DOG PLACEMENT MANAGER

CommonSpirit Health • Austin, TX

22d • Onsite

About The Position

The Dog Placement Manager leads and oversees the strategic direction, growth, and daily operations of APA!’s Dog Placement team, with a focus on adoption and foster placements for dogs in our care. This role ensures alignment with APA!’s broader mission to increase the live release rate across Texas, while building a sustainable, inclusive, and high-impact model for customer service and dog placements.

The Dog Placement Manager is responsible for managing daily workflows, supervising staff, and setting clear, mission-aligned goals. This includes creating structured plans, tracking progress toward outcomes, and ensuring accountability and follow-through on team priorities. The role uses data to guide decisions and helps keep the team focused on consistent, measurable impact. This is a leadership role rooted in empowerment, facilitation, and values-driven oversight.

Rather than working independently, the Dog Placement Manager sets the tone that APA! is a volunteer-powered organization—every staff member is expected to work collaboratively with volunteers and to help create meaningful opportunities for them to lead and contribute. This includes pairing with volunteers to complete day-to-day tasks, modeling strong partnership, and developing a culture of shared effort and team accountability.

This position requires a high level of responsiveness and availability. The work is often fast-paced and dynamic, with weekend or shift flexibility expected. While APA! strongly encourages work-life balance, during on-duty shifts, the Dog Placement Manager is expected to be highly present, solutions-oriented, and ready to support the team with real-time problem-solving.

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.

Requirements

• High level of organizational ability, able to delegate tasks appropriately, able to juggle multiple varied tasks and make decisions under pressure
• Extensive experience working within the animal welfare industry, including familiarity with common canine behavioral and medical terminology
• Minimum 1 year of administrative work related to customer service, volunteer management, or animal care.
• Able to assist with medical care of dogs; experience administering medications including injectables
• Internet access; familiarity with Google products, spreadsheets, ShelterLuv, computer literacy
• Ability to effectively communicate and collaborate well with a broad population including fosters, adopters, volunteers, and staff
• Prior experience managing others or leading a team.
• Ability to be receptive and open minded to change, progress, and growth of the Dog Placement Programs
• Dedicated to delivering an exceptional and inclusive customer experience
• Ability to diffuse escalated customer service experiences while maintaining the integrity of APA! protocols.
• 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 customers—helping 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
• 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
• Able to be on your feet for multiple hours of the day
• 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 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
• Will sit, stand, walk, talk, hear, stoop, bend, stretch, squat, kneel, grasp, grip, put fingers together firmly and reach above and below shoulder level, lift and/or carry up to 30 pounds and push and pull up to 50 pounds for situations of moving supplies and setting up for events; repetitively use hands to operate computers; flex the neck upward and downward; twist the neck and the waist.

Responsibilities

• Volunteer engagement: A critical part of this role is helping people help pets by supporting and guiding volunteers to facilitate adoptions and placement. Rather than taking on all tasks independently, this role works alongside volunteers as a teammate to ensure the work is carried out efficiently and to an excellent standard.
• Team Leadership & Stewardship: Act as a steward for ongoing projects within the Placement Team, guiding staff through key initiatives that enhance efficiency and foster long-term success.
• Manager on Duty: Serve alongside the Placement Team during scheduled shifts, acting as a manager on duty and supporting team members and customers in real-time to increase placement opportunities.
• Scheduling & Staffing: Take responsibility for scheduling Placement Team shifts and ensuring all customer service needs are met.
• Team Support & Development: Support staff by offering leadership, feedback, and opportunities for professional growth, while also partnering with the Dog Volunteer Administrator to recruit and manage volunteers to support the team’s goals.
• Sales Training & Goal Clarity: Collaborate with leadership to implement sales training that enhances team performance and ensures alignment with team and organizational goals.
• Adoption & Foster Success: Work closely with the Dog Placement Senior Program Manager to maintain APA’s open placement policies and innovate programs focused on decreasing dog length of stay, improving placement success, and prioritizing vulnerable populations.
• Policy & Procedure Development: Develop and update policies, procedures, and resources that ensure optimal dog placement outcomes, aligning with APA!'s goals and mission.
• Client Support: Ensure successful interactions between dogs and potential adopters or fosters, ensuring they have the tools and knowledge to care for their new pets.
• Administrative Oversight: Manage administrative responsibilities including document management, database updates, and communication within the team.
• Customer Service Leadership: Handle customer service issues, including addressing serious situations such as lost dogs, dog bites, or dog fights, maintaining a professional and compassionate approach.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify areas for improvement within the team and explore ways to increase efficiency across the department.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Foster strong relationships with other teams to improve communication and client support, ensuring a focus on dog placement operations across all departments.
• Attend and participate in required training sessions and meetings
• Maintain open and consistent communication with Dog Placement Senior Program Manager, Director of Strategic Customer Service, and other colleagues
• Must demonstrate dependability, accountability, time management, use of reasoning, and good judgment skills
• Partner with Volunteer Managers to learn about the volunteer programs and manage 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

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 6 paid holidays and accrue 10 days paid time off during the first year of employment, with a third week 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed