Lead Animal Care Specialist

City of Midland, TX; Midland (TX); On-site; USD 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Midland, TX seeks a Lead Animal Care Specialist to oversee daily animal care operations and supervise a team of Animal Care Specialists. You will coordinate shelter cleaning and enrichment efforts, ensure safe, humane handling, and maintain records in Pet Point under the Shelter Supervisor's guidance.

This role emphasizes leadership, training support, and a strong public-facing service standard to promote adoptions and community trust.

Qualifications

• Ability to interact with the public and provide humane care for the animals.
• Some knowledge in recognizing animal diseases is useful.
• Ability to follow written and oral instructions and record activities.

Responsibilities

• Supervise, train, and support a team of Animal Care Specialists; provide direction and feedback.
• Oversee daily animal care, cleaning, and enrichment activities.
• Maintain records in Pet Point and assist with intake exams and treatments.
• Assist in humane euthanasia and the operation of the cremation system.
• Engage with the public professionally to promote adoptions and responsible pet ownership.

Skills

Public interaction

Animal care

Team leadership

Documentation

Safety compliance

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Tools

Pet Point

Job description

Are you passionate about animal care and looking for a hands-on role where you can truly make an impact? The City of Midland is seeking a compassionate, detail-oriented Lead Animal Care Specialist to support our Animal Services team.

In this role, you'll be responsible for overseeing daily animal care operations, including supervision of a team of Animal Care Specialist, coordination of shelter cleaning and enrichment activities, and ensuring safe, humane handling of animals. The position provides leadership opportunity under the guidance of the Animal Shelter Supervisor by providing support to staff training and accountability and helps maintain efficient workflow across animal care functions. It also serves as a key link between frontline care staff and shelter management to support operational consistency and public-facing service standards.

If you have a strong work ethic, a love for animals, and a desire to grow your skills in a meaningful environment, we want you on our team. Build your career while helping those who can't speak for themselves —

• Provides compassionate care to animals.
• Supervise, train, and support a team of Animal Care Specialist; provide daily direction, coaching, and performance feedback.
• Completes performance tracking within Pet Point.
• Assists with or oversee intake exams, vaccination protocols, and documentation of medical treatments.
• Recognize and respond to zoonotic disease risks and ensure proper sanitation and PPE usage.
• Gives injections and administers oral medications in accordance with policy.
• Helps maintain staff schedules to ensure adequate coverage for all animal care, cleaning, and public interaction.
• Assists in restraining animals when necessary.
• Model professional conduct, safety practices, and compassionate animal handling at all times.
• Admits and discharges patients on the vet's orders, ensuring that animals are well groomed and in a medically appropriate state. Counsels' customers on various aspects of animal care; reinforces the proper care and procedures that should be followed at home.
• Address staff concerns, resolve conflicts, and maintain a productive and accountable team environment.
• Oversee daily care of all sheltered animals, including feeding, cleaning, sanitation, and monitoring for signs of illness or distress.
• Assists other staff members as required.
• Understands and carries out oral and written directions.
• Monitor and enforce cleaning, and safety protocols to maintain a healthy shelter environment.
• Perform or oversee humane euthanasia in accordance with established protocols, ensuring compliance with state law and AVMA guidelines.
• Assist in maintaining and operation of the animal cremation system for mass disposal cremations.
• Engage with the public in a professional and educational manner to promote adoptions, responsible pet ownership, and community trust.
• Assist in resolving public concerns or complaints related to animal care or shelter operations
• Assists in deceased and live animals drop offs from the public, veterinarians, and the Animal Services Facility.
• Assist in inventory management of food, supplies, and equipment.
• Operates a vehicle for various duties as assigned
• Assist in identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, animal outcomes, and staff performance.
• Support departmental goals
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Ability to sit, stand and drive a vehicle to and from various work sites. Employee may be exposed to seasonal temperatures while maintaining kennel and grounds, traffic hazards, chemicals, mild acids, detergents and noise. Employee also may be exposed to animal bites and animal transmitted diseases. Ability to lift bags of materials such as dog food, cat litter, or animals regularly.

REQUIRED CONTACTS:

Employee communicates with other employees in the work group and will respond to questions from the general public regarding services or animals that may be in the kennel. Employee may have direct contact with other Animal Services personnel such as the SPCA, various humane societies and animal rescue organizations.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills

Ability to interact with the public and provide humane care for the animals. Some knowledge in the recognition of animal diseases is needed. Ability to follow both written and oral instructions is also necessary.

Ability to read and understand manuals and state and other regulations in order to record work activities, complete required records, or provide information to the public. Knowledge of the equipment necessary to restrain animals such as catch poles, cat grabbers, and various traps and cages. Skill in math in order to compute and maintain various records and measure chemicals. Employee develops correspondence with other state and local agencies and maintains records.

Minimum Education, Experience and Certification

High school diploma or equivalent preferred. Valid Texas driver’s license required. Must be able to obtain Basic Animal Control Officer Certification and Euthanasia Certification within six months of employment.