APA! BACKGROUND: Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austin’s most dynamic and best-loved nonprofits. The organization is the leader in the no kill movement nationally and is considered a national thought leader in animal welfare. APA! locally rescues, treats, and adopts out 10,000 homeless dogs and cats each year, providing the safety net for Austin’s most at-risk shelter pets, which helps Austin to be a no-kill city, while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals. The organization is distinguished by the scrappiness of its grassroots, non-traditional community-based animal rescue work.
The organization continues to innovate best practices to save lives and teaches its renowned lifesaving model through American Pets Alive!, APA!’s national division. In 2020, AmPA! began the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) project, a collaborative movement of more than 10,000 animal welfare professionals working in nearly 1,900 organizations. HASS is the first-of-its-kind collective of shelters and animal welfare professionals coming together to build community-focused animal services that better meet the needs of people and pets by keeping human-animal families together and keeping pets unnecessarily out of shelters.
BRIEF POSITION OVERVIEW: The Dog Placement Specialist assists clients in finding the dog best suited to their home. But moreover, Specialists are representatives for the dogs—especially those often overlooked in the shelter environment. We use our knowledge of the individual dogs, behavior training and the rescue field to develop cutting-edge initiatives that help connect the dogs with the right people. Our primary goal is to reduce the length of stay for all dogs (with a focus on large-breed adult dogs), so we are constantly developing our methods and practices to push that number lower. This is a full-time, nonexempt position and reports to the Dog Placement Manager.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Greet customers to ensure that every client has a welcoming and guided experience.
- Maintain active customer service throughout the entire 8-hour shift both in person and via communications over text and phone call
- Stays current on dogs both on site and in foster - update appropriate documents
- Provide guidance to clients in selecting the right dog for their home
- Stay up to date on relevant behavioral and health information and training and introduction plans for all onsite dogs
- Be comfortable discussing complex dog behaviors with clients in a vernacular that can be easily understood
- Ensure all required paperwork for adopters and fosters is completed accurately
- Educates adopters and fosters in order to be as successful as possible bringing home their new dog; this could include lower level behavioral and medical needs also
- Maintain an open mindset and continually think of how to remove barriers to dogs leaving the shelter
- Update compatibility scores and internal notes for all dogs when new information is available and ensure information is accurate on online profiles
- Create personalized kennel cards for all onsite dogs to aid clients in their search
- Communicate within the MM department and with other departments to ensure efficiency in assisting clients
- Respond to email inquiries from clients interested in onsite dogs or Matchmaking services in a professional and timely manner
- Ensure safe and productive interactions when introducing dogs to clients.
- Conduct and attend regular hands-on training sessions with onsite dogs
- Willingness to learn, and adherence to, APA’s methods of dog behavioral training, under the guidance and training of APA Behavior Team members
- Demonstrate confidence in discussing and demonstrating training and behavioral management methods to clients
- Develop, implement and maintain MM initiatives to increase the number of placements of adult large breed dogs into adoptive and/or foster homes
- Develop and maintain positive working relationships with volunteers to increase volunteer retention on the team
- Recruit and train new MM volunteers
- Meet with advocates and dog-walking volunteers to discuss notes for marketing dogs
- Participate in proactive outreach to potential adopters and fosters
- Assist with daily tracking of appointments and initiatives
OTHER FUNCTIONS:
- Attend and participate in all required training sessions and meetings
- Maintain open and consistent communication with Program Manager or designee, supervisor, and other colleagues
- Able to demonstrate time management to complete job responsibilities
- Able to react to change productively and perform other related duties as assigned
- Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
- Able to work in a high volume, fast-paced, high-stress environment
QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS & EXPECTATIONS:
- Must be open and adaptable to new procedures and ways of working
- Must have experience working with dogs, and be able to handle large dogs safely
- Customer service experience is required
- Experience in dog behavior training is preferable
- Must be proficient with email, word processing, and spreadsheets
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills necessary
- Must be available weekends and holidays
- Must embody APA!’s Core Values of Innovation, Respect, Drive, Resourcefulness and Inclusion
- Commitment to APA!'s customer experience expectations
- Willing and committed to working well with volunteers and staff in all roles
- Bilingual in English/Spanish preferred
PHYSICAL JOB REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be able to routinely lift 40-50 pounds
- Must be able to work around animals (including diseased, injured, and/or potentially aggressive animals), loud noises, chlorine or other chemicals, and inclement weather
- Must be able to comfortably interact with cats/dogs of various health levels, including cats who may carry zoonotic diseases such as ringworm, scabies, intestinal parasites, etc.
- Must be able to walk big dogs that pull and jump
- Must be able to visually observe people and animals from up to 150 feet away
- Ability to hear normal speech at close contact and shouting up to 150 feet away with the ability to hear and discern dog vocalizations both soft and loud
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Must be able to be on your feet for long periods of time
- Must be able to pass all required dog handling training required for this position
- Must be able to focus in a loud and busy environment despite distractions
- Must be able to walk around shelter as needed - uneven ground, keeping a safe distance from dogs and handlers
- If reasonable accommodations are requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job absent undue hardship to the organization.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
- Standard office environment, with exposure to environmental conditions that include working with and near animals
- Uses own transportation to travel and transport
- Occasional after-hours or weekend work may be required to support program needs
- Both indoors and outdoors work is required.
- Exposure to unpleasant odors and noises.
- Exposure to bites, scratches and animal waste
- Possible exposure to contagious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to people
- Rapid pace with exposure to potential hazards including animal waste, disinfectants, and high levels of noise
TIME COMMITMENT:
- This is a full-time, nonexempt position with an average of 40 hours per week.
- Shift and schedule flexibility is required, as weekly schedule is subject to change
- Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
LOCATIONS:
- APA! Main - Town Lake Animal Center 1156 West Cesar Chavez Austin, TX 78703
- May travel to offsite locations as needed
BENEFITS:
Austin Pets Alive! is proud to offer a competitive benefits package for full-time employees, including up to 95% subsidy on employer-sponsored medical coverage, subsidized and voluntary life insurance, voluntary dental, vision and short-term disability options, all effective the first day of employment. We also offer voluntary wellness and emergency sick plans, up to 2% match on 401(K) retirement plan, supplemental benefits, subsidized pet insurance, flexible spending accounts and additional life coverage. Full-time employees receive 10 paid holidays and accrue 10 days paid time off during the first year of employment, with an additional 5 days of PTO accrual upon completion of 12 months of employment. Employee’s will also receive professional development opportunities through APA!’s ongoing mission to advance our animal welfare professionals in our life saving work.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT
Austin Pets Alive! is an equal employment opportunity employer and we value having staff who come from communities that are most impacted by the issues we engage on. We especially encourage people of color, LGBTQ people, women, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities to apply.
Austin Pets Alive! does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Austin Pets Alive! is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion, respect and integrity, community focus, and innovation.