Animal Sanctuary Operations Manager

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

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Job summary

West Place Animal Sanctuary is seeking an Operations Manager to supervise daily operations, primarily focusing on the volunteer program, supply ordering, inventories, and support for the animal care manager. The role also includes community outreach and ensuring adherence to the sanctuary’s standards of excellence.

You will recruit and onboard volunteers, manage documentation, and provide timely data and guidance.

Qualifications

• Experience IS required; non-profit setting preferred.
• Ability to run and oversee day-to-day operations across volunteer programs.
• Strong communication and customer service skills are essential.
• Proficiency with office software and database management is required.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and grow the volunteer program through outreach and onboarding.
• Train volunteers and interns; assess interests and match with activities.
• Manage applications, references, interviews, and documentation.
• Maintain inventories of supplies, feed, and medical items; handle admin tasks.

Skills

Organization

Customer Service

Communication

Time Management

Database Management

Office Software

Daily Operations

Tools

Word

Excel

Internet

G Suite for non-profits

Discord

Airtable

Job description

A COVER LETTER would really help us get to know you well beyond your resume so applicants must send.

Overall Goal:

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:

• 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.
• Communicate with volunteers/interns to assure attendance during holidays, bad weather, etc.
• 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: (When the ACM or back up ACM is on PTO and unavailable.)

• 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.
• Inform Animal Care Manager of any health issues with the animals.

Property and Building Management Oversight:

• Learn and Understand the roles that our Greenthumbs and Handypeople perform so that you can maintain and delegate a list of things to do for those volunteers each day.
• Assist in overseeing that all buildings are maintained, cleaned, repaired as necessary, delegating to Volunteer Handypeople, and Animal Care manager as needed.
• Monitor electric, heat and AC usage in all buildings and be responsible for conserving.
• Manage the day-to-day working of organization and cleanliness of the property.

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.

Please read this entire job post before applying. Applicants must understand the expectations as we are only seeking serious inquiries:

• 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 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.
• Customer Service experience.
• Very Strong communication skills.
• Critical Thinking skills.
• 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.

• 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).
• Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday (off Wednesday and Thursday). Sorry, but this is not negotiable.
• Holidays 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).

Experience:

• Operations Management: more than 5 years (Required).
• Public Relations: experience preferred.
• Farm Animal Care: 1 year or more preferred, or willingness to learn.
• Administration: required.
• Repair experience preferred so you understand how to manage handy people.
• Landscape experience preferred so you can understand how to manage greenthumbs.