Animal Sanctuary Operations Manager

West Place Animal Sanctuary; Tiverton (RI); On-site; USD 36,000 - 44,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discount

Paid time off

Job summary

West Place Animal Sanctuary in Tiverton, RI seeks an Operations Manager to oversee daily operations, volunteer programs, inventories, and support to the animal care manager. The role includes coordinating community outreach and events while ensuring high standards of care and service.

The position requires hands-on leadership, reliable attendance, and strong organizational skills to manage volunteers, interns, and administrative tasks, contributing to a welcoming environment for staff,

Qualifications

• Experience in Operations Management: more than 2 years.
• Volunteer Management experience.
• Farm Animal Care: 1 year or willingness to learn.
• Administration: Experience required.
• Event & booking: Experience Required.
• Tour Guide: Experience preferred or willingness to learn.

Responsibilities

• Supervise daily operations and manage the volunteer program, feed/supply/medical ordering, inventories and organization.
• Provide support to the animal care manager and contribute to community outreach and events.
• Oversee volunteer onboarding, training, scheduling, data management and recognition programs.
• Coordinate intern recruitment, orientation, feedback, and school evaluations in conjunction with the animal care manager.
• Manage inventories, respond to emails and phone inquiries, and maintain manuals and SOPs.
• Lead tours and assist with events, bookings, and visitor experiences.

Skills

Volunteer management

Operations management

Administration

Event planning

Communication

Job description

Operations Manager Position: Immediate Opening

A COVER LETTER would really help us get to know you well beyond your resume so applicants must send. RESUMES WITHOUT A COVER LETTER WILL NOT GET CONSIDERATION

The Operations Manager is responsible for supervising daily operations at West Place Animal Sanctuary, primarily managing all tasks associated with the volunteer program, feed/supply/medical ordering, inventories and organization, providing support to the animal care manager, and community outreach. The Operations Manager plays a key role in ensuring that the organization’s standards of excellence are met.

Responsibilities

Volunteer Management

• Maintain and grow volunteer base through outreach to individuals, community-based organizations and groups, colleges/universities, and corporations as needed.
• Work closely to assure that volunteers are retained, through proper training.
• Maintain process to review applications, check references and interview potential individual volunteers/interns, assess interests/skills of volunteers/interns and match with appropriate activities.
• Onboard all new volunteers/interns, collecting correct documentation based on department.
• Identify training opportunities for volunteers and staff; assign and track completion of assigned volunteer training.
• Maintain weekly volunteer/intern scheduling.
• Communicate with volunteers/interns to assure attendance during holidays, bad weather, etc.
• Maintain volunteer/intern database.
• Provide accurate and timely volunteer/intern data.
• Engage with existing volunteers/interns daily and provide feedback and additional guidance as needed.
• Maintain volunteer/intern recognition program and collaborate with leaders of other departments as needed, and plan and execute volunteer/intern appreciation and training activities.
• Identify high profile volunteers and make connections with the appropriate stakeholders within the organization to promote these volunteers to volunteer supervisors.
• Monitor, encourage, and manage electronic messaging communications to/from volunteers, including the internal application.

Intern Program Management

• Recruit high school, college, and graduate level interns.
• Respond to internship requests; assess interests/skills of interns and match with appropriate staff or projects.
• Manage orientation process for new interns.
• Engage in ongoing feedback and complete school evaluations as required in conjunction with the animal care manager.
• Update training information as necessary.
• Communicate trainings, fun facts or educational questions to interns as part of their learning process.

Animal Care Management

• Acting as animal care manager when needed (training provided).
• Oversee and manage volunteers performing feeding, cleaning and maintenance of resident living areas.
• Oversee cleaning, maintenance, and proper storage of sanctuary equipment.
• Assist with the check-in of new animals and inspection.
• Overseeing cleanliness, maintenance and daily care of kennel, office and gift shop building.
• Daily health checks on all animals.
• Providing supplements, medications, injections, etc. daily.
• Inform Animal Care Manager of any health issues with the animals.

Administration

• Responsible for all inventories, staying stocked on all supplies, food, medicine, tools, etc.
• Responding correctly and promptly to emails.
• Managing our main phone number and voicemails, with knowledge and professionalism.
• Assisting the public in answering incoming questions.
• Update SOP’s, manuals, training tools, and resources related to volunteers, animal care and operations.
• Assist other employees, visitors, donors, and volunteers in a cheerful and respectful manner as a representative of West Place Animal Sanctuary.
• Prepare all current and necessary updates to the Operations Training Manual and the Animal Care Training Manual on a daily basis.
• Responsible for maintaining our databases, including feed, medical supplies, inventory, volunteers.
• Maintain monthly calendar for shots, deworming, hoof care, etc. in conjunction with the Animal Care Manager.
• Assist Director level staff with administrative tasks as needed.

Events and Community Outreach

• Act as a Tour Guide for three Visitor Weekends each year, and for private tours after training.
• Booking private tours, and giving tours as well as understanding the gift shop and the systems to check out our guests.
• Booking group volunteering, plan out projects (training provided) and manage the groups.
• Booking small weddings on property (training provided).
• Assisting in content for building our Virtual Tour platform.
• Booking Corporate Retreats (training provided).
• Gather social media content for Communications Director.

• We are a non-profit (very different from a for-profit business).
• We are open 365 days a year.
• Experience IS required. Please do not apply if you have absolutely no experience for this position.
• Emergent calls and emails come in every day, even on the holidays and the operations manager needs to assist the public in a timely manner. This will mean taking the work phone home with you after each work day. There are not often late-night emergencies but they do happen.
• If your scheduled work days fall on a holiday, you are scheduled to work unless you use a PTO day for the holiday (we have volunteers and staff every single day of the year since our farm animal rescues do not know it is a holiday).
• Please note that this position is full time and also requires weekends, both days.
• We need a candidate who is reliable, shows up for work every day and does not call out. If you call out, your job must still be done and will have to be turned over to another staff person who already has a full-time job, and they will end up working several more hours in order to cover for you, so the staff must be able to rely on your attendance.
• You must be willing to talk on the phone. This is mandatory.
• We are not at a point where we currently offer health insurance or a retirement plan but we are working toward adding this in 2027 if possible so there will be a period of time before these are able to be offered.
• If you are called for an interview and you ask us to "remind you what the position is" because you did not read/retain this information, we can not move forward with your application. Attention to detail is first and foremost here, and our initial contact with you is of the utmost importance and part of our interview process.
• If you are offered the position and in the future need to leave your role with us, we request at least one-month's notice AND full training of your successor.

Other Skills and Physical Requirements

• Organization, organization, organization.
• Need to be able to run and oversee the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-year.
• Extreme Cleanliness of office and workspace - sloppiness is not tolerated.
• Enthusiasm and outgoing, helpful personality.
• Volunteer Management experience.
• Customer Service experience.
• Operational Management experience.
• Very Strong communication skills.
• Critical Thinking skills.
• Mindfulness.
• Very strong time management skills.
• Ability to multi-task on a daily basis.
• Database management.
• Proficiency using Word, Excel, Internet, G Suite for non-profits, certain programs and apps such as Discord and Airtable.
• Commitment to a team approach of working with staff members, volunteers and guests.
• Strong listening, speaking and writing skills.
• Able to manage in-person requests and phone/emails.
• Must be able to be around/handle large animals when necessary.
• Ability to stand for long periods of time (tours, inventories).
• Ability to lift up to 30 lbs., more a plus.
• Preferred experience with repairs.

Job Type: Full-time.

Pay: $40,000.00 to start per year based on experience regarding all the above. Yearly reviews and increases, and potential to move up within the organization.

Benefits

• 50% Employee discount in our gift shop.
• Paid time off - 10 days PTO.

Schedule

• 8 hour shift (8.5 with .5 hour lunch break, and other necessary/required breaks).
• Day shift (9-5:30).
• OFF Monday, Tuesday - workweek is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Sorry, but this is not negotiable.
• Holidays are necessary if they fall on the above workdays (PTO can be used for holidays as long as your animal care manager and back up animal care manager are working and have enough coverage).

Ability to commute/relocate

• Tiverton, RI 02878: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required).
• You must have a car.

Experience

• Operations Management: more than 2 years (Required).
• Public Relations: Experience preferred.
• Farm Animal Care: 1 year or more preferred, or willingness to learn.
• Administration: Experience required.
• Event & booking: Experiece Required.
• Tour Guide: Experience preferred or willingness to learn.

Work Location: In person.