Neonatal Placement Specialist (Part Time)

CommonSpirit Health•Austin, TX

10h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Neonatal Placement Specialist plays a key role in advancing the goals of APA!’s Neonatal Program, with a focus on neonatal kittens. This position contributes directly to APA!’s mission to increase the live release rate across Texas by supporting a sustainable, inclusive, and high-impact model for foster coordination. The Neonatal Placement Specialist is responsible for managing their daily responsibilities, maintaining clear priorities, and delivering consistent, high-quality work that aligns with APA!’s values and goals. This includes staying organized, using data or feedback to inform decisions, and following through on key tasks and responsibilities with minimal oversight. This is a hands-on, mission-driven role focused on results, reliability, and teamwork. APA! is a volunteer-powered organization, so every staff member is expected to work alongside and support volunteers. The Neonatal Placement Specialist collaborates closely with volunteers to complete day-to-day tasks, helps create a positive and inclusive environment, and actively contributes to a culture of shared effort and mutual respect. This position may involve shift flexibility, weekend hours, and responsiveness during times of high need. 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

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
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.
Able to be on your feet for multiple hours of the day
Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
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 40 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.
If reasonable accommodations are requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship to the organization.

Nice To Haves

Able to react to change productively and perform other related duties as assigned

Responsibilities

Actively contribute to a volunteer-powered culture by partnering with volunteers during every shift and helping create an inclusive, welcoming environment
Work alongside volunteers to complete daily tasks, ensuring the work is shared and collaborative—not siloed
Support the recruitment and onboarding process by welcoming new volunteers and helping them get oriented to the program
Help retain volunteers by offering encouragement, guidance, and feedback during shared work
Recommend strong volunteers for deeper involvement or specialized roles to your supervisor or volunteer manager
Contribute to a positive culture by recognizing volunteer contributions through appreciation, gratitude, and shoutouts
Help set volunteers up for success by clearly explaining tasks, providing hands-on guidance, and offering in-the-moment support
Work with the Intake Team to prioritize outside-shelter kittens, puppies, and maternity cats and dogs for foster
Vet potential fosters to determine overall program eligibility
Guide fosters through the application, training, and foster matchmaking process
Maintain up-to-date records of all neonatal foster parents using the Monday.com database, the ShelterLuv database, and program-specific spreadsheets
Maintain familiarity with the program’s most experienced and medically advanced fosters, including those able to take on emergency placements
Maintain up-to-date records of all neonatal program animals in need of fosters, as well as those already placed in foster, using both the ShelterLuv database and program-specific spreadsheets
Market Neonatal Program animals to fosters, including writing urgent pleas, photographing onsite animals, and reaching out to fosters directly via email, text, or phone
Match potential fosters to specific animals based on foster interests and skill level
Repurpose fosters for different animals based on priority placement deadlines and care needs
Hand off neonatal program animals to foster parents, including arranging pick up & drop off timing, fulfilling supply requests, and explaining medications
Work closely with other Placement Specialists to determine division of labor & delegation of tasks
Maintain an onsite presence to handle onsite foster customer service experiences and assist in tasks relating to foster placements
Provide excellent customer service to fosters via phone, text, email, and in person
Train fosters both virtually and in person on feeding puppies and kittens and administering medications
Assist Neonatal Care team as needed with administering medication, Neonatal Program animals, completing intake exams, and data entry
Disinfect crates and carriers per nursery protocols and share in nursery upkeep
Comply with the APA! Core Values
Job duties may include some or all of the above, and other duties as assigned by manager