Forensic Pathologist

ABOUT THE CORONER’S BUREAU
The Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau is located in the Oakland hills which serves a population of 1.6 million people and is currently the 7th most populous county in the state of California. The Coroner’s Bureau is the Regional Mutual Aid Coordinator for California’s Region II (16 counties) whose responsibility includes the coordination of intra- and inter-regional mutual aid in large scale events. 

The Coroner’s Bureau shares a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility with the Alameda County Crime Laboratory and Alameda County Public Health Department. When fully staffed, the Coroner’s Bureau operates with six full-time Morgue Technicians, three Forensic Pathologists, a Chief Forensic Pathologist, and additional locum tenens Forensic Pathologists. The Coroner’s Bureau also has an in-house board-certified neuropathologist and is staffed with ABMDI-certified Death Investigators. The Coroner’s Bureau has access to forensic anthropology and odontology services and multiple contracted toxicology services.

The Coroner’s Bureau receives death notifications and performs investigations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Autopsies are normally performed Monday through Friday, excluding most holidays. However, occasional situations requiring a pathologist to conduct an autopsy outside of normal business hours or visit a death scene may arise.

THE POSITION

The Forensic Pathologist classification is located in the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau. Incumbents in this classification are responsible for performing the full scope of professional forensic pathology work that includes performing autopsies and external examinations. Under general direction from the Chief Forensic Pathologist, performs autopsies, external examinations, professional medical consultations, medical record reviews, and provides expert witness testimony, general pathology services, and other related duties as required.   

For more detailed information about the job classification, visit:  Forensic Pathologist (#5151).

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
In addition to meeting the minimum qualifications listed below the ideal candidate will exhibit the above qualities as well as possess the following critical attributes:

• A successful team builder - Uses appropriate interpersonal styles to help build a cohesive team and accomplish the team’s goals.
• Effectively maximizes personnel resources - Allocates tasks and responsibilities to maximize the individuals’ and organization’s effectiveness.
• Commits to one’s work - Demonstrates a willingness to commit one’s time and best efforts to accomplishing organizational goals.
• Approaches change positively - Maintains effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work responsibilities or environment.
• Operates with integrity - Interacts with others in a way that gives them confidence in one’s intentions and those of the organization.
• Maintains focus under pressure - Exhibits stable performance under stress or opposition.
• Maintains an exceptional level of quality - Accomplishing tasks by considering all areas involved, accurately checks processes and tasks.
• Excels in technical knowledge and skill - keeps up with current developments and trends
  in the field of forensic pathology.
• Communicates effectively - Clearly conveys information and idea.

ABOUT THE ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is a full-service law enforcement agency accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) for its law enforcement services, its Regional Training Center, and its Dispatch Unit; the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board for its Crime Lab; the Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board for its Explosive Ordinance Unit. Additionally, the agency's health care provider, Wellpath, has experience working with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC).

The Sheriff's Office has a current budget of approximately $600 million and has over 1700 authorized positions, including in excess of 1000 sworn personnel. The agency's Chief Executive Officer is Sheriff / Coroner Yesenia L. Sanchez, who is assisted in the operation of the agency by Undersheriff April Luckett-Fahimi, Assistant Sheriffs Emmanuel Christy and Daniel McNaughton. 

The Sheriff of Alameda County is responsible for a vast array of tasks and duties, including the following:

• Providing security to the Consolidated Superior Courts
• Operating the Coroner’s Bureau
• Operating a full-service criminalistics laboratory
• Performing Civil Process
• Operating the County Jail (Santa Rita)
• Operating the County Office of Emergency Services
• Providing patrol and investigative services to the unincorporated areas of Alameda County
• Pursuant to contractual agreements, providing patrol and investigative services to the City of Dublin, Oakland International Airport, Highland County Hospital, Social Services, and to the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
• Conducting a basic academy pursuant to Police Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) requirements. [Sheriff's Academy website]
• Providing Fish and Game enforcement
• Project Director of the Narcotics Task Force
• Serving as the Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force
• Operating a Marine Patrol Unit in the San Francisco Bay waters

For more detailed information about the agency, visit: Alameda County's Sheriff's Office.

Education:

Possession of a Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy degree from a medical school accredited by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) or Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

AND  

Successful completion of a forensic pathology fellowship program accredited by the American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) by date of appointment.

AND

Certification:

Possession of board certification in anatomic pathology or anatomic/clinical pathology issued by the American Board of Pathology.  If board eligible in forensic pathology, must obtain board certification in forensic pathology within two (2) years from date of appointment.  

License:

Possession of a valid license to practice medicine/osteopathic medicine in the State of California by date of appointment.  

Special Requirements:

• Must be eligible to work in the United States.
• Successful completion of a thorough background investigation.
• Duties require twenty-four (24) hour on-call availability to respond to scenes of sudden death or injury, or to respond to hospitals to facilitate organ donor requests.
• Duties require exposure to accidental, physical, or biological health hazards and disagreeable situations.

NOTE:  The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

The most suitably qualified candidates will possess the following competencies:

Knowledge of:

• State and Federal laws applicable to the practice of forensic pathology and death investigation.
• Investigative procedures and the medico-legal techniques required to determine the circumstances, cause, and manner of death as required by law.
• Procedures and techniques utilized in forensic pathology, including forensic autopsy, interpretation of forensic toxicology results, histology, and clinical chemistry results associated with cause of death.
• Forensic evidence collection techniques and procedures.
• Methods and techniques of criminal investigation and crime scene processing.
• Rules and regulations applicable to court testimony.

Ability to:

• Perform forensic autopsies in accordance with the standards of the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau and the National Association of Medical Examiners.
• Apply the principles and techniques of pathology.
• Examine decedents for evidence of injury and natural disease.
• Document and interpret injuries.
• Collect biological and physical evidence.
• Effectively communicate interpretations of scene reconstruction, forensic autopsy, and investigative and observational findings verbally and in writing.
• Testify clearly, concisely, and effectively at public hearings, in courts of law and before the Grand Jury.
• Learn, and effectively execute the policies and procedures of the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau.

THE EXAMINATION WILL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

1) A review of candidates' applications and supplemental questionnaire to verify possession of minimum requirements. Those candidates who possess the minimum requirements for the class will move on to the next step in the examination process.

2) An oral interview which will be weighted as 100% of the candidate's final examination score.  The oral interview may contain situational exercises.

CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit.  Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position.  Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position.  Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

For more information on the Civil Service Selection process, please visit the “What You Need to Know” section of our website, www.acgov.org/hrs.

Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance. The following dates are tentative and subject to change based on the needs of the Agency:

TENTATIVE SELECTION PLAN

*Updated 9/26/2024 

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLAN

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statutes. To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources Representative listed on the job announcement before the last date of filing. Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. To qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statutes.

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website:   https://hrs.alamedacountyca.gov/  

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall wellbeing.  These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Well-Being

• Medical – HMO & PPO Plans
• Dental – HMO & PPO Plans
• Vision or Vision Reimbursement
• Share the Savings
• Basic Life Insurance 
• Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees) 
• County Allowance Credit
• Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance
• Short-Term Disability Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services
• Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

• Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
• Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)

For your Work/Life Balance

• 12 paid holidays
• Floating Holidays
• Vacation and sick leave accrual
• Vacation purchase program
• Catastrophic Sick Leave
• Pet Insurance
• Commuter Benefits Program
• Guaranteed Ride Home
• Employee Wellness Program (e.g., At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
• Employee Discount Program (e.g., theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
• Child Care Resources
• 1st United Services Credit Union 

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement.  This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @jobaps.com, @acgov.org and Noreply@jobaps.com as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the "My applications" button on the Current Job Openings page and clicking on the link 'last notice sent' for the respective recruitment.

Please take the steps recommended above to ensure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment.

NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box Noreply@jobaps.com are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. If you have questions, please go to our website at www.acgov.org/hrs. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the job announcement for the recruitment for which you have applied.

Elaine Lemi | Human Resources Analyst
Human Resource Services, County of Alameda
(510) 272-6434 | elaine.lemi@acgov.org

DISASTER SERVICE WORKER
All Alameda County employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law.  Employment with the County requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect.  Employees are required to report to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Alameda County has a diverse workforce, that is representative of the communities we serve and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  All aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance and business need. Alameda County does not discriminate in employment on the basis of, race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors protected under federal, state and local law. Alameda County celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive, and welcoming workplace environment.