Animal Care Supervisor

## Description

**Position Title:** Animal Care Supervisor **Department:** Animal Care

**Classification:** Non-exempt

**REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS**

**Position Reports To:** Shelter Manager

**Positions Supervised:**Animal Care Team and Volunteers

**POSITION PURPOSE**

This is a working supervisory position, under direct guidance of the Shelter Manager, which performs and supervises all aspects of shelter animal care, including shelter sanitation and disease control. Ensures all health and behavior protocols are followed. Perceives all who enter KHS as a potential donor and provides welcoming, high quality customer service to both internal and external regardless of the circumstances.

Assists the Shelter Manager with the hiring process, daily staff and volunteer performance management, scheduling, and annual staff performance evaluations. Recognizes and provides guidance for conflict resolution within the Animal Care department. Under the supervision of the Shelter Manager, conducts and maintains the Animal Care Department’s development and training program by following and keeping current the standard operating procedures. Assists the Shelter Manager with euthanasia training, certification, and education for all shelter staff. Under the direct supervision of the Shelter Manager, will orient, train, and supervise the Animal Care Technicians and Volunteers. Communicates with all departments to recognize, and manage shelter flow and space on a daily basis. Works diligently to provide a safe and ethical working environment by following safety policies and procedures and making recommendations as needed for the improvement of shelter safety.

**ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS**

**Customer Service:** Provide and model timely, polite, and respectful internal and external customer service regardless of the circumstances. Must remain calm, flexible, and willing to see other perspectives. Provide recognition and support to both staff and volunteers for their individual contributions to our agency. Ensure that every individual who enters/calls our agency is recognized and treated as a potential donor.

**Animal Care/Shelter Sanitation:** Remain current in humane animal husbandry and handling. Provide humane and thorough care for all animals in the shelter including feeding, watering, kennel/cage cleaning, observing health and behavior, and administering medications as directed. Maintain neat and clean equipment, supplies, and work areas. Clean and organize animal supply storage areas. Re-stock animal holding areas as appropriate. Implement infection prevention and shelter sanitation protocol to ensure that all animal holding areas, supplies, and equipment are cleaned and sanitized on a regular basis. Maintain and set short term and long-range goals to improve the quality of care of pets while in the care of KHS. Ensure that animals in all holding areas are provided with the appropriate supplies and enrichment to enhance their lives while in the care of KHS.

**Euthanasia by Injection**: Earn and maintain status as a Certified Euthanasia Technician. Assist with CET’s training and certification. Work with CET’s to properly restrain and calm animals during the euthanasia process. Provide oversight for humane euthanasia based upon established protocols. Handle animals and make decisions regarding their disposition.

**Quality Assurance:** Ensure that the Kansas Humane Society adopts quality physically and behaviorally healthy pet animals by continuously monitoring the physical and behavioral health of all pets in the care of our agency. Meet the needs of pets who display signs of physical or behavioral illness accordingly. Ensure that enrichment is provided for all pets housed at KHS on a daily basis.

**Staff and Volunteer Management:** Supervises Animal Care Technicians and Animal Care Volunteers as they carry out their daily duties within the agency. Assist Shelter Manager in maintaining a proper staffing level; interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and orienting. Oversee ongoing coaching and training of staff by providing regular, ongoing feedback and assisting with performance evaluations. Provide guidance, direction, and resolutions for departmental or staff issues. Assist the Shelter Manager with reviewing and making on-going recommendations of training plans to ensure continuous development/improvement of staff and volunteers.

**Resource Management:** Serve as steward of KHS resources. Utilize staff, volunteer and monetary resources effectively. Assist the Shelter Manager in the planning process as needed to ensure consistent and smooth flow of animals through our agency. Prioritize to accomplish task(s) that are most critical to the agency. Inventory supplies and anticipate needs for the Animal Care Department.

**Safety:** Enforce KHS safety policies and procedures, in particular, the use of Personal Protective Equipment in the Animal Care Department.

**Shelter Operations:** Assist Shelter Manager with monitoring the efficient movement (flow) of animals through the shelter, as well as the behavioral and physical health of animals. Be an active participant in the Daily Rounds Committee. Develop daily plans to maximize available space and maintain an acceptable workload capacity. Coordinate the movement of animals with other departments to maximize shelter flow efficiency. Ensure sanitation protocols are followed to the highest standards. Use appropriate precautions and PPE when an animal presents with illness and injury. Ensure that the animal’s needs are met accordingly. Assist all shelter heads in setting short-term and long-range goals to improve the quality of care of pets while in the care of the Kansas Humane Society. Ensure the safety of staff and animals is top priority by following safety procedures and policies.

**Training:** Assist the Shelter Manager with development and maintenance of training procedures. Implement departmental training for Animal Care Staff. Participate in special events/projects, and cross training.

## Qualifications

**EDUCATION/CERTIFICATION**

High School Diploma or Equivalent**.** Must be willing and able to obtain and maintain status as a KHS Certified Euthanasia Technician.

**Required Skills and abilities:**

This is a working supervisory position that requires a high degree of internal and external customer service skills, flexibility, conflict resolution skills, and team building. Excellent communication skills are a must. Must be able to work within a fast paced, unpredictable environment. The ability to cope with physically and emotionally demanding work. Must have the ability to exercise good judgment and make independent decisions with limited supervision. Must have a respect for the human/animal bond. Must be competent in handling all types of companion animals including but not limited to: dogs, cats, rodents, and birds.

**Preferred experience:** Supervisory and leadership experience with background in a caregiving or customer service field. Knowledge of health, behavior and well-being including nutritional needs. Basic knowledge of common animal diseases, positive reinforcement-based training/ animal handling experience. Working knowledge of animal sheltering.

**PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION**

**Talking:**Ability to speak effectively and communicate clearly,

**Average Hearing:**Able to hear average conversations

**Repetitive Motion:**The employee is regularly required to type, stand, sit, kneel, and squat.

**Finger Dexterity:**The employee is regularly required to use hands to type.

**Average Vision:**Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

**Availability:**Must be available to work weekends and holidays

**Physical Strength:**

• Physical restraining of small and large animals 5lb to 100lb (daily)
• Pulled/jolted/jumped on by small and large animals 5lb to 100lb (daily)
• Lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, throwing of 5lb to 100lb (daily)
• Stooping to pick up items (daily)
• Climbing of step ladder (occasionally)
• Hands exposed to water and cleaning chemicals (daily)
• Frequent verbal communication required (daily)
• Repetitive motion and lifting up to 30lbs above shoulder height (daily)
• Must be able to use both hands for repetitive actions; firm grasp, fine manipulation and typing (daily)
• Standing, walking, mopping, kneeling on hands and knees, crouching, crawling (daily)

**WORKING CONDITIONS**

Must be comfortable handling dogs, cats and small mammals on a daily basis. Will handle sick, injured, or deceased pets. Noise exposure varies, and often includes barking and other animal vocalizations. Animal waste contact, smells, and visual exposure are prevalent. Exposure to industrial cleaning supplies.

**MENTAL ACTIVITIES AND REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION**

**Reasoning Ability:**Ability to deal with multiple situations under only limited standardization. Required to manage awkward, emotional, and sometimes hostile customers, and allow for the best customer experience possible.

**Mathematics Ability:** Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure using whole numbers and common fractions.

**Language Ability:**Ability to read, analyze, and interpret documents. Ability to communicate clearly.

**INTENT AND FUNCTION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS**

*Job descriptions assist organizations in ensuring that the hiring process is fairly administered and that qualified employees are selected. They are also essential to an effective appraisal system and related promotion, transfer, layoff, and termination decisions. Well-constructed job descriptions are an integral part of any effective compensation system.*

*All descriptions have been reviewed to ensure that only essential functions and basic duties have been included. Peripheral tasks, only incidentally related to each position, have been excluded. Requirements, skills, and abilities included have been determined to be the minimal standards required to successfully perform the positions. In no instance, however, should the duties, responsibilities, and requirements delineated be interpreted as all-inclusive. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate.*

*In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements may be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. However, no accommodations will be made which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others or which impose undue hardships on the organization.*

*Job descriptions are not intended as and do not create employment contracts. The organization maintains its status as an at-will employer. Employees can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law.*