2293-Senior Shelter Veterinarian

Company Description

Appointment Type:  Permanent Exempt, Category 13 : This is an Exempt position excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process, pursuant to the City and County of San Francisco, Charter Section 10.104. It is considered "at will" and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

Application Opening: September 30, 2026

Application Closing:  Apply Immediately . Application filing will be open at least through Wednesday, October 14, 2026 and can close any time thereafter.

Compensation Range: $176,654 - $226,980 annually

About the Office of the City Administrator
The Office of the City Administrator and its 20+ divisions and departments operate core internal and public-facing essential services to San Francisco residents and businesses. Our aim is to strengthen San Francisco by providing efficient and effective government services to increase safety and resiliency, support our local economy, and optimize capital planning and infrastructure all while prioritizing equity and inclusion.

The Office of the City Administrator’s Mission and Vision
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 and diverse work culture that is the place of choice for people who are invested in a career in public service.

We are committed to ensuring that the City services are inclusive, efficient, equitable, and culturally competent for San Franciscans of all races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and sextual orientations. This commitment requires comprehensive review and thorough analysis of existing practices and policies to remove barriers to real inclusion. We are also committed to ensuring that we have a safe, equitable, and inclusive workplace for individuals of all races. This includes creating opportunities for hiring, promotion, training, and development, for all employees, including but not limited to, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).

To learn more about our departments, divisions, and programs, visit:  https://sf.gov/departments/city-administrator

The  San Francisco Department of Animal Care & Control (SFACC)  is a taxpayer-funded, open-admission animal shelter. Since 1989, SFACC has provided housing, care, and medical treatment to wild, exotic and domestic stray, lost, abandoned, sick, injured, and surrendered animals. SFACC’s doors are open to all animals in need regardless of species, medical, or behavioral condition.

SFACC also enforces all state and local Animal Control and Welfare laws and is the lead agency for animals in natural disasters and citizen emergencies.

- SFACC shelters homeless, neglected, and abused animals and provides humane education and many other services to the community.
- SFACC is the local agency that investigates animal cruelty, enforces animal welfare laws, rescues injured and orphaned wildlife and birds, and aids domestic animals in distress.
- SFACC aims to adopt, re-home, or reunite domestic animals with their guardians and to release wildlife to their native habitat.

Job Description

Examples of Important and Essential Duties :

- Directs, coordinates and performs the screening, diagnosis, and basic and emergency medical treatment of all impounded animals; develops a comprehensive program of health care services for the animal shelter, and establishes medical standards and procedures for the maintenance of healthy, safe and sanitary facilities.
- Provides and participates in training for subordinate staff and other staff regarding ongoing cleaning and disinfecting of all equipment and areas of the animal shelter where animals are housed; assures that special medical dietary requirements are met and that proper, humane care is provided for all shelter animals.
- Provides ongoing training for staff throughout the department to rapidly identify animals requiring isolation or veterinary care.
- Develops a comprehensive disease prevention program for the animal shelter; supervises the visual monitoring on a daily basis of impounded animals, including those that may be isolated or quarantined, for signs of illness or unusual behavior; assures that problems are promptly reported; determines and directs appropriate action as required; serves as a consultant to Shelter Veterinarians on difficult and complex cases.
- Provides the training of appropriate staff in administering first aid and vaccinations to animals, tranquilization, the performance of euthanasia by injection and other paramedical duties; performs euthanasia as required.
- Advises staff and the public on matters within the veterinary medical field; participates in the inspection of animals used in fairs, parades and other events.
- Provides professional assistance in the investigations of mistreatment or neglect of animals and occasionally testifies in court as the medical expert in the investigation of animal cruelty and neglect cases.
- Assists with emergency and disaster response services.
- Directs the ordering, maintenance and control of drugs, medical equipment, food and supplies used in the veterinary division; estimates veterinary requirements for the budget, and monitors expenditures.

Qualifications

Education : Possession of a doctor's degree in veterinary medicine from a college or university recognized by the California Board of Examiners in Veterinary Medicine; AND

Experience :

Three (3) years of verifiable veterinary experience working in an animal shelter, kennel, or Veterinary Hospital Facility. This includes experience in soft tissue surgery with dogs and cats; examples include laceration repair, mass removal, enucleation, and particularly spay/neuter surgery; AND

License and Certification:

1. Requires a valid license issued by the California Board of Examiners in Veterinary Medicine to practice as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine; AND

2. Possession of a DEA license within six (6) months of appointment. Must maintain a valid DEA license while employed.

Note(s):

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

Verification:
Please make sure it is clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Please review our articles on Employment Application and Minimum Qualifications and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications. Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point in the application and/or departmental selection process.

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

What else should I know?

Selection Procedure
The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements and assessment of candidates’ job-related knowledge, skills and abilities. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to evaluate candidate qualifications. This typically includes an oral interview and/or a written or performance exercise.

If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the Department needs will be invited to continue in the selection process. Applicants meeting the minimum requirements are not guaranteed advancement in the selection process.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see: Position Counts by Job Codes and Departments.

Additional Information

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

- Information About the Hiring Process (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process)
- Conviction History (http://sfdhr.org/conviction-history-faq)
- Employee Benefits Overview (https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview)
- Equal Employment Opportunity (https://sfdhr.org/equal-employment-opportunity)
- Disaster Service Worker (https://sfdhr.org/disaster-service-workers)
- ADA Accommodation (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#applicantswithdisabilities)
- Right to Work (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#identification)
- Copies of Application Documents (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#copies)
- Diversity Statement (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#diversitystatement)

How to Apply:

All job applications for the City and County of San Francisco must be submitted through our online portal by the filing deadline. Please visit https://careers.sf.gov/ to begin your application process. Select the “Apply Now” button on the job announcement you are interested in, and follow the on-screen instructions:

- Your application must include a resume. To upload your resume, please attach the document using the "additional attachments" function. All work experience, education, training and other information provided should also be included in the work history and/or education sections of your application and is subject to verification.

- You may contact Melanie Bautista  via email at [email protected] with questions regarding this opportunity.
- Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered. Mailed, hand delivered or faxed documents/applications will not be accepted. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from [email protected] 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.

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).

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.