City and County of San Francisco
Gardener (3417) - SF Citywide (X00126)
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States23 hours ago
$77,000 – $97,422EntryFull Time
This is a Citywide Exam posting. Your application to this posting is an application to take a citywide exam.
If you pass the exam, you will be emailed your score and ranking on the eligible candidate list. When a department has an open position with this job classification they will use this eligible list to hire for that position. Departments will contact candidates from this list to gauge interest in their specific roles. Learn more about the City’s hiring process here: https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/
Application Opening: May 18, 2026 (Original publish date)
Application Deadline: Apply Immediately. Application filing will be open at least through June 2, 2026 and will close any time thereafter.
Salary Range: $38.50 - $46.8375/hour; $6,673 - $8,119/month; $80,080 - $97,422/year
Appointment Type: Class Based Test; Permanent Civil Service
Contact: For questions about this position or how to apply, please contact Ian Talley at ian.talley@sfgov.org
San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city on the forefront of economic growth and innovation, urban development, arts and entertainment, as well as social issues and change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City’s commitment to heighten the quality of life for San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco. The City and County of San Francisco employs more than 28,000 individuals in various professional jobs in a diverse array of services such as maintaining City streets & parks, driving buses and cable cars, providing public health services, keeping the streets safe, and firefighting.
Under general supervision, this position performs routine maintenance and landscaping renovation tasks to care for natural and synthetic athletic fields, squares, parks, green infrastructure, playgrounds, stadiums, thoroughfares, medians, natural areas and/or other landscaped areas. Essential functions of this class include: preparing soil by rototilling, spading and fertilizing; maintaining plants by planting, transplanting, cultivating, irrigation and pruning; identifying a large variety of plant material and their cultural requirements; identifying pests and diseases, performing techniques such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control or mitigate the pests and diseases; maintaining lawns by raking, edging, mowing, watering, weeding, aerating, fertilizing, and over seeding; implementing habitat restoration and wildlife enhancement projects; maintaining grounds by clearing brush and debris, sweeping and raking public activity areas, cleaning up litter and clearing drains; changing sprinkler heads when required; operating power and manual equipment and/or tools such as mowers, watering equipment, gopher traps, and other types of gardening equipment and/or tools; performing routine maintenance on landscaping equipment and/or tools to ensure they are n good working condition; performing general maintenance tasks on grounds and facilities to ensure clean and safe premises; and performing other job duties as required.
Working Conditions
The nature of the work may require exposure to inclement weather conditions and may require exposure to hazardous conditions and/or materials which may include feces and/or urine, used syringes, etc. All positions require driving. Some positions may require riding mowers and driving small utility vehicles. Some positions may require working in public spaces such as public parks, schools, green spaces, nature trails, public/community facilities, etc. Some positions may require weekend or shift work.
Special Requirements
The 3417 Gardener requires the ability to lift, drag and/or move with assistance large and/or heavy plants and equipment to truck bed level and ability to kneel, bend, and squat for considerable periods of time safely and correctly. The probationary period will be used to evaluate these abilities.
Essential Duties
The 3417 Gardener:
AND
License and Certification
Requires possession of a valid California driver's license.
Notes
Verification of Experience and Education
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 verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/experience-education/.
Selection Procedures
After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:
Written Exam (Weight: 100%): Applicants who meet the Minimum Qualifications will be invited to participate in a multiple-choice examination designed to measure their relative knowledge, skills, and abilities in job-related areas. The multiple-choice exam will be administered in a paper format. The multiple-choice examination component may include but not limited to:
This is a standardized examination and, therefore, test questions and test answers are not available for public inspection or review.
The score you achieve on this exam will be valid and “banked” for three (3) years, starting from the date of the examination. This means that, during this three-year time period, you will not be required to take this exam again should you apply and be found eligible for a future recruitment that uses this particular test. Please note this test may be used for other classifications therefore your test score may be applied may be applied to one or more classes if you choose to apply to future recruitments. If the test for a future announcement is held within one year of the date of this examination, your score will be automatically applied to that announcement. However, after one year, you have the option to either (a) apply your test score to the other announcement or (b) re-take the test. Re-testing is permitted no sooner than one year from the date of the examination and only in association with your eligibility for another announcement for which this test is used. Please note that should you re-test, your new score would become your official score since it is the most recent.
Applicant scores on this examination may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.
Eligible List/Score Report
A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.
Eligible List Duration: The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of six (6) months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.
To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/ASO-Level-Chart.pdf?documentID=21246.
Certification Rule: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.
Upon approval of the Human Resource Director (see Civil Service Rule 111A.26.5), the eligible list/score report resulting from this announcement may be used by other departments that also use this classification or a similar classification. To find other Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Count-by-Job-Codes.pdf.
Exam Type: Entrance
Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.]
The terms of this announcement may be appealed under the Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 South Van Ness, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications, and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at https://sf.gov/departments/civil-service-commission.
To learn more about additional requirements from additional City departments, please go here: Additional City Departments Requirements
Public Resources Code 5164
Candidates for positions with the Recreation & Parks Department may be disqualified from consideration should their conviction history not meet the standards established under California Public Resources Code 5164.
Medical Examination
Prior to appointment, all candidates must successfully pass a medical examination to determine his/her ability to perform the essential functions of the job and/or the ability to meet the physical minimum requirements.
Drug Test Requirement
Applicants for positions in this classification who are not currently employed by the City and County of San Francisco in a safety-sensitive position represented by Local 261 are required to pass pre-employment drug (including marijuana) and alcohol testing upon reasonable suspicion or after-work related accident. Applicants with positive result from pre-employment drug test will be restricted from hire in safety-sensitive positions for six months after the date of the positive test.
Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
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.
Computers are available for the public (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) to file online applications in the lobby of the Dept. of Human Resources at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor and at the City Career Center at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 110.
Ensure your application information is accurate, as changes may not be possible after submission. Your first and last name must match your legal ID for verification, and preferred names can be included in parentheses. Use your personal email address, not a shared or work email, to avoid unfixable issues.
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, you may contact Exam Analyst, Ian Talley, at ian.talley@sfgov.org. Recruitment ID: X00126
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.
