Community Activity Specialist (BeautifySJ) - Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services

Job Description:

Community Activity Specialist (BeautifySJ) - Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services

Description

Our diverse and inclusive workforce of more than 7,000 employees play a key role in the success of San José, the heart of the Silicon Valley. All City of San José employees work together as one team to make San José a vibrant, innovative, and desirable place to live and work. Visit here to learn more about our One Team Leadership Values and Expectations, including quality and excellent customer service and here to learn more about San José.

The City of San José is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants for all job openings will be considered without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or any other consideration made unlawful under any federal, state or local laws. The City of San José is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at 408-535-1285, 711 (TTY) , or via email at CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov .

About the Department

Are you ready to join a team that is “Building Community Through Fun?” Are you ready to make a difference?
The City of San José’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) is looking for people who want to make San José a better place to live. Our mission is to connect people through parks, recreation, and neighborhood services for an active San José. ActivateSJ , PRNS’ latest strategic work plan, is committed to establishing healthy communities that inspire belonging by following the guiding principles of stewardship, nature, equity & access, identity, and public life.

The Department creates and activates thriving places where people live, work, play, and learn, which include 48 community centers, 10 regional parks, 203 neighborhood parks, Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, 290 playgrounds and almost 63 miles of trails, programs and services that touch the lives of individuals and families in our community. We take a fun approach to public service, and value the public’s trust. Our team is collaborative, supportive, and innovative. We are a fast-paced organization that takes decisive action after thoughtful planning.

The Division

The Community Services Division (CSD) e mpower s and support s residents, schools, and local organizations to make the city more livable, safe and clean. CSD is comprised of three core service program areas - BeautifySJ , Grantmaking for Community Impact, and Youth Intervention Services. Overseen by a Deputy Director and two Division Managers, there ar e 1 61 full-time equivalent employees and an operating budget of approximately $ 5 2 million along with various sources including State, Federal and other special funds.

BeautifySJ

The BeautifySJ Program conducts blight reduction, community beautification, neighborhood engagement, and encampment management services . Services include graffiti removal program, i l legal d umping p rogram, n eighborhood d umpster d ay p rogram, n eighborhood li tter p rogram, recreational v ehicle p ollution p revention p rogram, e ncampment tr ash removal program/abatement, c lean g ateways and c ash for t rash p rogram.

Position Duties

The Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department is currently seeking to fill two temporary (Limit dated) full-time Community Activity Specialists vacancies in the BeautifySJ Program. The position is currently funded through June 30, 2026.

Applicants can also expect at times to work on activities and events and may include evening and weekend work. Those selected for the positions can expect to work in-person, 40 hours per week with a typical in-person schedule of Monday-Friday or Tuesday-Saturday.The duties of these positions will consist of:

• Posting encampment abatement notices at encampments
• Engaging with those who reside in homeless encampments to educate them on the “no return zone” and other encampment setbacks
• Working in and near homeless encampment locations
• Pilot and document best practices for a no-encampment zones
• Coordinate with city officials, other City Departments, law enforcement, and service providers to ensure a unified approach to clearing and managing encampments
• Coordinating resources and scheduling workload for efforts including but not limited to Secondary Employment Unit (SEU) requests and scheduling through SJPD outreach service requests to the Housing Department, etc.
• Process reports and data tracking through the Survey123 system
• Coordinating resources and scheduling workload for efforts including but not limited to Secondary Employment Unit (SEU), Parking Traffic Control Officers (PTCOs), Vehicle Blight requests and scheduling through SJPD outreach service requests to the Housing Department, Police Department, Parking Compliance, etc.
• Manage the tracking system of referrals to other City Departments or partners;
• Other duties as assigned

These two (2) Community Activity Specialist will support the Encampment Management Program and No Encampment Zone team. The No Encampment Zone team completes weekly abatement activities including noticing encampments, referrals to partner departments for outreach, providing education on encampment setback areas. The position requires daily engagement with those residing in homeless encampments.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Graduation from high school or equivalent (General Education Development (GED) Test or California Proficiency Certificate)

Experience: Three (3) years of full-time equivalent work experience (6,240 hours) with diverse neighborhoods, residents experiencing homelessness, blight reduction programs, underserved communities, or neighborhood engagement and mobilization.

Acceptable Substitutions: Up to two (2) years of undergraduate course work from an accredited college or university (equivalent to at least 60 semester units or 90 quarter units) may be substituted for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.

Certifications: Must possess a valid California Driver’s License.

Other Qualifications

The ideal candidate will possess the following competencies, as demonstrated in past and current employment history.

Job Expertise: Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and practices, Citywide and departmental procedures/policies and federal and state rules and regulations.

Communication Skills: Effectively conveys information and expresses thoughts and facts clearly, orally and in writing; demonstrates effective use of listening skills; displays openness to other people’s ideas and thoughts.

Computer Skills : Experienced with common business computer applications including but not limited to: MS Outlook, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, and MS Excel.

Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills: Develops effective relationships with co-workers and supervisors by helping others accomplish tasks and using collaboration and conflict resolution skills.

Flexibility: Makes effective decisions and achieves desired results in the midst of major changes in responsibilities, work processes, timeframes, performance expectations, organizational culture, or work environment.

Problem Solving : Approaches a situation or problem by defining the problem or issue; determines the significance of problem; collects information; uses logic and intuition to arrive at decisions or solutions to problems that achieve the desired outcome.

Social Awareness: Demonstrates the ability to read or sense other people’s emotions and how they influence the situation of interest or concern; demonstrates empathy and organizational awareness.

Knowledge of:

• Techniques and strategies in working with vulnerable populations.
• Trauma informed principles.
• Local government principles.
• The basic principles and techniques of first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Ability to:

• Identify and establish positive relationships with residents, organizations, and interjurisdictional partners.
• Coordinate programs and community events, attend neighborhood and community stakeholder group meetings, and effectively respond to resident and program participant inquiries and concerns.
• Ability to work and interact effectively with any of these populations: neighborhood group/associations, non-profit organizations, interjurisdictional partners such as City and County, people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and people with diverse backgrounds.

The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application and responses to all the job specific questions. You must answer all questions to be considered or your application may be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Only those candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be invited to proceed in the selection process.

Note : Submitting a resume along with your application is desirable for this position.

If you have questions about the duties of these positions, the selection or hiring processes, please contact Taylor Pawlik at Taylor.Pawlik@sanjoseca.gov.

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

You must answer all job-specific questions to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Applicants are expected to write their own essays/responses. Please be advised that use of AI content in your responses may result in your removal from the hiring process.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

The City of San Jose offers a wide range of core health benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Disability, and Savings Plans. Please visit the City's benefits pagefor detailed information on coverage, cost, and dependent coverage.

For information on the City’s Retirement Plan(pension for full-time employees), please visit the Office of Retirement Services website. You will be able to view information based on different Sworn/Federated job classification.

In additional to the benefits above, there is an additional perks siteto explore further benefits of working for the City of San Jose like paid leave, educational reimbursements, and holiday pay are specific to the job classification and union membership.

Closing Date/Time: 10/31/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

Salary:

$74,627.28 - $90,679.68 Annually