Performance Auditor

The City of Oakland is an equal opportunity employer that values workforce diversity, inclusion, and equity. Oakland has a long history of activism around issues of justice and equity. Both oppression and this resistance to oppression have shaped the city’s historical roots and the lives of its residents to this day. As public servants in one of the most diverse cities in the nation, we strive to develop employees who understand the harm and impacts of systemic inequity to create lasting, meaningful outcomes for everyone. Oakland strives to establish an environment that embraces the richness of culture, community, and individualism of employees.    

Why join the City of Oakland City Auditor Department?
Oakland’s elected City Auditor provides oversight for the full range of services the City of Oakland provides to residents, businesses, and visitors.

The City Auditor's Office evaluates the effectiveness, equity, and efficiency of City programs and makes recommendations to improve operations, transparency, and outcomes through performance audits that follow standards set by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Through public reporting and recommendations, the City Auditor’s Office strengthens accountability, and provides independent, reliable, accurate, and timely information to the City Council, the public, and other stakeholders. 

The Office’s performance audits cover the full spectrum of City activities, including library services, homelessness services, police oversight, fire prevention, financial management, and permitting for new development. Performance audits vary in size and scope and may include determining whether a City department or program is effectively meeting its goals and objectives, complying with laws and regulations, or operating in the most efficient, effective, and equitable manner. 

The City Auditor’s Office also houses the City’s Whistleblower Hotline and investigates allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse, and performs independent financial analyses of ballot measures that qualify for City elections.

For more information visit: www.oaklandauditor.com.

We are looking for someone who is:

• Analytical, thinks critically, synthesizes facts and data into meaningful findings and conclusions, identifies gaps in analysis and methods to close them, and weighs the relative importance of risks and effects.
• Driven by good government, public benefit, and motivated to learn about City programs, resident needs, public policy, and evaluation methods.
• Open-minded and objective, follows evidence, and considers alternate perspectives and ways of doing things.
• Team-oriented, collaborative, inspires respect and trust among team members, delivers reliably on tasks and deadlines, actively listens to team members, and offers and accepts constructive feedback.
• Communicative, able to clearly express complex ideas through writing and visuals, sets expectations well, informs managers and team members of progress and dependencies.
• Organized, develops and proposes work plans and milestones, reviews their own work, and builds in time for review by others.
• Professional, honest, ethical, and willing to learn about government auditing standards!

What you will typically be responsible for:

• Researching legislative history, laws and regulations, and best practices in local government.
• Interviewing City staff to understand program operations, challenges, and intended benefits.
• Analyzing data and creating visualizations to understand trends in program revenues, expenses, service levels, service areas, target populations, demographics, etc.  
• Identifying research questions and developing methodologies to answer them.
• Writing reports and preparing presentation materials.
• Participating in meetings with City staff, Councilmembers, and various stakeholders.
• Managing your time to meet deadlines and communicating progress, significant problems, questions, and other issues that may require follow-up by the project team
• Identifying and pursuing opportunities for professional development.

Read the complete job description by clicking this link.

*Click on the link below to see a video on what it's like to work for the City of Oakland!

Working for the City of Oakland

A few reasons you might love this job:

• You will have the opportunity to make an impact in one of the most vibrant, racially diverse cities in the nation, with a rich culture, and history of social and political activism.
• You will work in a collaborative, ideas-driven office where you’re encouraged to add to discussion, express your views, and receive time and space to learn and apply new skills.
• You will never get bored – you will complete a project on a new topic or subject area every six to nine months.
• This is one of the few positions within the City where you have the opportunity to regularly meet with Director-level staff from across the organization.
• Despite what you’ve heard about local government auditors, we are actually a pretty fun team.

A few challenges you might face in this job:

• Performance auditing requires attention to detail as well as the ability to see the larger picture – you will have to be rigorous in reviewing your work (and others’) for accuracy and precision.
• This is a public-facing role. You may need to present your work at a public meeting, answer questions of City Councilmembers, reach out to, or gather feedback from residents, businesses, or organizations that interact with the City.
• To maintain our independence and objectivity in evaluating City programs, the City Auditor’s Office does not implement policy – we rely on staff within the City Administration to see our recommendations through, which can take some time.
• Sometimes, people don’t want to be audited – you’ll have to be understanding of their concerns, able to identify common values, and work forward productively.
• You will work for an elected official, so in your professional capacity, your work represents the elected City Auditor.

Competencies Required:

• Analyzing & Interpreting Data: Drawing meaning and conclusions from quantitative or qualitative data
• Attention to Detail: Focusing on the details of work content, work steps, and final work products
• Business Process Analysis: Defining, assessing, and improving operational processes and workflow
• Critical Thinking: Analytically and logically evaluating information, propositions, and claims
• Establishing Credibility: Doing what one commits to doing and respecting the confidentiality of information and concerns shared by others.
• Fact Finding: Obtaining facts and data pertaining to an issue or question
• Informing: Proactively obtaining and sharing information
• Innovative Problem Solving: Identifying and analyzing problems in order to propose new and better ways of doing things
• Legal & Regulatory Navigation: Understanding, interpreting, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations
• Professional Integrity & Ethics: Displaying honesty, adherence to principles, and personal accountability
• Reading Comprehension: Understanding and using written information
• Teamwork: Collaborating with others to achieve shared goals 
• Using Technology: Working with electronic hardware and software applications
• Writing: Communicating effectively in writing

• Master's degree in public policy, public administration, economics, or a related field.
• Experience working in or with local government.

The Recruitment Process:

The City of Oakland works with a Civil Service system. Applicants apply online, and HR staff reviews their experience, education, and training listed on the application against the “minimum qualifications” listed for each position.

Candidates who demonstrate that they meet the minimum qualification requirements are then invited to participate in an assessment process (or testing) to measure their knowledge, skills, and abilities in job-related areas.

Candidates who do not demonstrate that they meet the minimum qualification requirements will have an opportunity to request a final review. Candidates must request a final review within 5 business days of being notified that they did not meet the minimum qualifications.

In the final review, candidates may clarify information already provided on their application. No additional work history, education, or certifications will be accepted. Any decisions made during this review process will be final.

For this recruitment, all qualified applicants will be invited to take an online multiple-choice test. You’ll have 7 days to complete the test once the link is sent to your email. This is tentatively planned to launch during the week of April 21, 2025.

For some recruitments, more than one type of assessment may be used. Depending on the number of candidates who pass the first assessment (multiple-choice test, structured interview, writing exercise, performance exam) you may be asked to complete a secondary assessment before the recruitment is finalized. If a secondary assessment is scheduled, you will be notified by email with specific details. If a secondary assessment is not scheduled, department hiring interviews will occur during this time frame.

Candidates who pass each stage in the process will be placed on an eligible list. Some candidates may receive extra points, for example, if you are a Veteran with an honorable discharge, or if you are a current City of Oakland resident. If you’re applying to a “restricted” posting and you are eligible as a current City employee, you may also receive additional points for your City service. Extra points are only applied to passing scores, so if you do not pass every element of the testing process, you cannot use extra points to pass.

The City of Oakland reserves the right to modify the selection process and date of examination as necessary to conform to administrative or business necessity. The information contained in this announcement is subject to change and does not constitute either an expressed or implied contract.

What’s in it for you? 

• 15 paid holidays 
• Vacation: 2 weeks per year minimum with the ability to accrue more depending on public sector years of service
• Retirement: CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System) with a pension formula of 2.5% @ 55 (for Classic CalPERS members) and 2% @ 62 for new CalPERS members. Classic Employees contribute 8% of pre-tax wages. The City of Oakland does not participate in Social Security
• Health: The City of Oakland pays the full cost of employee and eligible dependent coverage at the Kaiser rate. Other plans include Anthem, Blue Shield, United Health Care, and other HMO and PPO plans
• Dental: Delta Dental full premium for employees and eligible dependents
• Vision: VSP full premium for employees and eligible dependents
• Sick leave: Employees accrue 12 days per year
• Deferred Compensation: 457(b) pre-tax plan and an after-tax ROTH 401(k)plan
• Other benefits include a Flexible Spending Account, Wellness Program, Employee Assistance Program, Tuition Reimbursement, Life Insurance up to $200k & Employee Training.

Applicants are required to submit criminal history information upon request after receiving a conditional offer of employment. If the requested information is not furnished in a timely manner, applicants will not qualify for further consideration and will be removed from the eligible list.

Disaster Service Workers

All employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law. Employees are required to complete all Disaster Service Worker-related training as assigned and to return to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.

How to Apply

Apply prior to the closing time of the job announcement and allow at least two to three hours to submit your application if you are a new user of the system. APPLICATIONS ARE ACCEPTED ONLINE ONLY. You may apply and view current openings by visiting our employment opportunities webpage at:

http://agency.governmentjobs.com/oaklandca/default.cfm.

If you do not have access to a computer, there are computer stations available at any City of Oakland Public Library. There are also workstations at the Human Resources Management Department, 150 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, 2nd Floor, Oakland, CA 94612. Workstations are available during regular business hours (normally 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).  

Our online application system is provided by GovernmentJobs. If you have problems while applying online, please contact GovernmentJobs Live Applicant Support at (855) 524-5627 between 6:00 AM and 5:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday - Friday.  You may also call the City of Oakland Human Resources Management Department during regular business hours at (510) 238-3112 for information; however, we are unable to provide technical support for the online application system. For recruitment-specific questions, please contact Melissa Davis at mdavis3@oaklandca.gov 

Salary : $83,206 - $102,156