Cat Placement Specialist
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Job Location:
Austin, TX - USA
Monthly Salary:
USD 40 - 50
Posted on:
30+ days ago
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
Cat Placement Specialist
APA! BACKGROUND: Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austins 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 10000 homeless dogs and cats each year providing the safety net for Austins 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 2020 AmPA! began the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) project a collaborative movement of more than 10000 animal welfare professionals working in nearly 1900 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 SUMMARY/OVERVIEW:
As a Cat Placement Specialist you play a pivotal role in matching clients with the perfect feline companion for their home. Beyond mere matchmaking you serve as a dedicated advocate for shelter cats particularly those often overlooked in the shelter environment. Leveraging your expertise in cat behavior medical care and rescue practices you spearhead innovative initiatives to streamline the foster and adoption process and connect cats with the right people. Your primary objective is to reduce the length of stay for all cats with a special focus on our lifesaving this dynamic role you will continuously refine and develop methods and practices to achieve this goal. This full-time non-exempt position reports directly to the Cat Placement Manager offering an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the lives of shelter cats and their future fosters and adopters.
As a Cat Placement Specialist you play a pivotal role in matching clients with the perfect feline companion for their home. Beyond mere matchmaking you serve as a dedicated advocate for shelter cats particularly those often overlooked in the shelter environment. Leveraging your expertise in cat behavior medical care and rescue practices you spearhead innovative initiatives to streamline the foster and adoption process and connect cats with the right people. Your primary objective is to reduce the length of stay for all cats with a special focus on our lifesaving this dynamic role you will continuously refine and develop methods and practices to achieve this goal. This full-time non-exempt position reports directly to the Cat Placement Manager offering an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the lives of shelter cats and their future fosters and adopters.
The Cat Placement Specialist plays a key role in advancing the goals of APA!s cat placement team. This position contributes directly to APA!s mission to increase the live release rate across Texas by supporting a sustainable inclusive and high-impact model for shelter operations.
The Cat Placement Specialist is responsible for managing their daily responsibilities maintaining clear priorities and delivering consistent high-quality work that aligns with APA!s values and goals. This includes staying organized using data or feedback to inform decisions and following through on key tasks and responsibilities with minimal oversight. This is a hands-on mission-driven role focused on results reliability and teamwork.
APA! is a volunteer-powered organization so every staff member is expected to work alongside and support volunteers. The Cat Placement Specialist collaborates closely with volunteers to complete day-to-day tasks helps create a positive and inclusive environment and actively contributes to a culture of shared effort and mutual respect.
This position may involve shift flexibility weekend hours and responsiveness during times of high need.
Every individual at APA! is responsible for working in collaboration with volunteers; making sure volunteers are recruited trained and feel impactful through their efforts at APA!. A core part of this role is creating a welcoming and empowering experience for volunteers including assisting with onboarding training and volunteer engagement as part of the day-to-day workflow.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Actively contribute to a volunteer-powered culture by partnering with volunteers during every shift and helping create an inclusive welcoming environment
- Work alongside volunteers to complete daily tasks ensuring the work is shared and collaborativenot siloed
- Support the recruitment and onboarding process by welcoming new volunteers and helping them get oriented to the program
- Help retain volunteers by offering encouragement guidance and feedback during shared work
- Recommend strong volunteers for deeper involvement or specialized roles to your supervisor or volunteer manager
- Contribute to a positive culture by recognizing volunteer contributions through appreciation gratitude and shoutouts
- Help set volunteers up for success by clearly explaining tasks providing hands-on guidance and offering in-the-moment support
- Greet customers to ensure that every client has a welcoming and guided experience.
- Maintain active customer service throughout the entire shift both in person and via communications over text email and phone call
- Stays current on cats both on site and in foster - update appropriate documents
- Provide guidance to clients in selecting the right cat for their home
- Stay up to date on relevant behavioral and health information of cats onsite and in foster
- Be comfortable discussing complex medical needs 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 cat; this could include slow and safe introductions and medical needs
- Maintain an open mindset and continually think of how to remove barriers to cats leaving the shelter
- Update internal notes for all cats when new information is available and ensure information is accurate on online profiles
- Monitor physical conditions of animals and advise veterinarians or applicable staff as needed
- Receive medicate handle and kennel cats and kittens including those of unknown temperament sick and injured animals and those with zoonotic illness
- Communicate within the Foster and Adoption Success department and with other departments to ensure efficiency in assisting clients
- Respond to email inquiries from clients interested in onsite cats or Matchmaking services in a professional and timely manner
- Ensure safe and productive interactions when introducing cats to clients.
- Willingness to learn and adherence to APAs methods of cat handling under the guidance and training of APA Cat Care Team members
- Exhibit confidence and proficiency in discussing and demonstrating handling and medicating methods to clients ensuring clarity and reassurance throughout the process.
- Develop implement and sustain placement initiatives aimed at boosting the adoption and fostering rates of specialty population cats ensuring their successful transition into loving homes.
- Develop and maintain positive working relationships with staff and volunteers to increase retention on the team
- Recruit and train new Cat Placement volunteers
- Meet with advocates and Cat Program volunteers to discuss notes for marketing cats
- Participate in proactive outreach to potential adopters and fosters
- Assist with daily tracking of appointments and initiatives
- Job duties may include some or all of the above and other duties as assigned by manager
OTHER FUNCTIONS:
- Assist with basic care feeding medicating and cleaning animal areas as needed adhering to strict sanitation protocols
- Attend and participate in essential trainings covering fundamental cat husbandry practices and techniques for administering medications
- Able to demonstrate time management to complete job responsibilities
- Must demonstrate dependability accountability time management use of reasoning and good judgment skills
- Attend and participate in all required training sessions and meetings
- Maintain open and consistent communication with Program Manager or designee supervisor and other colleagues
- Partner with Volunteer Managers to learn about the volunteer programs and support volunteers interested in your department on an ongoing basis
- 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
- Comfortable working autonomously when given goals and deadlines
QUALIFICATIONS SKILLS & EXPECTATIONS:
- Must be open and adaptable to new procedures and ways of working
- Must have experience working with cats and be able to handle cats safely
- Customer service experience is required
- Ability to recognize understand and address various animal behaviors and illnesses
- Ability to handle cats safely and with kindness at all times without exception
- Must be proficient with email word processing and spreadsheets
- Committed to embodying APA!s Core Values: Innovation Respect Drive Resourcefulness and Inclusion and cultural values: Humble Hungry Smart
- Commitment to APA!s customer experience expectations
- Passion for working well with staff volunteers and customershelping all individuals feel successful appreciated and connected to APA!s mission
- Strong commitment to volunteer engagement and support; dedicated to working well with volunteers across all roles
- Comfortable working cross-functionally and serving as a liaison between volunteers customers and team members
- Effective written and verbal communication skills; able to interpret rules procedures and instructional materials
- Self-starter with strong time management; able to work independently and collaboratively
- Excellent interpersonal skills; maintains a calm and professional presence in all situations
- Strong attention to detail and high standards for quality
- Adaptable to change and able to perform related duties as needed
- Dedicated to delivering an exceptional and inclusive customer experience
- Bilingual in English/Spanish preferred
PHYSICAL JOB REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be able to be on your feet for long periods of time and work outdoors in all types of weather
- Must be able to routinely lift 40-50 pounds
- Must be able to focus in a loud and busy environment despite distractions
- Must be able to walk around the shelter as needed - uneven ground keeping a safe distance from dogs and handlers
- 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
- 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
- Work is normally performed inside; some outside work is required
- Exposure to unpleasant odors and noises.
- Exposure to bites scratches and animal waste
- Possible exposure to contagious diseases
- Rapid pace with exposure to potential hazards including animal waste disinfectants and high levels of noise
- Potential for animal bites and scratches and diseases that can be transmitted from animals to people
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
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: This position reports directly to the Cat Placement Manager.
LOCATIONS:
- APA! Main - Town Lake Animal Center 1156 West Cesar Chavez Austin TX 78703
- APA! Tarrytown Cat Adoption Center 3108 Windsor Road 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 subsidized 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 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. Employees will also receive professional development opportunities through APA!s ongoing mission to advance our animal welfare professionals in our life-saving work.
Austin Pets Alive! is proud to offer a competitive benefits package for full-time employees including subsidized 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 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. Employees 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.
APA! is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the employment application process. To request an accommodation please contact Talent Acquisition at at least one week in advance of your interview.
Required Experience:
IC
Key Skills
- Environmental Safety
- Fire Safety
- Benefits & Compensation
- Inspection
- Ims
About Company
Austin Pets Alive! is not your average animal shelter. We pioneer innovative lifesaving programs designed to save the animals most at risk of euthanasia.
