Director Forensic Identifications & Family Services

Director Forensic Identifications & Family Services

The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) is seeking a highly skilled and strategically focused Director of Forensic Investigations & Family Services to provide leadership and oversight for the agency's critical decedent identification, fingerprint operations, family outreach, and overdose surveillance and social work functions.

The Director will oversee the Identification Unit, the Fingerprint Unit, the Outreach Unit and the Drug Intelligence and Intervention Group (DIIG). The Director will be responsible for ensuring the timely, accurate, and compassionate delivery of forensic identification services; directing investigations that support medicolegal death certification; coordinating cross-agency information-sharing; and leading complex, high-volume operational programs with wide-reaching public health and public safety implications.

The role requires exceptional judgment, high-level collaboration, technical knowledge of forensic identification modalities, and the ability to manage multidisciplinary teams performing sensitive and mission-critical work.

Responsibilities include:

• Provide leadership, strategic planning, and operational oversight for the Identification Unit, Fingerprint Unit, Outreach Unit, and DIIG.
• Oversee all decedent identification operations, ensuring accurate, timely confirmation using approved modalities including visual, fingerprint, medical imaging, dental, DNA, and contextual identification.
• Direct the Fingerprint Unit's review, acquisition standards, quality assessments, and submission of postmortem fingerprints, including training and support for complex acquisition cases.
• Manage Outreach Unit functions involving next-of-kin searches, notifications, due diligence investigations, and coordination with external partners such as HRA, PA offices, DVS, NYPD, and community organizations.
• Oversee administration of City Burial and the Temporary Interment Policy, ensuring compliance with legal requirements, deadlines, family communications, and dispute-resolution protocols in accordance with NYS Public Health Law 4201.
• Ensure compassionate, consistent, and legally compliant family assistance services, including disposition dispute management and guidance on viewing procedures or case inquiries.
• Lead DIIG operations in overdose case identification, trend monitoring, public health surveillance, timely notifications, and data analysis.
• Supervise DIIG's Family Support Team, ensuring high-quality social work services for individuals bereaved by overdose, including referrals to mental health and social service providers.
• Direct interagency overdose-prevention collaboration, including planning and facilitating RxStat meetings and OCME's Overdose Fatality Review sessions, engaging more than 30 partner agencies.
• Develop and implement operational policies, protocols, and quality assurance measures to ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, and accreditation standards.
• Manage budgeting, resource allocation, and staffing needs across all Forensic Investigations units.
• Prepare and deliver high-level reports, policy analyses, trend summaries, and operational briefings to OCME leadership and oversight entities, including City Hall and OMB.
• Foster strong working relationships with key partners including NYPD, District Attorneys' Offices, DOHMH, HRA, PA offices, DVS, and state and federal agencies.
• Ensure the secure handling of sensitive, confidential, and trauma-related information with discretion, professionalism, and adherence to agency policy.
• Maintain advanced proficiency in the use and parameters of the Case Management System and perform routine assessment of operational modules to identify new system needs and recommend enhancements.
• Maintains operational knowledge of disaster and continuity of operations plans for areas of responsibility.
• Provide 24/7/365 availability to respond to urgent matters of the division and agency, including incidents and participation in the agency's MESORT and disaster response and on-call schedule.
• Attending operational meetings as representative for area of responsibility and collaborates with other directors to facilitate and enhance operations across the division.
• Develop and Implement measures for quality assurance and control.
• Other duties as assigned.

SPECIAL NOTE: Selected candidates will be required to provide a DNA sample by swabbing. This position has been identified as essential. During emergency events, essential positions may require 24-hour availability.

WORK AUTHORIZATION: Authorization to work in the United States is required for this position. Office of Chief Medical Examiner does not provide sponsorship for international employees for visa applications, extensions, or status changes, including STEM/OPT visas. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that they meet all qualifying requirements for this position at the time of application.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.