Clinic to Placement Foster Coordinator

CommonSpirit Health•Austin, TX

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Clinic to Placement Foster Coordinator advances Austin Pets Alive!’s foster program and placement team, with a focus on recruiting and retaining medical fosters. The role develops and manages the systems, programs, and volunteer infrastructure that help animals transition safely and efficiently from APA!’s Medical Clinic into foster and adoptive homes. It supports the organization’s homes-first strategy and its goal of increasing live release rates across Texas through a sustainable, inclusive, volunteer-powered medical foster model. This is a hands-on, mission-driven position requiring organized, reliable work, clear prioritization, and follow-through with minimal oversight. The coordinator works alongside volunteers, contributing to a welcoming and inclusive environment and supporting volunteer onboarding, training, engagement, and retention. The role works closely with clinic, placement, foster, behavior, marketing, and intake teams and reports to the Foster & Adoption Support Program Manager or designee. The position is full-time and exempt, averaging 40 hours per week. Schedule flexibility is required, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed. The role is based at APA! facilities in Austin, with hybrid work and travel to offsite locations as needed. Work takes place in an animal shelter and clinic environment, with exposure to animals, noise, odors, animal waste, disinfectants, contagious diseases, and possible bites and scratches. Physical requirements include lifting and carrying, walking and handling dogs, standing for extended periods, and working around animals and in a busy environment. Austin Pets Alive! offers full-time employees subsidized employer-sponsored medical coverage, life insurance options, dental and vision options, short-term disability options, wellness and emergency sick plans, a 401(k) match of up to 2%, supplemental benefits, flexible spending accounts, paid holidays, paid time off, and professional development opportunities.

Requirements

1–3 years of experience in animal welfare, medical coordination, foster programs, or case management is preferred.
Commitment to APA!’s core values of Innovation, Respect, Drive, Resourcefulness, and Inclusion, and cultural values of Humble, Hungry, and Smart.
Commitment to APA!’s customer experience expectations and to delivering an exceptional, inclusive customer experience.
Strong commitment to volunteer engagement and support.
Ability to work cross-functionally and act as a liaison among volunteers, customers, and team members.
Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to interpret rules, procedures, and instructional materials.
Self-starter with strong time-management skills and the ability to work independently and collaboratively.
Excellent interpersonal skills and a calm, professional presence.
Strong attention to detail and high quality standards.
Adaptability and ability to perform related duties as needed.
Dependability, accountability, sound judgment, and ability to work autonomously toward goals and deadlines.
Ability to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed, with schedule flexibility.
Ability to work in a high-volume, fast-paced, high-stress environment.
Ability to lift 40–50 pounds on occasion; the description also specifies lifting or carrying up to 30 pounds and pushing or pulling up to 50 pounds for supplies and event setup.
Ability to work around animals, including diseased, injured, or potentially aggressive animals; tolerate loud noises, chemicals, and inclement weather; and interact with animals with varying health conditions.
Ability to walk large dogs that pull and jump and pass required dog-handling training.
Ability to be on one’s feet for multiple hours, walk on uneven ground, and perform the listed bending, reaching, squatting, kneeling, grasping, and other physical tasks.
Ability to visually observe people and animals up to 150 feet away and hear normal speech nearby, shouting up to 150 feet away, and dog vocalizations.
Ability to sit for extended periods and work on a computer, and to focus in a loud, busy environment despite distractions.
Must use own transportation to travel and transport.

Nice To Haves

Experience in animal welfare, medical coordination, foster programs, or case management (1–3 years preferred).

Responsibilities

Create and maintain standard operating procedures for clinic-to-placement processes, including medical clearance, discharge documentation, team handoffs, and follow-up.
Identify bottlenecks in clinic-to-placement and medical-foster-to-adopter pathways and implement solutions.
Review animals with medical attributes or pre-adopt medical status to help move them toward timely outcomes.
Build and expand foster programs for post-surgical recovery, medical observation and treatment, infectious disease quarantine and treatment, and medical-behavior crossover cases.
Develop discharge toolkits, medication instructions, symptom tracking sheets, escalation guidance, and other foster education resources.
Provide hands-on training, host recruitment sessions and Q&A forums, and create accessible medical education materials for fosters.
Maintain a centralized medical resource hub in conjunction with APATec.
Recruit, onboard, and train volunteers to support foster check-ins, symptom-log monitoring, supply coordination, escalation, and foster recruitment and training.
Develop volunteer triage guidelines and role descriptions, and track volunteer engagement and retention.
Generate early placement leads for animals in medical care, recruit medical fosters, and work with Marketing to increase visibility of clinical foster needs.
Keep animals actively marketed during recovery when appropriate and support the clinic-to-foster-to-adoption pipeline.
Track and report clinic length of stay, medical-attribute and pre-adopt medical status duration, time to foster placement after hospital discharge, medical foster retention, adoption conversion, returns, and medical escalations.
Analyze trends and recommend operational improvements.
Support discharge handoffs and foster consultations, troubleshoot medical foster concerns with clinic staff, and maintain an on-site presence as needed for clinic transitions.
Work alongside volunteers during shifts, support daily tasks collaboratively, assist with volunteer orientation and onboarding, provide guidance and feedback, recognize contributions, and recommend volunteers for specialized roles.
Maintain communication with managers, supervisors, and colleagues; attend required training and meetings; and perform other related duties as assigned.
Work evenings, weekends, or holidays as needed and adapt to a high-volume, fast-paced, high-stress environment.

Benefits

Subsidized employer-sponsored medical coverage effective the first day of employment.
Subsidized and voluntary life insurance options effective the first day of employment.
Voluntary dental, vision, and short-term disability options effective the first day of employment.
Voluntary wellness and emergency sick plans.
Up to 2% match on the 401(k) retirement plan.
Supplemental benefits and flexible spending accounts.
Additional life coverage.
10 paid holidays for full-time employees.
10 days of paid time off accrued during the first year, with an additional 5 days of PTO accrual after 12 months.
Professional development opportunities.