About City of Santa Monica
What is the City of Santa Monica?
The City of Santa Monica is the municipal government of Santa Monica, California — the Los Angeles County beach city of roughly 93,000 residents, incorporated in 1886. It is an unusually full-service city for its size: its own bus network (Big Blue Bus), water utility, planning, housing, cultural affairs, public works, libraries, finance and administration, plus police and fire.
Where will I work?
Santa Monica City Hall at 1685 Main Street, two blocks from the beach. The city's hours page states: "Santa Monica City Hall is open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and alternating Fridays" — and lists the closed Fridays for the year under the heading "City Hall is Closed Alternating Fridays". The schedule is contractual, not informal: the Municipal Employees Association MOU (2025-2030, §1.13) defines a Compressed Work Schedule as "a work schedule in which a full-time employee is assigned to work a total of 80 regularly scheduled work hours in nine or less days in a given two-week period".
What is the City of Santa Monica team like?
A professional workforce of around 2,000. The current board is one of the strongest white-collar municipal slates in the cohort: Traffic Engineer, Principal Business Systems Analyst, Senior Plan Check Engineer, Cultural Affairs Administrator, Affordable Housing Development Administrator, Senior Legal Analyst and Deputy City Attorney roles. We list Santa Monica's civilian professional positions — sworn police, fire and as-needed event roles run separate schedules and are excluded from our feed.
Work-Life Balance
Every other Friday off is the building's rhythm — the closed-Friday dates are published like public holidays, and the 9/80 definition sits in the union contract rather than a manager's discretion. Employee reviews on Indeed run 3.8 overall with work-life balance equal-top at 3.8 across 76 reviews. Salary ranges are published on every posting, and standard California municipal conditions apply: CalPERS defined-benefit pension membership and formal vacation, sick leave and holiday accruals.
Perks and Benefits
- Citywide 9/80 schedule — City Hall closed alternating Fridays, dates published for the year
- Compressed schedule defined in the MEA union MOU (80 hours over nine days per fortnight)
- CalPERS defined-benefit pension
- Salary ranges published on every job advert
- Formal vacation, sick leave and holiday provisions