Boston Adoption Center - Temporary Animal Welfare Specialist

Socket.dev; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 21,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

MSPCA-Angell is seeking a compassionate Animal Welfare Specialist for a temporary, full-time role in Boston. You will split time between hands-on animal care at the adoption center and assisting the public with adoptions and surrenders, delivering empathetic, client-focused support in a fast-paced environment.

The role features three progressive levels (AWS, AWS 2, Lead AWS) with advancement based on responsibility and compensation, offering growth within a mission-driven animal welfare culture.

Qualifications

• At least 1 year of customer service or client care experience.
• Spanish proficiency is strongly encouraged.
• Demonstrated good judgment and interpersonal skills; supportive of human-animal bond.

Responsibilities

• Care for animals at the adoption center, including exercise, feeding, enrichment and medications.
• Clean adoption center rooms and cages.
• Participate in trainings and team discussions on behavior plans for all animals.
• Provide in-depth adoption counseling to potential adopters for best match and outcomes.
• Offer empathetic surrender counseling and discuss alternatives to surrender when appropriate.

Skills

Customer service

Job description

This is a temporary full-time 40 hour a week position, with required weekend days.

THE POSITION:

We are looking for a candidate for a temporary assignment who can deliver compassionate client service in a fast-paced environment for people looking to adopt or surrender. In the Animal Welfare Specialist role, you are often the first point of contact for pet families in need. You will spend part of your day hands-on with the animals at the adoption center and part of the day assisting the public with adoptions and surrenders.

The Animal Welfare Specialist (AWS) position at MSPCA-Angell offers a clear path for professional development through three progressive levels: AWS, AWS 2, and Lead AWS. Each level reflects increased knowledge in animal care and behavior, greater ability to support more complex client interactions, and opportunities to mentor and assist in training new team members. Advancement through these levels is tied to both responsibility and hourly compensation, providing meaningful opportunities for growth within the role, all while contributing to our compassionate, mission-driven culture.

Some job responsibilities include:

• Caring for animals at the adoption center, including the provision of exercise, food, water, enrichment and medications.
• Cleaning the adoption center rooms and cages.
• Participating in trainings and team discussions on behavior plans for all animals
• Providing in-depth adoption counseling through thoughtful conversations with potential adopters to ensure the best match and outcomes for the animal and owner
• Providing judgement free, empathetic surrender counseling to owners, and discussing alternative paths to surrender whenever available

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS:

We are looking for applicants with at least one year of experience in a customer service/client care position. Previous animal experience is a plus! Applicants should also demonstrate excellent judgment, interpersonal skills and an eagerness to support the human-animal bond.

Applicants with a proficiency in Spanish are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please detail your customer service experience and any animal care experience you have in your cover letter.

WHO WE ARE:

The MSPCA is the largest animal welfare organization in New England- caring for and placing over 12,000 animals annually across our four adoption centers and caring for over 14,000 animals in our community clinics. For our adoption centers, we aim to help the greatest number of animals by upholding an open adoption philosophy and moving pets through the shelter effectively while maintaining a commitment to socially conscious sheltering. For our community clinics we work to provide access to low cost veterinary care that helps keep families together with their pets. At our Boston Adoption Center, we care for over 2,000 animals each year with a 92% live release rate. Take a virtual tour of our adoption center!