Behavioural Science Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Application Window
Open date: May 20, 2026
Most recent review date: Saturday, Jun 20, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time) Applications received after this date will be reviewed by the search committee if the position has not yet been filled.
Final date: Saturday, Nov 20, 2027 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time) Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.
Position description
Behavioral Science Faculty: Job Description
The UCSF Family and Community Medicine residency program has been training physicians to practice systems-oriented medicine with a focus on urban underserved populations for over 45 years. At its inception, the field of family medicine was conceived as a response to the extreme reductionism that dominated medical culture at the time. Medical science has a tendency to conceptually divide people into their constituent parts and divide them from their contexts, families, and communities. Family medicine was designed as a field to reconstitute the patient, and to explicitly consider the whole person, inclusive of their community, their history, their family, and other elements of context. In other words, the field is explicitly systems oriented. This orientation informs diagnostic and treatment decisions in family medicine, and requires that trainees become skilled at assessing and participating in complex family systems. Family physicians are expected not only to attend to their patients' biomedical issues, but to attend to psychological, psychiatric, and social issues as they relate to patients' health. For these reasons, a robust and integrated behavioral medicine curriculum is a critical element of family medicine education. The UCSF FCM residency program has developed and maintained such a behavioral medicine curriculum that is firmly grounded in a systemic and relational orientation to health and health care.
In addition, the UCSF FCM residency program trains residents specifically to work in urban environments with communities whose resources and opportunities have been historically limited. Training occurs across clinical sites that serve diverse patient populations, many of whom are uninsured or publicly insured, and who represent a wide range of linguistic, cultural, and racial and ethnic backgrounds. The burden of social stress, mental illness, and substance use disorder is high in these settings, and residents are expected to gain proficiency in using a strengths-based and culturally responsive approach to supporting, empowering, and partnering with patients. Residents also train in safety net hospital settings where the patient population reflects similar needs, again highlighting the importance of proficiency in assessing and addressing social determinants of health. The program has maintained its mission to train systemically oriented family physicians who are committed to careers advancing social justice and reducing health inequities among the patients, families, and communities they serve.
In this setting, the behavioral science faculty member will support our residents':
• acquisition of systemic and relational therapeutic clinical skills to work effectively with individuals, couples and families in their continuity practice; and
• professionalization by helping them identify and enact their own professional values and visions
Specific job duties
Resident observation sessions: The faculty member will provide live supervision for residents in clinic to guide learning of behavioral medicine and psychosocial skills in the context of their clinical practice, and to provide feedback and coaching
Resident clinical support: The faculty member will support residents with their patients' behavioral needs through consultation and coaching
Resident support and advising: The faculty member will meet with residents as needed to provide support and advising, and may support them with community engagement, advocacy, and clinical quality improvement projects
Teaching: The faculty member will engage in teaching sessions in the residency (seminars, didactics)
Clinical practice: The faculty member will see patients independently in residency-affiliated clinics to provide family or individual therapy as needed
Administration: The faculty member will participate in various residency and departmental administrative duties (meetings with faculty, residents and clinic staff; residency applicant selection; departmental and residency retreats; faculty development)
Scholarly activity: The faculty member will engage in scholarly activities (local, regional, national presentations; publications; quality improvement projects)
Requirements:
• Education:
o Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Psychology (Psy.D.) in Clinical Psychology or related field from an APA/CPA accredited program; OR
o Master of Social Work, Community Mental Health, Marriage & Family Therapy, or equivalent graduate degree
• Experience:
o One (1) year of post-graduate experience in the area of Behavioral Health in medically underserved and culturally diverse settings; OR
o One (1) year of clinical experience or two (2) years of post-doctoral experience in the area of Health Psychology in medically underserved and culturally diverse settings
• Licenses & Certifications: Licensure as Psychologist - PSY in California; OR Possession of California Mental Health License (LPCC, LMFT, LCSW).
• Required Skills, Knowledge, & Abilities:
o Demonstrated cultural competence in working with vulnerable and culturally diverse urban populations
o Ability to work with a diverse population and provide trauma informed care including racial trauma
o Demonstrated ability to work as a team member in an interdisciplinary environment
o Previous experience with managed care
o Demonstrated ability in teaching and clinical supervision
o Demonstrated clinical, educational, and administrative skills with a strong commitment to an academic career as a clinician educator
o Breadth of training and experience to include emphasis on working with multi-ethnic and socioeconomically diverse patient populations and evidence-based practice
o Skill in providing mental health assessments as well as clinically appropriate treatment modalities
o Clinical skills for a wide variety of DSM IV diagnoses, evaluations, and consultation
o Ability to provide clinical service to a wide range of ages and to persons having any number of health related issues, including chronic illness, traumatic injury, physical disability, mental illness, and end of life decision making
o Knowledge of applicable laws and ethics pertaining to mental health
o Eligible for listing in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology
Please apply here . Applicants' materials must list current and/or pending qualifications upon submission.
The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and step at appointment. See Table 5 The minimum base salary range for this position is $122,300-$218,600. This position includes membership in the health sciences compensation plan which provides for eligibility for additional compensation.
Application Requirements
Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - CV must clearly list current and/or pending qualifications (e.g. board eligibility/certification, medical licensure, etc.).
• Cover Letter
• Statement of Research (Optional)
• Statement of Teaching

Reference requirements

• 2-4 required (contact information only)

About UC San Francisco
As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.
UCSF is committed to welcoming and serving all people, honoring the dignity of every individual without preference or prejudice, in support of its public mission and in alignment with our PRIDE values and Principles of Community.
As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct.
• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, or discrimination, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
• APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment
Job location
San Francisco, CA