Chief Administrative and Public Affairs Officer

Annual Salary Range: $191,817.60 - $297,336.00
First Review of Applications: June 12, 2025
Expected Start Date: July/August 2025

Description

The Chief Administrative and Public Affairs Officer is a member of the senior leadership team at SANDAG focused on operational excellence, transparency, and effective communications and engagement. This role oversees administrative functions including facilities operations.  The Chief Administrative and Public Affairs Officer is dedicated to improving organizational efficiency, fostering accountability, and enhancing community engagement. They will strengthen internal collaboration and alignment across departments, ensuring that SANDAG continues to deliver exceptional value and service to the residents of the San Diego region. The Chief Administrative and Public Affairs Officer may act in the absence of the Chief Executive Officer.

Examples of Essential Duties

The following duties are typical for the Senior Director classification. Incumbents may not perform all the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties to address organizational needs and changing practices.

Organizational Excellence:

• Promote lean government principles to streamline and improve processes while preserving high standards of service delivery. 
• Ensure that SANDAG’s programs and services remain aligned with the region’s needs and agency priorities.
• Collaborate with departments to avoid duplication, address gaps, and further enhance quality control in existing processes.

 External Communications and Engagement

• Lead strategic communications and ensure that information on SANDAG services, programs, projects, and events is easily accessible. 
• Develop SANDAG messaging and branding. Identify and mitigate reputational and organizational risks.

 Knowledge and Abilities 

• Knowledge of all aspects of administration and business operations of the organization including facilities operations; laws and policies governing and administered by the organization; principles of policy formulation; strategic planning, project management, performance measurement, and best practices for complex organizations; leadership techniques and principles and practices of supervision.
• Ability to direct all aspects of the business operations for the organization; direct the work of multi-disciplinary staff engaged in business operations, facilities management, administrative functions, communications and public relations.
• Provide oversight of the organization's strategic initiatives; envision, develop and deploy new programs and product offerings to meet evolving needs of the region; analyze problems, evaluate alternative solutions, and provide actionable recommendations that support the agency’s goals.

 Typical Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree with major course work in business, communication, public administration, public policy or a related field is desirable.
• At least eight years of increasingly responsible professional experience in a metropolitan planning organization or government environment including four years of supervisory and management experience.

The candidate selected for this position must successfully pass a pre-employment criminal background investigation and credit history verification; periodic re-checking of criminal background and credit history will be a condition of employment.

Benefits 

SANDAG offers comprehensive benefits, to include health, dental, and vision insurance as well as employee assistance, wellness, and work/life balance programs. Additionally, SANDAG offers the following:

• Hybrid work options
• 9/80 flexible work schedule
• Pay-for-performance merit increases
• Retirement - Defined Benefit Plan with the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS)
• Retirement - 457 Defined Contribution Plan with Voya
• Excellent health insurance options for employees and their eligible dependents
• Free dental and vision insurance for employees and their eligible dependents
• Education Assistance of up to $5,250 a year for regular employees
• Free transit pass for use throughout the San Diego region, bus, Rapid Express, Trolley, and COASTER
• Paid time off including 12 paid holidays, 2 floating holiday days, generous paid time off (PTO) per year, depending on length of service
• Executive level positions:
  • Management Benefit valued at 2.5% of salary that can be applied towards time off, health premiums, or deferred compensation
  • Access to an Executive Health Program
  • Annual contribution to 457 Deferred Compensation Plan
  • Paid parking

Visit https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/sandag? for information.
First review June 12, 2025. EOE.