Foster & Adoption Support Assistant Manager - Cats

CommonSpirit Health • Austin, TX

26d • Onsite

About The Position

The Foster & Adoption Support Assistant Manager is responsible for the comprehensive oversight of all post-placement support and success for cats in foster or adoptive homes at APA! This role plays a critical part in the organization's lifesaving strategy by ensuring that foster caregivers and adopters receive the training, support, and resources needed to successfully care for cats in home environments.

This position leads the development, implementation, and oversight of APA!’s cat foster and adoption support systems, including programs supporting neonatal kittens, ringworm cats, medical cases, and other specialized populations. The manager supervises staff and volunteers who provide daily foster support, case management, and adopter assistance.

In alignment with APA!’s strategic goal of increasing foster-based housing and expanding community-based care, the Cat Foster and Adoption Support Manager drives the growth of the cat foster program, works to reduce returns and owner surrenders, and ensures cats move efficiently from foster homes to adoption.

This role ensures a high standard of customer service and community engagement while maintaining strong collaboration with cat care, placement, medical, and behavior teams.

The Foster & Adoption Support Assistant 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 Foster & Adoption Support Assistant 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 Foster & Adoption Support Assistant 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

• At least two (2) years of people and program management experience, preferably in a shelter or animal welfare setting.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Experience using databases and tracking systems to analyze program outcomes.
• Ability to handle escalated customer service situations while maintaining APA! policies and protocols.
• Proficiency with Google Workspace.
• Positive, team-oriented, and supportive attitude.
• Ability to collaborate across teams with different priorities toward a common goal.
• Ability to take direction while also demonstrating initiative and problem-solving skills.
• 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
• Dedicated to delivering an exceptional and inclusive customer experience

Responsibilities

• Foster and model a volunteer-powered culture across the team by ensuring that every staff member is partnered with volunteers on every shift, with the goal of empowering volunteers to lead and grow within the program.
• Serve as a facilitator and coach to staff and volunteers, ensuring the work is shared, not siloed, and that volunteers are supported in completing daily tasks.
• Ensure active recruitment, onboarding, and engagement of volunteers using volunteer engagement tools and resources
• Support retention by matching volunteers to appropriate tasks, offering guidance, and providing regular check-ins and staff mentorship.
• Identify strong volunteers for deeper roles and seek out customer to volunteer conversion opportunities.
• Recognize volunteer contributions through consistent appreciation and shoutouts.
• Provide clear expectations, hands-on training, and in-the-moment coaching to set volunteers up for success.
• Oversee recruitment, training, management, and recognition of cat foster caregivers, staff, and volunteers to ensure alignment with APA! policies, procedures, and protocols.
• Create support case managed support programs for adopters and fosters with the purpose that everyone who brings a cat into their home, has a point of contact to support throughout the adoption process.
• Oversee foster-related events and programming, including kitten adoption events, foster recruitment initiatives, and community engagement opportunities that increase foster placements and adoptions.
• Achieve an 80% DIY adoption rate of fosters completing adoption without the use of staff.
• Manage the foster to family program for kittens.
• Manage the Tarrytown cat adoption and foster resource center, the flow through of cats in the space, making recommendations to Community Placement & Events Coordinator for petsmart cats..
• Achieve a 50% volunteer engagement target through strategic recruitment initiatives, strong retention programs, and development of training opportunities for volunteers supporting cat foster and adoption programs.
• Develop and update policies, procedures, and protocols; maintain the program’s documentation library and job descriptions.
• Develop and maintain foster resources and communications between staff, volunteers, and foster caregivers across departments, including orientations, training, written guides, and online resources.
• Collaborate with the  to develop toolkits and resources for cat fosters and adopters, as well as educational materials that can be shared nationally through American Pets Alive!
• Conduct regular check-ins and follow-up communications with fosters and adopters to ensure successful placements and early intervention when support is needed.
• Assist in implementing a standardized case management schedule that begins when a cat is placed into foster or adoption and continues through successful adoption.
• Maintain communication with marketing and development departments to ensure the needs of the cat foster program are represented in APA!’s marketing and fundraising efforts.
• Collaborate with other cat program teams to develop and implement initiatives that expand foster capacity and improve placement outcomes, including programs supporting neonatal kittens, medical fosters, and ringworm foster caregivers.
• Build partnerships with local veterinarians, rescue organizations, and community groups to expand foster placement options and support systems.
• Collaborate with the Neonatal and Medical teams to develop training and support programs for specialized cat fosters caring for bottle babies, medical cases, or cats requiring specialized care.
• Develop and maintain foster training materials including online modules, foster manuals, video resources, and written guides
• Create strategies and benchmarks to reduce the length of stay for cats in foster care and increase successful placement outcomes.
• Track key performance indicators related to foster capacity, foster retention, adoption outcomes, and return prevention to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Handle customer service issues and more serious situations such as lost cats, medical concerns, or escalated adopter support needs.
• Maintain a presence at APA! campuses to support foster caregivers and assist with onsite foster placements, adoption counseling, and customer service experiences.
• Utilize multiple communication channels including email, text messaging, and phone calls to maintain effective correspondence with fosters and adopters.
• Comply with APA! Core Values and actively support a culture of collaboration, respect, and innovation
• Continuously work to maintain a positive and supportive environment for fosters, adopters, volunteers, and staff.
• Job duties may include some or all of the above, and other duties as assigned by manager

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.

What This Job Offers

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