Animal Adoption Specialist Lead

Maricopa County; West Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 29,000 - 38,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition reimbursement

Low-cost healthcare for dependents

Paid vacation, sick time, and parental

Retirement plan with employer match

Wellness program

Job summary

Maricopa County's Animal Care & Control is seeking a Senior Adoption Specialist to lead our adoption team in matchmaking homeless animals with loving families. You will guide staff, ensure animal welfare, and advocate for the community and its pets.

The role requires in-office customer engagement, supervision of daily tasks, and a focus on precise record-keeping and policy adherence. Strong leadership and bilingual (English/Spanish) communication are essential.

Qualifications

• Three years of experience with domestic animals in an animal welfare organization, veterinary facility, humane society, or similar facility.
• One year of in-person customer service work experience.
• Bilingual English/Spanish.
• Experience working in an animal shelter and leading staff.
• Flexibility to work all shifts, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Responsibilities

• Provides guidance and feedback to Adoption Specialists and oversees daily tasks.
• Leads the adoption process including meet and greets, paperwork, bios, and transactions.
• Maintains floor presence and engages with the public to facilitate matchmaking.
• Ensures staff onboarding, training, and adherence to policies.
• Communicates professionally with staff, public, and volunteers.
• Keeps adoption areas clean and maintains signage and kennels.
• Transfers animals to offsite locations and updates locations and records.
• Maintains accurate records and audits critical areas.
• Drafts staff schedules and ensures proper coverage.
• Performs additional animal handling duties as needed.

Skills

Animal welfare experience

Customer service

Lead capacity

Bilingual English/Spanish

Flexible shifts

Shelter experience

Education

High school diploma or GED

Post-secondary education substitution

Job description

Posting & Compensation

Posting Date 10/29/26 Application Deadline 11/01/26 Pay Range Anticipated Hiring Range: $21.25 - $27.88 hourly Full Pay Range: $21.25 - $34.50 hourly Salary offers are based on the candidate's equivalent experience and internal equity with other employees within the same job classification. This position is eligible for overtime compensation for all hours worked over 40 in the designated workweek.

Job Type & Department

Unclassified Department Animal Care and Control

About the Position

Are you a passionate animal advocate with a desire to nurture and improve the lives of homeless animals? As one of the largest animal shelters in the nation, we need your support to make a difference! Maricopa County Animal Care & Control is seeking a motivated and diligent Senior Adoption Specialist to lead our adoption team in the animal matchmaking process. You will provide leadership and guidance to our team of Shelter Adoption Specialists while advocating for the animals in our care and promoting the health, safety, and welfare of Maricopa County's people and animals. This position requires the employee to be in the office and/or customer-facing for all hours worked.

About Us

Maricopa County Animal Care & Control employees are committed to animal welfare and strengthening the human-animal bond in our community, and we are always looking to add talented individuals to our team. As one of the nation’s largest open-admission shelters, we work with our community to serve the animals and people of Maricopa County. Our adoptions, shelter, clinic, and animal services officer teams learn firsthand about the proper care of homeless and stray animals and work hard to help find them new homes.

Proud to Offer Work with a greater purpose Tuition reimbursement Exceptional work-life balance Opportunities for growth and development within Maricopa County Low-cost, high-value healthcare for you and your qualifying dependents Child care benefits, including access to the Maricopa County Kids Club, dedicated to serving Maricopa County families Paid vacation, sick time, and parental leave Extensive wellness program, including an incentive Enrollment in the Arizona State Retirement System, a defined retirement benefit requiring a 11.98% per paycheck contribution rate that includes a 100% employer match on Day 1.

Requirements

• Three years of experience with domestic animals in an animal welfare organization, veterinary facility, humane society, or similar animal care facility
• One year of in-person customer service work experience
• High school diploma or GED
• A combination of post-secondary education and/or job-related experience may substitute for the minimum qualifications on a year-for-year basis
• Candidates must be flexible and able to work all shifts, including starting as early as 8 am and finishing as late as 9 pm, working weekends and holidays. Staff are assigned to any shift, with any combination of days off, determined by the needs of the Department.
• Experience working in an animal shelter
• Experience acting in a lead capacity.
• Bilingual skills in English/Spanish

Job Contributions

• Provides support, guidance, and regular feedback to the Adoption Specialist in the performance of their duties and ensures daily tasks are completed efficiently and accurately.
• Provides feedback on staff performance to leadership.
• Leads and participates in the adoption process, including setting up and conducting meet and greets, releasing and processing all adoption-related paperwork, writing animal bios, money handling, and opening and closing duties.
• Maintains and ensures the adoption team's presence on the floor and actively engages with the general public to facilitate matchmaking and a positive customer experience.
• Assists with ensuring staff are onboarded and trained and follows set policies and practices.
• Demonstrates excellent verbal and written skills, including clear and effective communication with others (staff, public, volunteers) that is professional, respectful, and positive.
• Ensures adoption areas are clean and tidy throughout the day by mopping floors, wiping surfaces in the meet-and-greet and lobby areas, maintaining kennel signage/cards, and cleaning play yards and kennels as outlined.
• Participates in transferring animals from location to offsite through loading and unloading transports and updating animal locations and records.
• Maintains detailed and accurate records, conducts audits of critical areas, and provides results to the adoption supervisor.
• Participates in drafting staff schedules and ensuring adequate and proper coverage.
• Conducts additional animal handling as needed, including restraint, walking, playgroups, and other duties.

Working Conditions

Work is predominantly performed in an animal shelter with exposure to extreme and varying temperatures, excessive noise, dogs and cats with unknown temperaments or behaviors, animal waste and fluids, deceased animals, cleaning chemicals, and zoonotic diseases. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand and walk on all types of surfaces, some of which are slippery, uneven, or rough. May be assigned to work at other shelter locations based on operational needs. Exerting 50-100 lbs. occasionally, 10-25 lbs. frequently, or up to 10-20 lbs. constantly.

Selection Procedure

Consideration will only be given to candidates who submit online applications. Candidates will be contacted primarily through email and their Workday online application profile. Must pass a pre-employment background and/or fingerprint investigation as required by statute or policy, including drug and alcohol testing requirements for positions designated as safety-sensitive. Maricopa County is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application process or to perform the essential functions of the position under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact [e-mail] to initiate the interactive process.

Employer Branding

We are Maricopa County. Forbes has rated Maricopa County one of Arizona’s Best Employers in 2024. We are over 13,000 employees strong, providing vital services for one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, with over four million residents who call Maricopa County home. Join us and you will become part of a dynamic group of diverse and talented professionals who are passionate about making a difference and giving back to their communities. We offer career paths and opportunities in just about every job category and job level imaginable ... We offer purposeful careers, rich selection of economical and comprehensive healthcare options, robust retirement plans, tuition and loan payment programs, and multiple paid leave options, as part of an overall generous compensation and benefits package. Thinking about career options, then please think about us! We are Maricopa County, and we are looking forward to working with you!