Lead Avian Animal Keeper

Akron Zoo•Akron, OH

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Akron Zoo is seeking a full-time, 40-hour per week Avian Lead Animal Keeper with excellent communication and interpersonal skills and a mature attitude. This role involves physical work, including climbing, walking on uneven terrain, entering and wading into pools, climbing hills, stairs, and ladders, wearing PPE, lifting up to 50 lbs., and working outside in all weather conditions. The position has responsibilities for husbandry/keeper duties, personnel oversight and coaching, and administrative duties. The Lead Avian Animal Keeper will be scheduled to work an animal routine multiple days each week, maintaining training and knowledge of all routines within their assigned unit by working each at least once per month. The role also includes checking in and providing oversight for all routines on their unit daily, ensuring pest control is maintained, mentoring, coaching, and training assigned staff, coordinating keeper routine activities and procedures, providing input on future work schedules, creating and enforcing written routines for daily and infrequent tasks, conducting team meetings in the manager's absence, inventorying and ordering supplies, ensuring accurate feed orders, scheduling tours, team schedules, projects, trainings, and exams, maintaining and updating Servicing Guidelines, and helping to review and update policies and SOPs. Lead Animal Keepers may also function as Animal Chief on the Incident Command Team. The hourly rate is $27.23/hour. Days off are Friday & Saturday. This is a Full-time, Non-Exempt, Collective Bargaining position with benefits. Open until filled.

Requirements

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and a mature attitude.
Physical work including climbing and walking on uneven terrain; entering and wading into pools; climbing hills, stairs and ladders; wearing PPE; lifting up to 50 lbs.; and working outside in all weather conditions.
Must be available weekends, holidays, and for a flexible schedule.
Must be able to meet all other requirements of the job.

Nice To Haves

Preferred minimum five-years full-time experience at an AZA institution with Avian species.
A 4-year degree is strongly preferred.
Significant experience with artificial incubation and hand rearing across several Avian species.

Responsibilities

Husbandry/keeper duties, personnel oversight and coaching, and administrative duties.
Work an animal routine multiple days each week depending upon the needs of the Zoo.
Maintain training and knowledge of all the routines within their assigned unit by working each of them at least once per month.
Checks in and provides oversight for all of the routines on their unit on a daily basis.
Ensures pest control is maintained in assigned areas.
Mentors, coaches, and trains assigned staff.
Coordinate keeper routine activities and procedures and provide Animal Care management with input on future work schedules.
Create and enforce a written routine of daily tasks and infrequent tasks and projects for all assigned staff to follow.
Conduct team meetings in manager’s absence.
Inventory and order supplies.
Ensure submission of accurate feed orders each week.
Scheduling – Tours, team schedules, projects, trainings, exams, etc.
Maintain and update Servicing Guidelines.
Help review and update policies and SOPs.
Function in the role of Animal Chief on the Incident Command Team providing sufficient training and skills.