Employment

Animal Care & Adoption Counselor (Four 10-hour days (including one weekend day)

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Job Summary:

The Animal Care & Adoption Counselor is typically the first point of contact for the public and so must be prepared to deal with a wide range of personalities and behaviors.  Excellent customer service skills, knowledge of Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire (ARLNH) animals available for adoption, and a thorough understanding of animal behaviors and how they relate to environmental factors are a must. The activities performed by the Animal Care & Adoption Counselors are wide-ranging but focus on completing the animal care and adoption process in accordance with standards, ensuring a clean and presentable environment, assisting in the monitoring of animals’ medical and behavioral health, including direct animal care and cleaning,  and participating in events and activities that support and further the mission of the ARLNH.

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Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Provides necessary care to ARLNH animals including feeding, watering, cleaning, grooming, and ensuring environmental enrichment occurs.

• Manages the ARLNH adoption process, including education about individual animals, making appointments, providing referral information, coaching on the transition from shelter to home, and providing information about potential behavioral or medical problems.

• Ensures that phones and phone messages are answered and/or directed to the most appropriate co-worker in a timely manner

• Devotes time to learning about the animals ready for adoption in order to provide the best and most up-to-date counseling to prospective adopters.  The methods may include spending 1:1 time with the animal, reading records, and reviewing the animals with other staff and/or volunteers.

• Ensures that the facility is cleaned, disinfected, and organized to ARLNH standards including but not limited to doing laundry, removing trash or debris, and stocking supplies.

• Provides input into program development to include not only the adoption program but in regards to other ARLNH programs.  This includes implementing adoption promotions.

• Communicates issues or concerns in a timely manner to the Chief Operating Officer, Leadership Team, or co-workers about relevant issues.  Including but not limited to human and animal safety, supply needs, customer service issues, and observations/suggestions about operational improvements.

• Uses the ShelterLuv animal management software as a source of information and records information in ShelterLuv as required in order to ensure continuity of care for ARLNH animals.

• Participates in discussions about animal care plans and makes recommendations accordingly with regard to fostering, adoption, and/or euthanasia for all animals.

• Completes adoption paperwork with the adopter and processes it accordingly in a timely fashion.

• Makes adoption follow-up phone calls and enters information into ShelterLuv.

• Responsible for helping with ARLNH opening and closing procedures.

• Ensures that appropriate signage is used, including replacing dated or non-functional signage.

• Evaluates and monitors, on an ongoing basis, the health and behavior of all animals in the shelter. Provides immediate feedback to the Chief Operating Officer, or the Leadership Team, immediately regarding any animal concern.

• Assists in supporting, training, and monitoring volunteers.

• Attends staff meetings and trainings as assigned.

• Consistently seeks continuing education regarding animal welfare, cat, dog, and small animal care, health, and behavior issues to help improve the shelter’s overall program and educate the public at every opportunity.

• Complete other duties as assigned.

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Reporting Relationships:

• Supervisor: Chief Operating Officer

• Direct Reports: None

 

Communication Strategy:

• Collaboration: All ARLNH staff and volunteers as needed.

• Supervision: ARLNH volunteers as appropriate.

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Minimum Requirements:

• Education: High School Diploma, college degree preferred. 

• Experience: Prior animal care and customer service experience preferred. Preference given to working with any species in a shelter, hospital, or medical environment, or other practical experience working with animals.

 

Skills and Traits:

• Ability to establish rapport easily with animals and people in a caring manner,

• Effective communication skills

• Attention to detail

• Ability to prioritize

• Ability to withstand potentially stressful situations

• Ability to concentrate with multiple distractions

• Discretion in confidential matters

• The strength of character to provide for the animals’ ultimate, not just immediate, well-being.

• Willingness to act as a mentor to less experienced staff and volunteers. Enjoys working independently and within a team.

 

Conditions:

• Ability to lift and move a minimum of 50 lbs.

• Requires two years of driving experience and a valid driver’s license.

• Ability to stand on your feet for four to eight hours a day.

• Ability to traverse a building of 15,000+ square feet daily quickly, including being able to tolerate and navigate small spaces such as kennels.

• Ability to perceive and communicate, both orally and in writing, changes in animal behavior and/or medical symptoms and safety issues.

• Special visual abilities required:  Close and distance vision must be able to distinguish colors, judge distances, and possess peripheral vision.

• Ability to discern odors.

• Must be able to stoop, kneel and crouch.

• Ability to use hands and arms to hold (restrain) and feel animals.

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Please email a resume and cover letter to Naomi Stevens, Chief Operating Officer at nstevens@rescueleague.org 

No Phone Calls Please

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