and business organizations.; Experience supervising staff, managing workloads, setting expectations, reviewing work products, and supporting professional development.; Experience developing or improving policies, procedures, budgets, fee structures, program guidance, and public-facing materials.; Experience delivering projects on-time and on-schedule and working under tight deadlines to coordinate efforts.; Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize technical information from a variety of subject matter experts.; Ability to attend field meetings and special events, including occasional evenings and weekends.; Experience working with diverse legislative, permitting and regulatory bodies.; Experience with budget development, cost recovery fee analysis, or financial management of public programs.; Experience developing public-facing documents such as intake forms, webpages, process checklists, or performance dashboards.; Experience briefing senior executives, elected officials, boards, media, commissions, or other public decision-making bodies.; Knowledge of Incident Command System (ICS) procedures used to organize government agencies around planned and unplanned incidents and events.