Skip to content
 
SF Careers Logo with City Seal
 
 

Career Opportunity

Psychiatric Technician (2305) - San Francisco Dept. of Public Health

Recruitment: REF6963H

Published: June 27, 2025

Contact:

Elaine Adams - elaine.adams@sfdph.org

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

Share

Department: Public Health
Job class: 2305-Psychiatric Technician
Salary range: $88,946.00 - $108,082.00
Role type: Permanent Civil Service What does this mean?
Hours: Full-time
Exam type: Continuous
Rule: Rule of the List
List type: Entrance
 

About:

The Department of Public Health prioritizes equitable and inclusive access to quality healthcare for its community and values the importance of diversity in its workforce. All employees at the Department of Public Health work to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity with a specific lens and focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, disability, and immigration status. 

The Department of Public Health is accepting applications in class 2305 Psychiatric Technician, for multiple positions at all DPH facilities, including Zuckerberg San Francisco General and Laguna Honda.

  1. START with this ⚠️ REQUIRED EXAM ✅  or https://forms.gle/HpbNaT6rRxa1ShdB7
  2. Select the “APPLY NOW” button and follow instructions on the screen.
  3. LASTLY, Look for a confirmation email (see HOW TO APPLY below for details)

Specific information regarding this examination process is listed below. 

The Mission of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is to protect and promote the health of all San Franciscans. SFDPH strives to achieve its mission through the work of two main Divisions - the San Francisco Health Network and Population Health. The San Francisco Health Network is the City's only complete system of care and has locations throughout the City, including Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, and over 15 primary care health centers.

**This recruitment is for multiple positions at all DPH facilities, including Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG), Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center (LHH), Community Primary Care and Mental Health Clinics, as well as San Francisco County Jails. Some positions may require employees to work directly with individuals within locked jails and psychiatric facilities, the homeless population, and/or individuals who have or are carriers of infectious/communicable diseases. Additionally, part-time, evenings, nights, weekends, rotating, and/or holiday shifts may be required. **

Role description

Under the direction of a licensed physician, registered nurse, or clinical supervisor, the Psychiatric Technician performs responsible nursing and therapeutic procedures in the care and treatment of severely and persistently mentally ill and emotionally disturbed patients. The Psychiatric Technician works closely with an interdisciplinary team consisting of Primary MD, Nurses, Social Workers, and Occupational Therapists. Essential functions include but are not limited to:    

  1. Gives a basic level of general and psychiatric nursing care to mentally ill patients; works with an interdisciplinary treatment team to provide an overall treatment program for the patient;
  2. Under supervision, may perform nursing procedures such as administering medications and treatments, including oral medications, injections, and enemas, taking and charting vital signs;
  3. Observes patients’ condition and behavior; reports significant changes to supervisor or physician and documents care and/or treatments in nursing progress notes on patients; prepares patients and cares for them during treatment; gives first aid as needed;
  4. Helps to create a safe and therapeutic environment for patients and recognizes early symptoms/signs of escalation and at risk behavior; uses appropriate interventions including crisis intervention, verbal de-escalation, and alerting other team members;
  5. Implements therapeutic activities and documents patient participation; assists rehabilitation therapists in occupational and recreational therapies for patients;
  6. Motivates patients to develop independence in performing activities of daily living; assists patients with feeding, clothing, toileting, activities of daily living; ensure patients follow safe practices that protect patients and others from personal injury;
  7. Receives visitors and encourages their interest in the patients' wellbeing and treatment plan; escorts patients on the facility premises and to and from the community; orders supplies as needed; keeps records; participates in orientation and in-service training programs;
  8. Participates in the discharge process

The 2305 Psychiatric Technician performs other related duties as required.

Nature of Positions: Positions may require considerable physical effort in controlling or restraining violent clients, with continuous exposure to conditions which may result in accidents or injuries or other uncomfortable situations.

How to qualify

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS 

  • LICENSE: Possession of a valid Psychiatric Technicians license issued by the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians. 

Condition of Employment: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Certificate (Please attach a copy of your certificate)

  • Requirement/Provision Possession of a valid Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Certificate issued by the American Heart Association is required as a provision to employment for all positions. 

Special Condition(s): In addition to the listed minimum qualifications, some position(s) may require special conditions, including but not limited to, bilingual fluency in a variety of languages depending upon the department's bilingual needs. Only those eligible candidates who pass the bilingual proficiency test will be considered for bilingual positions. Applicants must indicate on the application form the language(s) in which they claim proficiency.

Important Note: Please make sure it is absolutely clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Please be aware that any misrepresentation of this information may disqualify you from this recruitment or future job opportunities. 

What else should I know?

Training and Experience Evaluation (Weight: 100%): Candidates will be prompted to complete a Supplemental Questionnaire as part of the online employment application. The Supplemental Questionnaire is designed to measure knowledge, skills and/or abilities in job-related areas that have been identified as critical for satisfactory performance in this position.  

All relevant experience, education and/or training must be included in the application to be reviewed during the scoring process.  Candidate responses on the Supplemental Questionnaire cannot be changed once submitted. Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score on the Supplemental Questionnaire.  

Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Certification
The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be the Rule of List.

Eligible List/Score Report:

Once you pass the exam, you will be placed onto an eligible list and given a score and a rank. For more information, visit https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/.

Candidate names will remain on the list for a maximum period of 12 months. Candidates that are not selected and expire off the list may re-apply.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted online at careers.sf.gov.

Our e-mail communications may come from more than one department so please make sure your email is set to accept messages from all of us at this link.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment. Please consider using a personal email address that you check regularly rather than a work or school account.

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.

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. [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.] The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules.  

Additional information regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco: 

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Elaine Adams at elaine.adams@sfdph.org or 628-271-6974.

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. The first message will ask you to opt in to text messaging. 

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.