WATER CREW MANAGER

Classification and Time: Full-time, Non-exempt

Compensation: $38.07 per hour

Hours and Schedule: 40 hours per week. 8am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday, with required occasional Saturdays to support weekend tree planting events. Water Crew members should expect to work a Saturday with the previous Monday off approximately once per month.

Reports to: Tree Care Program Manager

Date Posted: September 25, 2026

Priority Deadline: October 11, 2026

Note: This is a regular position that is currently funded by a grant through June 30, 2028. Continued employment beyond that period will depend on continued funding and program needs. Employment with Friends of the Urban Forest remains at will. 

About Friends of the Urban Forest

Since 1981, Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF), a premier San Francisco environmental nonprofit, has brought together communities throughout the city to plant more than 60,000 trees– half of San Francisco’s street tree canopy. Friends of the Urban Forest has a long history of integrating urban greening with civic engagement as a way to increase community health and resilience, combat the effects of the climate crisis, and promote environmental equity and social justice. Friends of the Urban Forest connects San Franciscans to nature and to each other and recognizes San Francisco’s many communities and cultures and the diverse ways in which they connect with our urban forest. This position at Friends of the Urban Forest would give you the exciting opportunity to be part of a growing and dynamic professional organization that has been creating a greener San Francisco for more than 45 years.

Position Summary

The Friends of the Urban Forest’s Water Crew provides essential watering support for new street trees to build San Francisco's urban forest. This team is responsible for the watering of up to 4,500 young trees each week for their first three years as they establish. This is a supervisory role with the Water Crew Manager responsible for managing, training, onboarding, and supervising up to seven Water Technicians to support the needs and goals of the Tree Care program. The Water Crew Manager will balance supervisory responsibilities while also performing watering duties on a daily basis. This is primarily a field-based role with watering duties performed in two-person teams. Driving is a critical responsibility as this role operates a low cab forward light duty commercial truck with a 750 gallon tank across San Francisco’s neighborhoods. 

This role includes field work, administrative duties, some heavy lifting (40lbs), and driving company vehicles. Regular Saturday availability is required. The Water Crew Manager is part of FUF’s Tree Care and Watering Program and reports directly to the Tree Care Program Manager. This position will play a key role in the planned expansion of Friends of the Urban Forest’s watering operations.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Activities, duties, or responsibilities may change at any time with or without notice.

Representative Duties and Responsibilities

Supervisory Duties

• Hire, train, coach, evaluate, and supervise a team of four to seven Watering Technicians.
• Oversee team expenses, ensuring tools, fuel, and equipment receipts are promptly uploaded and coded.
• Review and approve Watering Technicians biweekly timesheets and submit to human resources.
• Lead and participate in team collaborations, including weekly check-ins with Water Crew, biweekly individual 1:1s, and monthly cross-functional meetings with Tree Care and Tree Planting teams.
• Cultivate a culture of safety and ensure safe practices during daily operations.

Water Crew Operations

• Work closely with the Tree Care Program Manager to create work plans that satisfy annual goals and grant requirements, tracking regularly to ensure goals are met.
• Work with the Tree Care Program Manager to create and track annual program budgets.
• Drive a low cab forward light duty commercial truck daily to provide watering for up to 600 trees each week to ensure they become established over a three-year period. 
• Utilize Salesforce platform to efficiently plan field routes and track watering activities.
• Ensure the full scope of assigned trees are watered on a regular basis.
• Coordinate with the Tree Planting Team and Green Crew Program to ensure water needs are met ahead of planting.
• Safely operate the water pump and hose. Access fire hydrants to fill the 750-gallon truck tank in accordance with SF Public Utility Commission (PUC) standards. 
• Maintain tools, tool shed, and Friends of the Urban Forest vehicles in clean working order and work with the Program Manager to log and coordinate maintenance needs.
• Provide maintenance on FUF tree basins through mulching, weeding, litter removal, hardware adjustments, as needed.

Monitoring and Reporting Duties

• Work with the Tree Care team to report tree conditions, relaying maintenance needs, and tracking watering activities using Google and Salesforce platforms. 
• Assist Tree Care team with conducting post-planting surveys on a monthly basis, and conducting bi-annual inspections for trees that have been watered for 3 years to determine whether they are established or need further care. 
• Make regular purchases on behalf of the Water Crew for gas, equipment, or other needs as assigned. Upload and code receipts promptly and in line with the department budget. 
• Track water usage using a PUC water meter, including submitting a water meter to the PUC on a bi-monthly basis for reading & billing.

General Duties

• Demonstrate safe and respectful driving practices while transporting staff and materials, commuting between work sites, and traveling on residential streets.
• Assist with the maintenance of the Friends of the Urban Forest tree yards, including watering, inspecting irrigation, and repairing as needed.
• Document and report all incidents, accidents, and close calls as necessary.
• Follow and enforce Friends of the Urban Forest safety and personal protective equipment procedures.
• Provide support to other FUF teams and staff as needed. Activities may include but are not limited to: planting trees and installing protective hardware surrounding newly-established trees; conducting post-planting surveys; performing basic young tree & basin maintenance tasks.

Requirements

• Valid California Driver’s License with a clean driving record and the ability to safely drive a 750-gallon commercial water truck (a commercial driver’s license is not required).
• One year of experience supervising, coaching, and managing a field-based team.
• Experience driving box trucks, delivery vans, or other large vehicles.
• Demonstrated experience in the field of arboriculture, landscaping, or irrigation systems.
• Knowledge of equipment maintenance and care such as: water pumps, trucks, manual pruning tools.
• COVID-19 vaccination (reasonable medical or religious accommodations considered).

Desired Experience and Qualifications

• Knowledge in young tree care, structural pruning, and pest/pathogen identification.
• Proficiency in navigating and managing data systems. Salesforce and Google Workspace platform experience is a plus.
• Experience working in the public right-of-way.

Don’t hold back: Studies show that women and members of underrepresented groups often hesitate to apply for positions unless they meet every single qualification. At Friends of the Urban Forest, we are looking for the right person, not just the right resume. If you are passionate about San Francisco’s tree canopy and have a track record of getting things done, we encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every bullet point.

Competitive Compensation and Benefits

The Water Crew Manager is full-time, non-exempt with an hourly rate of $38.07. Friends of the Urban Forest offers a competitive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision insurance for employees and 50% employer-paid for dependents (up to a certain limit) as well as long-term disability, life, and AD&D insurance. We offer a 403(b) Retirement Plan with an employer match, a pre-tax commuter benefit program, a generous paid leave policy that includes 13 holidays each year, vacation starting at 12 days and increasing with additional years of employment, 10 sick days and funds for professional development opportunities.

Work Environment 

This is an entirely field-based position that is expected to report in person to our offices in the Presidio of San Francisco ahead of performing watering duties each day. Administrative tasks or data entry are mainly performed in the field on issued mobile devices (tablet or phone). 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to outdoor weather and working conditions, and can regularly get wet due to work with hoses or hydrants. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. A majority of the workday is spent working on urban streets in close proximity to vehicle traffic, pedestrians, and parked cars. 

Physical Demands 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

This position is very active and requires standing, walking, bending, reaching, pulling, kneeling, stooping, and crouching throughout the workday. The employee must also be able to condition themselves to safely perform repetitive motions including starting a motor, pulling on a reeled hose, and getting into and out of the truck cab. 

The employee may occasionally be required to lift and move items  over 40 pounds, load tools and planting materials into and out of truck beds, and ascend/descend a ladder. 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear, including communicating over the noise of the truck and pump. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Friends of the Urban Forest is dedicated to gender and race equity and inclusion. As an equal opportunity employer, Friends of the Urban Forest does not discriminate against any applicant or employee on the basis of any status or characteristic protected by applicable laws or ordinances. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.