Nursery Program Manager

CommonSpirit Health•Austin, TX

7d•$52,000 - $57,000•Onsite

About The Position

Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is a leading nonprofit in the no-kill movement, rescuing, treating, and adopting out 10,000 homeless dogs and cats annually. The organization is a national thought leader in animal welfare, innovating best practices and teaching its lifesaving model through American Pets Alive!. The Neonatal Nursery is a critical program, caring for over 2,500 neonatal animals each year, contributing significantly to Austin's no-kill status. The Neonatal Program Senior Manager is responsible for the year-round strategic and operational leadership of this program. A key focus is shifting the program's emphasis from the nursery to foster homes, aiming for same-day foster placement for all healthy cats and kittens. This role requires building robust systems, staffing, and volunteer capacity to support a foster-first model, treating volunteers and foster caregivers as the primary engine of the program. This is a leader-of-leaders position, directly managing the Neonatal Team Manager and holding accountability for program staff, volunteers, and outcomes. The role involves approximately 50% strategic/administrative leadership and 50% hands-on involvement.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent is required.
Minimum of two (2) years management experience in a customer-facing role required.
Exceptional customer service skills and abilities.
Strong written and verbal communication skills; interpersonal skills required to maintain positive relationships and effectively resolve conflict.
Highly organized; ability to manage multiple projects at once and prioritize assigned work to meet deadlines.
Proven ability in utilizing data to drive change, identify and solve problems, and inform decision-making.
Proven ability to manage employee performance, including accountability measures, improvement plans, disciplinary and corrective actions.
Willingness to be flexible and to go above and beyond to meet the needs of APA! stakeholders.
Computer skills and office equipment.
Excellent attention to detail and ability to thrive in a dynamic environment.
Positive outlook and desire to coach team members to meet goals.
Must embody APA!’s core values of innovation, respect, drive, resourcefulness, and inclusion.
Commitment to APA!’s customer experience expectations.
Willing and committed to working well with volunteers and staff in all roles.
Knowledge of and passion for the No Kill movement and its aims in Austin and throughout the region.
Valid driver’s license required for occasional transport.

Nice To Haves

Animal care experience preferred.
Must be able to pass all required dog handling training required for this position.

Responsibilities

Provide direct leadership and people management to the Neonatal Team Manager, coaching them in staff supervision, prioritization, and decision-making.
Support Neonatal Team Manager with team goals, oversight, and day-to-day scheduling and functions.
Own hiring, onboarding, scheduling oversight, performance management, and professional development for program staff and management.
Manage personnel and program spending within budget, and partner with leadership on staffing plans.
Build a strong, resilient team culture grounded in APA!’s core values.
Provide hands-on support to teams as needed, including feeding, medical and specialty care, cleaning, foster support, transport, and other tasks.
Ensure that all ShelterLuv records, spreadsheets, and other tracking systems are up-to-date and in use according to protocols.
Set and drive the strategic shift from nursery-based care to foster-based care, with the goal of same-day foster placement for every healthy cat and kitten.
Define and track length-of-stay and time-to-foster-placement as core program metrics.
Design intake, triage, and matching workflows that get animals into an appropriate foster home as quickly and safely as possible.
Identify and remove structural barriers to same-day placement and build the systems to solve them.
Partner with the Neonatal Team Manager and placement staff to ensure this strategy is executed consistently.
Build and continuously grow a volunteer- and foster-caregiver-centric program.
Own the end-to-end strategy for foster caregiver and volunteer recruitment, onboarding, training pathways, recognition, and retention.
Set and track volunteer engagement targets and adjust recruitment and retention strategy to hit them.
Partner closely with Volunteer Managers to align on shared systems and processes.
Create feedback loops with volunteers and foster caregivers to continuously improve their experience.
Set and drive the annual program strategy across both peak kitten season and the off-season.
Use the off-season to lead retrospectives, refresh protocols, cross-train staff, invest in facility and systems improvements, and prepare the team for the next season’s volume.
Establish, enforce, and regularly review program policies and standard operating procedures.
Ensure ShelterLuv records, spreadsheets, and other tracking systems are accurate and consistently used.
Partner with the Neonatal Team Manager to ensure smooth, same-day transitions of kittens from intake into foster care, and from the neonatal foster program into the broader Cat Program.
Partner with the Medical Director and/or Medical Team to establish and enforce care, sanitation, disease control, and medical treatment protocols.
Provide hands-on support across the program as needed.
Partner with APATEC to ensure all required staff and volunteer training is scheduled, delivered, and tracked to completion.
Collaborate with the Education team to develop and refine training curriculum and educational resources.
Stay current on emerging research, best practices, and new program models in neonatal animal welfare and foster-based care.
Support cross-functional development of dog neonatal care programs as needed.
Represent the Neonatal Program in cross-departmental planning with the Medical Clinic, Cat Program, and other teams.
Maintain open, consistent communication with the Director of Strategic Customer Service, supervisors, and colleagues.