Medical Examiner’s Investigator Office City Administrator; Eligible List

Overview

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.

Specific information regarding this recruitment process is listed below:

• Application Opening:
  Friday, January 30, 2026
• Final date to receive applications:
  Monday, February 16, 2026(11:59 PM, PST)

About the Office of the City Administrator
The Office of the City Administrator and its 25+ divisions and departments operate core internal and public-facing services in San Francisco.

About the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) is responsible for the medicolegal investigation and the certification of the cause of death and the manner of death for deaths under our jurisdiction (sudden, unexpected, or violent deaths; such as deaths outside a hospital or the care of a physician, accidental drug overdose, or suspected suicides or homicides).

Mission and Responsibilities

• Uphold the highest standards of ethics, excellence, and empathy in conducting forensic investigations to determine the cause and manner of death within our jurisdiction.
• Deliver impartial forensic services that benefit both the community and the justice system.
• Provide data to inform public health initiatives.

Ultimately, we seek to bring closure to decedent families and their loved ones.

Join the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as a Medical Examiner's Investigator I, where you will contribute to the investigation of deaths under the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In this position, you will assist with death investigations and autopsies, respond to death scenes, and support forensic pathologists during critical examinations. Your responsibilities will include collecting and preserving evidence, aiding in the identification of deceased individuals, and notifying next of kin.

This is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on your community while upholding the highest ethical standards.

• Responds to death scenes under the jurisdiction of the Chief Medical Examiner; assists Investigator in the removal of the body from the scene.
• Assists forensic pathologist and other forensic consultants in performance of forensic examinations, including evidence collection, labeling, photography, specimen collection, dental and/or anthropology examinations, taking radiology images, and medicolegal autopsy of the deceased persons.
• Assists Investigator with gathering forensic evidence and medical information; assists with examination of the body of deceased person and recording any pertinent evidence and/or items of property, examination of the surrounding vicinity, recording findings and the maintenance of chain of custody.
• Assists in the collection and preservation of clothing, physical and biologic evidence for forensic analysis, which includes, but is not limited to, gunshot residue collection, fingernail clippings, sexual assault specimen collection, collection of bodily fluids for forensic toxicology, clinical chemistry, serology and microbiologic testing; package and prepare evidence and specimens for storage or transport within a legal chain of custody; ensure proper biohazard waste disposal according to protocol.
• Assists in recording of valuables and property removed from the body during autopsy for safekeeping; assist in preparing detailed reports of investigation; assist in maintaining required records; assist in preparing clear and concise history of facts surrounding the death and/or medical history.
• Assist in enforcing and interpreting investigative/autopsy policies and procedures.
• Assists in coordinating and conducting field investigations with other law enforcement agencies, the District Attorney, witnesses, physicians, police officers, hospitals, family members and others to obtain facts concerning the death; assists in establishing the identification of deceased persons; may notify medical examiner on-call and work with investigators from other agencies.
• Assists in locating and notifying next of kin; represents the department in contacts with hospitals, funeral directors, law enforcement agencies and others.
• Assists in cleaning and maintaining autopsy suite, scale room, body refrigeration coolers and freezers; ordering and stocking necessary supplies and equipment for proper functioning of the facility and vehicles in a manner that ensures a safe worksite free of biohazards.
• Assists in the identification of deceased person, which includes those that are badly decomposed; takes fingerprints from unidentified decedents.
• Prepares daily indigent, amended and other electronic and printed death certificates; assists with filing of death records with the Department of Public Health.
• Prepares shipment of decedents and/or indigent bodies for cremation.
• Registers the storage position of all deceased persons and inventory within refrigeration coolers; confirms the identity and legal release of all deceased persons in accordance with departmental polices.
• May testify in…