Description
Manage daily operations of autopsy and morgue facilities to support medicolegal death investigations, ensuring safe, efficient workflows, regulatory compliance, and integrity of evidence and remains. Oversee staffing, scheduling, equipment and supply readiness, records, and interagency coordination for autopsies, pathology, toxicology, and inquests.
- • Schedule and coordinate autopsies and medicolegal examinations, ensuring suite readiness, staffing, and chain-of-custody.
- • Supervise morgue technicians and autopsy assistants, including hiring, training, scheduling, and performance management.
- • Enforce compliance with OSHA, CDC, and state regulations, NAME standards, and internal safety protocols.
- • Oversee intake, identification, tagging, and secure storage of decedents; verify documentation and case numbers.
- • Ensure accurate photographing, logging, and preservation of bodies, evidence, and trace materials upon receipt.
- • Manage secure custody, inventory, and release of personal effects and evidence, maintaining documentation integrity.
- • Coordinate body transport logistics and contracted removal services; verify proper equipment and PPE use.
- • Maintain facility cleanliness, decontamination, ventilation monitoring, and biomedical waste handling and disposal.
- • Manage procurement, inventory, and distribution of PPE, instruments, reagents, and autopsy supplies.
- • Oversee equipment calibration, maintenance, repairs, and service contracts to minimize downtime.
- • Prepare and maintain operational, safety, chain-of-custody, and quality control records and reports.
- • Administer the case management/LIMS system; ensure data accuracy, access controls, and audit trails.
- • Compile medical histories and scene documentation from investigators and healthcare providers for pathologists’ review.
- • Track completion, routing, and filing of autopsy reports and death certification documents.
- • Coordinate with law enforcement, medical examiners, prosecutors, and public health officials on scheduling and information exchange.
- • Prepare exhibits, records, and logistics to support inquests, hearings, and court proceedings.
- • Oversee decedent release processes, next-of-kin verification, notifications routing, and funeral home coordination.
- • Manage policies for tissue retention, specimen storage, and final disposition documentation.
- • Develop and update SOPs, safety training, and emergency/mass-fatality surge plans; conduct drills and incident reviews.
- • Monitor budgets, approve purchases, and manage vendors to control costs and meet operational needs.
Related specializations
Interview options
Interview options
Interviewee gender
Interviewee accent
Interview time
Source
Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
Learn more
Sources & Standards:
This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
