Pharmacy Technician Jobs in San Francisco, CA
Pharmacy technicians in San Francisco fill prescriptions and prepare medications for hospitals, community clinics and the city's own health system, and California requires a Board of Pharmacy license to do the work. Clinic roles in the Mission post around $32 an hour. Here are the current openings, followed by who is hiring and how to get licensed.
Current pharmacy technician Openings in San Francisco, CA
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Pharmacy Technician Work in San Francisco
Most pharmacy technician work in San Francisco sits inside its big health systems. UCSF Health runs hospital pharmacies at Mission Bay and its other campuses, Kaiser Permanente staffs outpatient pharmacies for its San Francisco members, and the San Francisco Department of Public Health hires technicians for Zuckerberg San Francisco General on Potrero Avenue, the county jails, behavioral health programs and neighborhood clinics. Community health centers such as Mission Neighborhood Health Center on Shotwell Street run their own in-house pharmacies for patients in the Mission and the Excelsior.
Hospital jobs lean toward unit-dose medications, IV admixtures and automated dispensing cabinets, while clinic and outpatient jobs center on prescriptions, insurance claims and counter service. Language matters too: some clinic roles require both English and Spanish. Pay runs well above the state's, helped by San Francisco's $19.61 minimum wage and civil service pay scales at the City and County.
Top San Francisco Employers Hiring Pharmacy Technicians
These employers have posted pharmacy technician roles in San Francisco:
- UCSF Health - the academic health system hires Pharmacy Technician II staff at Mission Bay for medication preparation, distribution and inventory, and asks for a California license and hospital experience.
- San Francisco Department of Public Health - the city's health department hires Pharmacy Technician (2409) staff for Zuckerberg San Francisco General, the county jails and city clinics.
- Kaiser Permanente - the health plan and hospital system posts on-call outpatient pharmacy technician roles in San Francisco.
- Mission Neighborhood Health Center - the community health center hires bilingual English and Spanish pharmacy technicians, full-time and on-call, for its Shotwell Street pharmacy.
Pharmacy Technician Salaries in San Francisco
- Entry level: about $28 to $33 an hour for newly licensed technicians in clinic and outpatient pharmacies.
- Experienced: roughly $34 to $48 an hour for technicians with hospital, IV or specialty experience.
- Senior / civil service: about $49 to $60 an hour, or $102,284 to $124,358 a year, on the City and County's Pharmacy Technician (2409) scale.
These are estimates built from posted pay on employer sites. Mission Neighborhood Health Center lists $32.32 an hour for a full-time bilingual role, while the city's 2409 posting carries the six-figure range above. Pay moves with the setting, the shift, IV and sterile compounding skills, a CPhT credential, union contracts and whether the job requires a second language.
How to Become a Pharmacy Technician in San Francisco
You need a pharmacy technician license from the California State Board of Pharmacy. Under state law you must be a high school graduate or hold a GED and meet one of four routes: an associate degree in pharmacy technology, a training course specified by the board, graduation from a recognized school of pharmacy, or certification from a board-approved national certifying program such as PTCB. City College of San Francisco runs a Pharmacy Technician certificate program at the John Adams Center at 1860 Hayes Street, with clinical rotations in licensed pharmacies. Hospital employers usually also want one or two years of experience, and the City's 2409 job asks for one year in a licensed pharmacy.
What the Job Involves
Pharmacy technicians enter and fill prescriptions, count and label medications, prepare unit-dose packs and, in hospitals, IV admixtures under a pharmacist's supervision. They manage inventory and controlled-substance records, restock automated dispensing machines, process insurance claims and prior authorizations, and answer patient and provider questions that do not require a pharmacist's counseling.
Skills Employers Look For
- An active California pharmacy technician license
- A CPhT credential, often preferred
- Accuracy with dosing, labeling and math
- Pharmacy software and e-prescribing experience
- Insurance billing and prior authorization know-how
- Sterile compounding or IV experience for hospital roles
- Spanish or another second language for clinic roles
Career Path and Advancement
Many San Francisco technicians start in a clinic or outpatient pharmacy, then move into hospital roles where IV and sterile compounding skills earn more. From there the ladder runs to senior and lead technician, buyer or inventory specialist, and informatics or automation roles that support dispensing systems. Some use the experience as a step toward pharmacy school in the Bay Area.
Related Careers in San Francisco
If pharmacy work interests you, these related San Francisco roles are close matches:
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a license to be a pharmacy technician in San Francisco?
Yes. California requires a pharmacy technician license from the California State Board of Pharmacy. You qualify through a degree, a board-specified training course, a school of pharmacy or national certification, plus a high school diploma or GED.
How much do pharmacy technicians make in San Francisco?
Clinic and outpatient roles often start around $28 to $33 an hour. Experienced hospital technicians earn more, and the City and County's Pharmacy Technician (2409) scale runs from $102,284 to $124,358 a year.
Is PTCB certification required in California?
Not by itself. National certification is one of four ways to qualify for the state license, but you still need the Board of Pharmacy license to work. Some employers, including UCSF Health, list the CPhT credential as preferred.
Do I need hospital experience to work as a pharmacy technician in San Francisco?
Not for every job. Community clinics and outpatient pharmacies hire newly licensed technicians, while UCSF Health asks for two years of hospital or health care pharmacy experience and the City asks for one year in a licensed pharmacy.
Are bilingual pharmacy technicians in demand in San Francisco?
Yes, especially in community clinics. Mission Neighborhood Health Center requires English and Spanish for its pharmacy technicians, who serve patients from the Mission and the Excelsior.
Ready to apply? Browse all Pharmacy Technician jobs in San Francisco, CA on LocalJobPage and apply today.