City Clerk

Statement of Duties

The City Clerk is responsible for all operations of the Office of the City Clerk, which acts as the city’s custodian of records and serves approximately 20,000 customers annually. The Office maintains and distributes Birth Certificates, Marriage Licenses, Death Certificates, Business Certificates and a range of business licenses. The Office also provides the City Council and Licensing Commission with staffing and administrative support, and provides the City’s municipal departments with a variety of support services including researching legislation, locating and certifying documents, and processing City Hall’s mail. The City Clerk performs duties as prescribed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the ordinances of the City of Somerville.

Essential Functions

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

• Manages all work associated with the three office divisions: vital records & licensing; archives; and legislative services.
• Prepares budgets and manages revenues and expenses for: City Clerk’s Office; Licensing Commission; and City Council.
• Maintains and archives all municipal vital records, City Council records and Licensing Commission records.
• Manages and provides technical assistance for municipal archiving activities citywide, including both physical storage and electronic records management.
• Issues birth, marriage, and death certificates, dog licenses, business certificates, and certified copies of municipal documents.
• Manages the issuance of business licenses awarded under local ordinances and/or State laws.
• Researches, reviews and implements ordinances, laws and regulations related to business licenses, vital records, open meetings, freedom of information, municipal finance, zoning and other matters.
• Maintains and certifies the City Charter as amended, the Code of Ordinances as amended and other municipal documents.
• Manages administrative support to the Licensing Commission, including preparing agendas, attending meetings, maintaining minutes, managing licensure and correspondence and acting as liaison to the State Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
• Serves as Clerk to the City Council, attending all regular and special meetings, arranging public hearings, preparing meeting agendas and meeting minutes, maintaining all records thereof, acting as Parliamentarian and researching legislative histories and other matters as the City Councilors may request.
• Manages administrative support to the committees of the City Council, including preparing agendas, attending meetings, maintaining minutes, maintaining the Council’s meeting calendar, and researching other matters as the City Councilors may request.
• Manages staff support to the City Council regarding research and development of public policy, as well as financial and land use matters requiring Council approval.
• Administers Oaths of Office and maintains records of all municipal board and commission memberships.
• Provides public information and maintains the City Clerk, City Council, and Licensing Commission website.
• Issues Clerk Certificates related to the actions of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.
• Provides walk-up, telephone, mail and internet customer assistance on births, marriages, deaths, business certificates, dog licenses, business licenses, etc.
• Processes non-criminal violation payments; schedules non-criminal appeals for the Municipal Hearing Officer (MHO), and provides administrative support for the MHO’s hearing and decisions.
• Serves as a Notary Public.
• Performs related duties as needed.

Recommended Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree in communications, public administration, business or related field and five to seven (5-7) years of experience in a managerial or supervisory role; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge: Knowledge of archiving and records management procedures; knowledge of parliamentary rules and procedures; knowledge of Somerville Ordinances and Massachusetts laws and regulations; experience in budgeting, resource allocation and planning, customer service, business management and supervision; experience with municipal government, preferably within a legislative setting; familiarity with Massachusetts public records, open meeting, and ethics laws.

Ability: Ability to meet and deal with the public effectively; ability to handle problems and emergencies effectively; ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing; ability to operate a computer; ability to maintain confidential information; ability to maintain, manage, and organize records; ability to deal appropriately with City employees, elected officials and members of the general public. Ability to complete work in a timely and accurate manner.

Skill: Excellent organizational skills; excellent data processing skill in the use of personal computers and office software including word processing, database, spreadsheet, and specialized applications. Bilingual language skills in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian-Creole or Nepali preferred but not required.

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee will be required to work beyond normal business hours to attend evening meetings.

Physical and Mental Requirements

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. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills

Little or no physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as books, office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs.)

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone system, computer and/or most other office equipment, typing and/or word processing, filing, and sorting.

Visual Skills

Visual demands include constantly reading documents for general understanding and for analytical purposes and routinely reviewing maps and blueprints with a need for color vision.

Hours: Full-Time, evening availability for City Council Meetings
Salary: $120,000.00 annualized, plus benefits
Union: Non-Union
FLSA: Exempt
Date Posted: December 16th, 2025

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The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or apomeroy@somervillema.gov.

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation for non-union positions. Union positions vary by contract. Please note, police officers are members of the SPEA union. Public Health Nurses are part of Union A (SMEA).
• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Long term disability through Sun Life
• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
• Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
• Annual cancer screening & wellness release
• Tuition reimbursement
• MBTA pass program
• FREE Blue Bikes membership
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.