Animal Care Team Lead

KANSAS HUMANE SOCIETY OF WICHITA INC•Wichita, KS

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The major function of an Animal Care Team Lead is to provide safe, humane, and thorough care for animals housed at the Kansas Humane Society. This includes sanitizing, cleaning, observing and recording health and behavior as well as assisting with the euthanasia process. The Animal Care Team Lead is a working supervisory position that supports the department when the supervisor is not available, under direct guidance of the Animal Care Supervisor, 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.

Requirements

High School Diploma or Equivalent.
Must obtain and maintain status as a KHS Certified Euthanasia Technician.
A background in a caregiving or customer service field.
Should prefer and have the ability to cope with emotionally demanding work.
Must have the ability to exercise good judgment and make independent decisions with limited supervision.
Customer Service, Flexibility, Conflict Resolution, Independent Decision Making.
Respect for the human/animal bond.
Ability to speak effectively and communicate clearly
Able to hear average conversations
The employee is regularly required to use hands to type.
Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.
Repetitive motion above and below shoulder height (4- 8 hours daily)
Repetitive hand scrubbing both at and above shoulder level (2 to 4 hours daily)
Must be able to use both hands for repetitive actions, firm grasp and fine manipulation.
Hands exposed to water and cleaning chemicals on a repetitive basis (6-8 hours daily)
Deck brushing movement (4-6 hours daily)
Physical restraining of small and large animals 5lb to 100lb
Pulled/jolted/jumped on by small and large animals 5lb to 100lb
Lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, throwing of 5lb to 100lb
Repetitive climbing of step ladder
Repetitive stooping to pick up items
Standing, walking, kneeling on hands and knees, crouching, crawling
Must be comfortable handling dogs and cats 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.
Ability to deal with a variety of variables under only limited standardization.
Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure using whole numbers and common fractions.
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret documents.
Ability to communicate clearly.
Ability to cope with stress, loss/death/grief, emotional and physical fatigue, long hours, and a variety of different human personalities.

Responsibilities

Assists the Animal Care Supervisor with the daily staff and volunteer performance management providing continuous leadership for the department.
Under the direct supervision of the Shelter Manager, will orient, train, and supervise the Animal Care Technicians and Volunteers.
Provide support for the Animal Care Supervisor when staffing challenges occur by helping to fill resource gaps.
Communicates with the Animal Care Supervisor a daily status report including team morale along with performance and process improvements.
Provide 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 volunteers for their individual contributions to our agency.
Assure that every individual who enters our agency is recognized and treated as a potential donor.
Implement infection prevention and shelter sanitation protocol to assure that all animal holding areas, supplies, and equipment are cleaned and sanitized on a regular basis in a thorough and timely manner.
Assure good disease control practices by following protocol for the timely removal of physically or behaviorally ill animals as well as maintaining foot baths, following hand washing protocol, and wearing appropriate protective clothing when handling ill animals.
Remain current in humane animal husbandry and handling.
Assure that animals in all holding areas are provided with the appropriate supplies and enrichment to enhance their lives while in the care of KHS.
Participate in training to assure the euthanasia process is carried out in a safe, humane, and as relaxing manner as possible.
Work collaboratively with other shelter departments to continuously improve the level of care provided to the animals in the care of KHS.
Enforce KHS safety policies and procedures, in particular, the use of Personal Protective Equipment in the Animal Care Department.
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.
Participates and assists in staff training and development opportunities as requested.
Participates in special events, projects, and cross training programs as needed.