Career Opportunity

Forensic Toxicologist Supervisor- Office of the Chief Medical Examiner-(2457)-(125032)

Recruitment: RTF0124959-01124435

Published: March 11, 2023

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

The Office of City Administrator and its 20+ divisions and departments operate core internal and public-facing services. Our vision is to lead the nation in public administration and to enable City departments to effectively deliver critical public services. We aim to help the city run better, to connect San Francisco residents and constituents to the vital public services they seek, and to create a meaningful, diverse and inclusive work culture that is the place of choice for people who are invested in a career in public service.  To learn more about our departments, divisions, and programs, click here:  https://sf.gov/departments/city-administrator .

The City and County of San Francisco, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is seeking a Forensic Toxicologist Supervisor (Class #2547). The office recently moved into a state-of-the-art 52,000 sq. ft. facility in November of 2017, which includes a fully accredited laboratory, in-house histology services, ultra-modern radiology instrumentation, two-story autopsy suite that contains six main stations with three private auxiliary isolation suites and a 32ft high central skylight extending the length of the room. The facility was designed to specifically enhance the communication between the different divisions and, most importantly, enhance the work experience of staff and serve the needs of a 21st-century San Francisco. The ideal candidate will enjoy working with a diverse group of individuals who share a similar commitment to aspire towards excellence in the field of forensic science. 

THIS IS A POSITION-BASED TEST CONDUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH CSC RULE 111A. 

• Application Opening: 1/27/2023
• Initial Deadline: 2/10/2023
• Deadline Extended: 3/13/2023
• Recruitment ID: # 125032

Role description

Under the direction of the Chief Forensic Toxicologist/Forensic Laboratory Director, and following published protocols, the Forensic Toxicologist Supervisor assists in organizing and supervising the daily operations of the Forensic Laboratory Division including the Toxicology Section.

EXAMPLES OF IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL DUTIES: 

• Supervises all daily Forensic Laboratory Division operations; oversees staff activities, work assignments, and analytic procedures.
• Serves as a working professional supervisor providing technical guidance, training and review.
• Assumes a leadership role in developing new methods of analysis and training; participates in lectures and training of forensic staff for toxicology and pathology.
• Serves as second in command of the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory and speaks and acts for the Chief Forensic Toxicologist as appropriate or as assigned.
• Assists the Chief Forensic Toxicologist in allocating laboratory resources, preparing budgets, and recommending laboratory purchases. 
• Ensures proper maintenance of equipment, inventory of supplies, and security of evidence and premises of the laboratory.
• Reviews current professional literature to maintain currency in the forensic toxicology field and evaluates developments in instrumentation and methodology.
• Develops parallel tests, recommends new methodologies and assists in the preparation of procedural protocols for all methods.
• Supervises and maintains the Division’s quality assurance program.
• Reports the results of all proficiency testing and quality control results to the Chief Forensic Toxicologist/Forensic Laboratory Director and develops and implements proficiency-test-related corrective actions.
• Receives evidence submitted from the Medical Examiner or other law enforcement agencies for the purpose of screening, detecting and confirming/quantifying drugs and/or chemicals, controlled substances, prescription compounds and various poisons.
• Ensures specimens are logged in and stored according to forensic requirements; maintains a legal chain of possession for all evidence.
• Releases evidence to authorized personnel in accordance with rules of possession, departmental policy and federal regulation regarding biologic evidence.
• Performs the more detailed and complicated qualitative and quantitative analysis of forensic specimens, including blood, urine, and other biological evidence, for the presence of drugs and other toxic compounds.
• Identifies and quantitates the levels of drugs and/or chemicals; uses and is proficient with analytical procedures such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, gas and liquid chromatography.
• Interprets molecular and spectral output of analytic results for chemical and drug identification and quantitation purposes.
• Adds new drug and chemical information to the computer libraries and updates the programs as appropriate.
• Accurately records data and interprets findings; prepares legal reports representing the sum results of the analysis performed.
• Prepares chemical, enzymatic and/or physical extraction, dilution and/or concentration of specimens for organic and physical analysis.
• Accurately prepares chemical solutions, and analytic extracts necessary for quantitative chemical analysis in accordance with standard forensic toxicology and organic quantitative analytic procedures.
• Testifies in court to explain and support laboratory findings and technical details.
• Provides technical information and advice to the Medical Examiners, District Attorneys, City Attorneys, Public Defenders, Police investigators, and others as required.
• Serves as Forensic Alcohol Supervisor under the provisions of Title 17, California Administrative Code, and in accordance with the policies of the State Department of Public Health.

How to qualify

Education: Possession of a Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in one of the natural sciences, with 16 semester hours in general and organic chemistry, statistics; two analytical (including quantitative analysis) and/or interpretive courses in forensic toxicology, pharmacology and chemistry.

Experience: Three years of professional experience in forensic toxicology, one (1) year of which must have been obtained within the last three (3) years.

License and Certification:

Possession of a valid California driver’s license at the time of appointment (License must be maintained as a condition of employment).

AND

Possession of or eligibility for certification by the State of California Department of Public Health as a Title 17 Forensic Alcohol Analyst within three (3) years of hire.

Substitution:

Doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in one of the natural sciences may substitute for one (1) year of the required experience.

Note(s):

1]One-year full-time employment is considered equivalent to 2000 hours (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

2] A valid out-of-state driver’s license is acceptable during the application process. A valid California driver's license must be obtained prior to appointment and maintained throughout employment.

3] Applicants must meet minimum qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

4]Employees for the City and County of San Francisco may submit performance evaluations showing duties performed to verify qualifying City experience. City employees will receive credit for the duties of the class to which appointed. Credit for experience obtained outside of the employee's class will be allowed only if recorded in accordance with the provisions of Civil Service Commission Rules.

Verification:
Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

What else should I know?

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ):
Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire: (Weight 100%):
Candidates deemed to meet the minimum qualifications will be invited to participate in Supplemental Questionnaire examination designed to measure their relative knowledge, skills and abilities in job-related areas, which may include, but not be limited to knowledge of: Knowledge of: principles and practices of biology, chemistry, pharmacology and forensic toxicology with specific application to the analyses of human body tissues and fluids; Knowledge of the interaction of organic and inorganic compounds, especially drugs, with human systems; Knowledge of applicable legal terms, code sections, court procedures, and the laws of evidence; Knowledge of analytical instrumentation and equipment, as well as computer software and hardware, needed to perform difficult and complex toxicological examinations; Knowledge of principles of instrument and detector function and maintenance; Knowledge of principles of quality assurance and methods of assuring accurate analysis; Knowledge of procedures for working with and minimizing job-related chemical and biological hazards, including procedures for safe handling of chemical and biological laboratory wastes; Knowledge of principles of statistical analysis relative to laboratory practice and process; Ability to supervise and train staff involved in forensic toxicological analysis; Ability to conduct toxicological studies using complex analytical instrumentation and equipment; interpret mass spectra results; Ability to follow complex analytical protocol, make accurate observations and carefully interpret data; Ability to analyze and evaluate data collected in the course of investigations; Ability to apply specialized professional knowledge and skill in the use of scientific methods as a basis for formulating opinions or recommendations; Ability read and evaluate technical, medical and legal reports and published data; prepare clear, concise and accurate scientific and other reports; Ability to speak and communicate technical information in a clear and understandable manner appropriate to the understanding of the listener or legal decider of fact; Ability to listen and effectively elicit information; provide expert professional advice and testify as an expert in courts of law on matters related to forensic toxicology; Ability to utilize computers for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations.

A passing score must be achieved on the written examination in order to be ranked on the eligible list.

Eligible List/Score Report:
A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be 6 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2021-22.pdf.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.]

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams 
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY:
Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. 

Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst at Aarti.Lata@sfgov.org 

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.