Job Description

Job Title: Animal Care Specialist
Job Classification: PT/FT hourly, non-exempt
Job Relationships: Reports to Animal Care Supervisor
Job Summary: Work within a team setting to ensure the health and well-being of animals being sheltered at MAC. Responsible for daily cleaning, feeding and socialization of animals according to specified protocols, and for maintaining a safe and sanitary facility for animals and people.

Salary: $16.00/hr

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO::

• Ensure each shelter animal receives appropriate food and water each day, as instructed and trained.
• Clean and/or sanitize animal cages, kennels, holding areas, rooms, hallways and other shelter spaces each day, as instructed and trained.
• Perform laundry, dish washing, and other general care and cleaning duties as assigned.
• Perform animal bathing, grooming, exercising and socialization as assigned.
• Observe, monitor and document the health and behavior of animals as assigned.
• Ensure that every interaction with animals, including caretaking, moving, handling, etc. is done according to fear-free humane techniques as instructed and trained.
• Ensure the most humane living environment for each animal possible.
• Provide daily enrichment activities for animals as assigned.
• Maintain a clean, orderly, appropriately stocked work environment.
• Follow all employee health and safety protocols.
• Ensure that all interactions with the public are positive and professional.
• Actively support and cultivate a positive, humane, professional work environment for fellow staff and volunteers.
• Support supervisory staff in training new employees and volunteers as assigned.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications/Requirements:
Education/Experience:

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Must be 18 years of age or older
• Prior animal caretaking experience preferred.

Job Qualifications and Skills:

• Ability to care for all types of animals, including domestic, livestock and wildlife.
• Ability to adhere to all MAC protocols regarding care and feeding of animals, staff safety, animal handling, etc.
• Ability to make sound judgments and to work independently or in a team setting while being faced with a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to communicate effectively with coworkers, supervisors, and the general public.
• Ability to humanely handle animals of all types, and willingness to follow all MAC protocols regarding humane animal handling.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing organizational needs and instructions.
• Volunteers are at the heart of our mission; every team member will interact with volunteers at some level. All staff are expected to work cooperatively with volunteers and treat them with dignity and respect; they donate their time and energy to our cause.

Work Environment:

• Exposure to high noise levels, zoonotic diseases, and animal bites/scratches when handling animals;
• Exposure to cleaning agents;
• Exposure to all weather conditions when outdoors;
• Bending, reaching, and walking up to 8 hours a day.

Physical Activities:

• Regular lifting of up to 50 lbs., with occasional lifting of up to 100 pounds with assistance
• Potential for standing/walking up to ten hours a day
• Various cleaning activities, including scrubbing kennels and cages;
• Various animal handling tasks, including performing physical examinations and humane restraint
• Potential handling of medication and medical tools including syringes and needles •Various animal handling tasks, including performing physical examinations and humane restraint. • Potential exposure to sick, injured, and dangerous animals.

Pre-employment Requirements: The McKamey Animal Center conducts criminal background checks and requires drug testing of all employment candidates.

McKamey Animal Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities or qualifications associated with the position.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Foster care providers are a lifesaving support team for the McKamey Animal Center, and they play an essential role in helping MAC fulfill its mission: Saving Animals, Helping People. The Foster Specialist is responsible for supporting all aspects of foster activity and engagement, from posting and placing available animals to recruiting, on-boarding, supporting and overseeing foster partners, in accordance with the most current and progressive industry standards. The successful candidate must love people (and animals!), must be adept at interacting with all types of passionate personalities with professionalism and empathy, must be detail oriented and computer savvy, must have the ability to effectively multitask and must be a positive, enthusiastic “face of McKamey” for MAC’s foster program.

SALARY, SCHEDULE AND BENEFITS

• Salary: $16.00/hr
• Schedule: Full time, Non-exempt – must be available to work weekends, evenings and holidays as assigned
• Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, holidays, paid vacation, retirement plan

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES (includes, but not limited to):

• Recruit, onboard and train new foster partners in accordance with Center policies and procedures.
• Assess and schedule foster activities to ensure compliance with the highest standards of customer service and animal welfare.
• Support the assessment and improvement of foster policies and procedures to improve the strength and effectiveness of the program, and help develop new policies and procedures as needed to assure foster parent and animal health and safety.
• Regularly communicate with foster parents, both in writing and in person/virtually, to maintain the highest levels of engagement.
• Utilize social media and other tools to continuously increase engagement with foster partners.
• Maintain appropriate databases and perform all appropriate record keeping functions.
• Support foster partner recognition and engagement events.
• Assist with various community outreach activities.
• Manage interactions with foster partners effectively, with compassion, empathy and professionalism.
• Process adoptions, issue tags and city licenses, and manage donations in accordance with MAC processes and procedures.
• Actively work to expand the diversification of MAC’s foster partner corps.
• Handle the foster emergency phone, ensuring that foster partners have the resources they need to effectively deal with emergencies.
• Apply basic animal care knowledge to identify potential medical and behavioral concerns as relayed by foster partners, and provide sound guidance and advice.
• Ensure that foster animals receive all necessary veterinary care, including vaccinations, medical treatments and checkups, etc. (including administering vaccines and medications as needed).
• Other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications and Skills:

• Must have the ability to effectively interact and communicate with all types of personalities with compassion and professionalism.
• Must have outstanding interpersonal skills, and the ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of personality types.
• Must be highly organized and able to juggle demands on time and multitask effectively.
• Must have excellent time management skills, scheduling flexibility and the ability to attend day/evening/ weekend events as needed.
• Must be computer and social media savvy.
• Must be able to use sound judgment when dealing with confidential information and the general public.
• Must be able to properly and safely administer vaccinations and medications.
• Must have strong animal handling skills and knowledge of basic animal medical and behavioral concepts.

Education and Experience Required

• High school diploma required.
• 1 year working with volunteers or the general public in some capacity required (ideally in an animal welfare setting) preferred.
• Minimum 6 months working with animals in some capacity (ideally in an animal welfare setting).
• Must be at least 21 years of age (required for insurance purposes), have a valid driver’s license and insurable driving record, and the ability to drive animal transport vehicles.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Potential for standing/walking/bending up to eight to ten (8-10) hours a day.
• Quick reflexes and ability to use both hands simultaneously (e.g. opening cage door while handling an animal).
• Occasional lifting of up to a hundred (100) pounds with assistance.
• Ability to bend and squat in order to leash/harness, and/or pick up an animal.
• Ability to cope with a very loud environment due to animal noises.
• Must not have strong allergies to dogs, cats or other companion animals that can’t be managed by medication, or to chemicals used in grooming or cleaning. Must not be highly allergic to peanut butter.
• Ability to deal with strong and unpleasant odors and feces.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Office setting, computer use up to eight (8) hours a day with regular breaks.
• Exposure to high noise levels, zoonotic diseases, and animal bites/scratches when handling animals.
• Exposure to all weather conditions when outdoors, and to different environments when attending functions outside the Center.

McKamey Animal Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We reserve the right to conduct criminal background checks and requires drug testing of all employment candidates.