Animal Care Team Lead

Santa Fe Animal Shelter; Santa Fe (NM); On-site; USD 42,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Santa Fe Animal Shelter is seeking an Animal Care Team Lead to guide the Animal Care Team and support the Animal Care Team Manager in delivering timely, thorough, and accurate care across the shelter.

The ACTL will supervise staff, coordinate training, ensure policy compliance, manage cross-functional collaboration with HR, ARC, and clinic teams, and maintain clear notes on animal welfare using the shelter's system. This role requires strong leadership and hands-on animal care experience.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required.
• Management or supervisory experience preferred.
• Animal welfare experience preferred.
• Bilingual English/Spanish is preferred.
• Regular attendance as scheduled, on time and ready to work.
• Schedule flexibility.
• Manage competing priorities and duties, and effective time management.
• Professional communication skills with internal and external customers.

Responsibilities

• Supervise Animal Care Team members and ensure tasks are completed accurately and on time.
• Coordinate training for new team members.
• Ensure compliance with SFAS policies and procedures.
• Collaborate with HR, ACTM, ARC, and Clinic teams for program support.
• Communicate animal welfare concerns and document notes in Chameleon.

Skills

Management or supervisory experience

Animal Welfare experience

Bilingual English/Spanish

Regular attendance

Schedule flexibility

Effective time management

Professional communication

Work independently

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Job description

Description

Animal Care Team Lead (ACTL) Supports Animal Care Team Manager (ACTM) by providing direct leadership and oversight to the Animal Care Team in order to ensure team tasks are completed accurately, thoroughly and in a timely manner. The Animal Care Team is one of the largest teams at SFAS and serves as support across all areas of the shelter, the ACTL must contribute a flexible open-minded approach to solving the unexpected challenges that arise across an organization as large and complex as SFAS.

Animal Care Team

• Supervises general Animal Care Team members throughout the shelter.
• Ensure the training of Animal Care Technicians in all aspects of job responsibilities to include but not limited to cleaning of animal living spaces, general janitorial tasks, maintenance of public dog parks/staff use only yards, and feeding of animals.
• Oversees and coordinates training requirements for new team members, interacting with other department leadership as needed.
• Ensures Animal Care Team compliance with all SFAS policies and procedures (not limited to):
  • Nutrition and feeding of animals in our care
  • Cleaning animal living environments
  • Medical Isolation protocols
  • Enrichment protocols
• Familiarity with the SFAS operational policies and procedures, including the personnel/team member manual.

Santa Fe Animal Shelter Supplies and Equipment

• Regularly evaluates the condition of the buildings and equipment to ensure good condition and working order, immediately reporting any needs to the appropriate department.
• Works with the ACTM to monitor expenditures throughout the year to ensure the department stays within budget.
• Animal care supply ordering, ensures that all needed supplies are available and in good working order at all times.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborates with the Human Resources staff and/or the ACTM to administer timely reviews and progressive disciplinary action for poor job performance or policy violations.
• Coordinates Animal Care Tech support with the ACTM to support SFAS Compassion Services program with communal cremations and cleaning of the freezers as needed.
• Works with ARC and Clinic teams to ensure current SFAS intake processes are being thoroughly and accurately implemented.
• Ensures support for the transfer process including but not limited to the intake procedure/loading/unloading/cleaning vehicles/equipment.
• Regularly communicates with ACTM needed to ensure accurate representation of the Animal Care Technicians to the shelter as a whole.
• Regularly communicates behavioral or medical concerns about particular animals in our care to the proper staff member, including entering appropriate notes into Chameleon.

Requirements

Education, Skills and Work Experience

• High School Diploma or GED
• Management or supervisory experience preferred
• Animal Welfare experience preferred
• Bilingual English/Spanish is preferred
• Regular attendance as scheduled, on time and ready to work.
• Schedule flexibility.
• Manage competing priorities and duties, and effective time management.
• Professional communication skills including ability to effectively communicate with internal and external customers/staff/patrons/volunteers.
• Work independently and to carry out assignments to completion within parameters of instructions given and prescribed routines.
• PPE use consistent with exposure to harsh chemicals including but not limited to bleach, quaternary ammonium cleaning solutions (chemicals used to kill bacteria, viruses and mold), and stabilized hydrogen peroxide.
• Safe handling of animals including but not limited to cats/dogs/small mammals/rodents/rabbits/poultry/reptiles.

Physical Demands

• The physical demands noted are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with physical limitations to perform the essential functions:
• Consistently required to transition from seated to standing; moving, and kneeling or crouching.
• Constantly required to speak and hear.
• Requires use of hands for grasping, reaching and other operative tasks.
• Required to lift and/or carry an animate or stationary object of up to 50 pounds.
• The work environment exposes the employee to a noise level that is moderate to loud. The employee must be able to handle exposure to working conditions such as poor ventilation, heat, cold, sudden temperature changes, wet quarters, noise, medical and surgical odors as well as animal odors and dander.
• An understanding that SFAS is a managed admissions facility and the euthanasia and cremation of animals are regular functions of the Shelter.
• Potential for exposure to zoonotic diseases, dangerous and fractious animals, hazardous chemicals, anesthetics, and sharp objects.
• The employee should be comfortable interacting with animals of various size, breed, and temperament.
• A valid New Mexico Driver’s license is required.