St. Anthony Foundation logo
St. Anthony Foundation
San Francisco, California

Substance Use Counselor

CounselorNo callNo weekendsFull-Time

Listed compensation

$60k-$90k

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, nights and shift pattern, benefits and time off.

Posted 30m ago · Verified live

Job Description

Salary Range

$60,00-$90,300 annually

Schedule: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 11:30 am- 8:00 pm &

Tuesday- 8:00 am- 4:30:00 pm

Off on Fridays and Saturdays

About ST. Anthony’S

Founded in 1950, St. Anthony's is the most comprehensive safety net service center in San Francisco, directly providing food, clothing, medical care, addiction recovery services, access to technology, job training, and other critical resources to the community. Every day we support and are supported by thousands of San Franciscans. Everyone who comes through our doors joins the St.

Anthony's team and helps us create a future where all people flourish.

Principal Responsibility

Fr. Alfred Center (FAC) provides a residential recovery program to homeless men who are ready to create sober and stable lives for themselves. The Fr. Alfred Center’s year-long, abstinence-based program empowers men with no income or resources with the tools to overcome addiction and the support to establish productive and healthy lives. The holistic treatment offered through St.

Anthony’s multiple services is rare in the field of recovery, and allows for immediate assessment and thoughtful resolution of clients’ medical, legal, vocational and educational needs, most or all of which have been affected profoundly by the cycles of poverty and addiction.

Counselors conduct assessments, one-on-one counseling, educational and group counseling sessions, maintain acaseload, and provide general oversight and support services to all residents. In the spirit of our Franciscan values and heritage, our team provides compassion and care daily. As a steward of healing and social justice,

You Are Expected to Meet the Following Duties

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Resident Engagement

  • Conducts in-depth, intake interviews and assessments of incoming residents assigned to caseload to determine their appropriateness for the program.
  • Provides individual counseling and case management for a regular caseload of residents.
  • Develops and updates clients’ casework plans.
  • Assists residents in the development of their personal recovery plans.
  • Assesses dynamics that are harmful for residents’ recovery, intervenes and counsels.
  • Monitors residents’ compliance with program requirements, implements consequences as
  • Documents client benchmarks and other required information into Epic, daily as required by the program.
  • Participates in the weekly case conference.
  • Conducts group sessions for residents (process groups, anger management group, etc.).
  • Assist with the caseloads of counselors who are absent (vacation, sick or other leave).
  • Collaborates with other St. Anthony programs providing services to the residents (the Dining Room, the Tenderloin Tech Lab, the Medical Clinic, Workforce Development and the Social Work Center) and with outside community agencies.
  • Provides support for residents.
  • Treat all guests with empathy, dignity, and respect. Seek to understand the other person's perspective and experience.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work effectively across cultures and an openness to learning about cultures not familiar to oneself.

Program Administration and Operations

  • Complete reports and all other paperwork neatly, legibly, and thoroughly.
  • Enter data and information electronically as required. Looks up data and reports electronically through a database as requested.
  • Understand and follow the organization's programs, policies, and procedures
  • Participate in regular training and development opportunities to increase personal capacity to apply innovative approaches to daily workflows, service delivery, and functions of the position.
  • Enters case notes, maintains and updates client paper files in a timely manner.
  • When needed, Fills out medication sheets and all other required paperwork completely and accurately.
  • Assist in the evaluation, planning, development, and implementation of program procedures, guidelines and policies.

Teamwork

  • Participate in relevant meetings supporting team communication and the program's capacity to fulfill organizational goals and mission.
  • Collaboratively works with others to achieve team success.
  • Manage stress and pressure situations calmly and responsively. Maintain the capacity to control reactions and awareness of how their behavior or response can impact others.
  • Consistently demonstrate integrity while working and representing St.

Anthony’s.

  • Practice direct, respectful, open, and honest communication with their colleagues. Proactively seeks support from team members or management.
  • Demonstrate cooperation with coworkers, management, and the community at large.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Valid Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) counselor certification issued by California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP) and/or the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). Two years current experience in chemical dependency field.
  • High School diploma/GED and three years’ experience in social services, particularly in drug and alcohol residential programs.
  • Two years current experience in client caseload management and group counseling strongly preferred
  • Demonstrated knowledge of the disease and treatment of chemical dependency including 12-step work and social model programs.
  • Excellent interpersonal, listening, oral, and written communication skills are required.
  • Bilingual Spanish/English strongly preferred.
  • Ability to be polite, diplomatic, and firm. Can set limits and practice professional boundaries with guests, volunteers, donors, and coworkers.
  • Ability to respond to emergencies and high-pressure situations in a self-composed and self-assured manner.
  • Ability to work non-traditional hours and days (weekends and holidays required).
  • Ability to complete paperwork neatly and legibly.
  • Computer literate in Windows, MS Office. Experience with client databases preferred. Ability or willingness to learn to use information and communication technologies (computers, smartphones, and iPads) to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information.
  • Valid CA Driver’s license with excellent driving record.
  • Ability to be punctual, reliable, cooperative, and stay team-oriented.
  • Experience working in a non-profit or community-based social service agency with people experiencing homelessness or poverty desired.
  • Commitment to St. Anthony Foundation Statement of Values and a desire to work for a social services agency serving the poor.

St. Anthony’s has a diverse workforce, welcoming all ethnicities, faith backgrounds and worldviews. We are also proudly Catholic. Our Franciscan identity is at the core of our mission, namely to uphold the dignity and value of the human person and lift the spirits of those in need to help create a society in which all person's flourish.

People of color, differently-abled people, LGBT, and folks with lived experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

St. Anthony's is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. We value diversity of culture, thought, and lived experiences.

We seek talented, qualified individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, conviction history, uniform service membership/veteran status, physical or mental disability, protected medical conditions, genetic characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression regardless of physical gender, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local laws.

St. Anthony's uses E-Verify to validate our new employees' eligibility to work legally in the United States.

Key Responsibilities

Counselors conduct intake assessments, provide individual and group counseling, and maintain caseloads for residents in a residential recovery program. They also collaborate with internal and external services to support the medical, legal, and vocational needs of clients.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a valid Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) counselor certification and possess at least two years of experience in the chemical dependency field. A high school diploma or GED is required, along with three years of experience in social services.

Qualifications

Education
Professional certificate or licensure
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Substance abuse counselingCrisis interventionIntake assessmentDocumentationTreatment planning12-step facilitationInterpersonal communicationConflict resolutionData entryMicrosoft OfficeCultural competence

Addiction Medicine — Counselor Career Context

Of the 50 active Substance Use / Addiction Counselor listings this role was benchmarked against, 48% are remote, 36% have no call, 62% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$75k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $68k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Substance Use Counselor at St. Anthony Foundation a 7.2 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as very good. This places the position in the top 10% in Substance Use / Addiction Counselor — ranked against 1,008 active Substance Use / Addiction Counselor listings on WeekdayDoc. Contributing factors include no on-call duties, no weekend requirements.

Top Counselor Jobs

36 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution36 jobs · 29 employers

7
<$85k
13
$85k-105k
10
$105k-125k
6
$125k-145k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks30 jobs · 29 employers

401k / retirement match
97%
Sign-on bonus
40%
CME allowance
37%
Loan repayment
20%
PSLF eligible
10%

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Work-life snapshot

median 6.1this job 7.2
Among the best 10% of Substance Use / Addiction Counselor listings for work-life

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 1,008 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • No call
  • No weekends

Living in San Francisco

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$1.74M≈ 29.0× annual pay
Typical market rent
$4,682/mo≈ 94% of gross pay
Residents’ average commute
30 min
State income tax
Up to 13.3%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

Ratios use this listing’s gross annual pay. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

St. Anthony Foundation logo

About St. Anthony Foundation

Non-profit Organizations
San Francisco, California
201-500 employees