Manager, Behavior

ASPCA; New York (NY); On-site; USD 92,000 - 97,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) match

Paid time off

Holidays

Job summary

The ASPCA’s Animal Recovery Center in New York City seeks a Manager, Behavior to lead a five-person team and oversee the behavioral program from intake to discharge, ensuring evidence-based care and strong welfare outcomes.

You will partner with medical, sheltering, and field teams, drive training and protocol adherence, and mentor staff while maintaining high standards of humane handling and data-informed decisions.

Qualifications

• B.A or B.S. preferred credentialing in an industry-recognized body or able to earn within 1–2 years.
• Two years’ experience as a people manager or leadership role in a professional setting.
• Two years’ experience conducting behavior modification in a formal environment.

Responsibilities

• Provide Safe Behavior Response, Assessment, and Support.
• Participate in team meetings to discuss animals’ behavioral status and progress.
• Conduct behavior assessments on animals housed at the ASPCA and with placement partners; ensure timely forensic evaluation for safety and adoption suitability.
• Manage and implement environmental enrichment and behavior modification for sheltered animals.
• Monitor and manage behavioral care of animals at boarding partners.
• Provide summaries on behavior evaluations and recommendations for disposition and placement.
• Oversee and provide behavior consultations to foster parents of animals requiring temporary care.

Skills

Animal welfare knowledge

Leadership

Communication skills

Team management

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Tools

Microsoft Office

Workday

FileMaker

AirTable

Job description

Summary

Are you passionate about helping animals in need and eager to advance the field of animal welfare? Do you thrive in a dynamic, complex, highly collaborative environment? If so, the role of Manager, Behavior, at the ASPCA's Animal Recovery Center in NYC might be right for you!

Who We Are

The ARC (Animal Recovery Center) is dedicated to the recovery and rehabilitation of victims of cruelty and neglect admitted through NYPD and the ASPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) and Community Engagement (CE) programs. Our dedicated team of sheltering, medical, and animal behavior professionals, within the Shelter Rehabilitation Operations division (SRO) and collaborates closely with the ASPCA Animal Hospital, Forensics, Criminal Practice & Investigations, Behavioral Sciences, Shelter Medicine Services, Community Engagement, Centralized Placement, and Relocation Services to ensure coordinated response and operations, and integrated, balanced, high-quality care for the animals we serve in alignment with the organization’s priorities. In addition to their work as a member of the ARC team, this role is part of the ASPCA’s Animal Behavior Vertical, which includes the Behavioral Sciences Team (BST), the Learning Lab (LL), and the behavior teams at all ASPCA sheltering facilities. Working within and across teams, ASPCA behavior staff share expertise, use aligned behavior practices, and help advance the ASPCA’s strategic priorities.

What You’ll Do

Manager, Behavior reports directly to the Senior Manager of Behavior and has 5 direct reports. The Manager, Behavior (the Manager) is responsible for overseeing the behavior program within ARC along with the Senior Manager, Behavior. The Manager ensures the behavior and direct care teams are using behavior best practices and aligned org-wide protocols to support dogs’ and cats’ psychological wellbeing. The Manager leads the behavior team in providing safe, high-quality behavioral care for animals from intake through discharge. The Manager provides leadership for the behavior team, of five Behavior Specialists and two Behavior Associates. The Manager participates in direct, on-site work with animals in the ARC, and remotely in in foster homes to provide a coordinated, integrated approach to animal wellbeing across medical, behavior and sheltering. The Manager ensures routine, frequent assessment of each animals behavioral medical and legal status, and data management for efficient, effective interventions and timely outcomes. This position requires sometimes lengthy work with behaviorally compromised animals; the information gathered during this work is used to make outcome decisions which can include euthanasia where appropriate.

Where and When You’ll Work

This position is full-time, an on-site role and reports to the 92nd street ASPCA location; Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-5pm (weekends and some evenings are required). Schedules are subject to change as needed by the ASPCA Ability and willingness to travel at least once a year as needed (Deployment to support national casework or locally with NYPD/CE) Must have flexibility in schedule to accommodate program needs

What You’ll Get

Compensation

Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of factors, including but not limited to education, training, experience, location, business needs, internal equity, market demands or budgeted amount for the role. The target hiring range is for new hire offers only, and staff compensation may increase beyond the maximum hiring range based on performance over time. The maximum of the hiring range is reserved for candidates with the highest qualifications and relevant experience. The expected hiring salary range for this role is set forth below and may be modified in the future. The target hiring range for this role is $92,000-97,000 annually

Benefits

• Affordable health coverage, including medical, employer-paid dental and optional vision coverage.
• Flexible time off that includes vacation time, paid personal time, sick time, bereavement time, paid parental leave, and 10 company paid holidays that allows you even more flexibility to observe the days that mean the most to you.
• Competitive financial incentives and retirement savings, including a 401(k) plan with generous employer contributions — we match dollar-for-dollar up to 4% and provide an additional 4% contribution toward your future each year.
• Robust professional development opportunities, including classes, on-the-job training, coaching and mentorship with industry-leading peers, internal mobility, opportunities to support in the field and so much more.

Responsibilities

• Provide Safe Behavior Response, Assessment, and Support
• Participate in team meetings to discuss animals’ behavioral status and progress, assign caseworkers continually assess treatment priorities as the census changes
• Conduct behavior assessments on animals housed at the ASPCA and with placement partners; Ensure and assist with the timely forensic behavior evaluation of animals to determine safety for handling, likelihood of successful behavior treatment and suitability for adoption
• Manage and implement environmental enrichment and behavior modification for sheltered animals
• Monitor and manage the behavioral care of animals at boarding partners
• Provide summaries on behavior evaluations and recommendations for disposition and placement
• Oversee and provide behavior consultations and ongoing support to foster parents of animals requiring temporary care
• Document behavior treatments, evaluations, and meeting notes to ensure continuity of care and information
• Work directly with the ARC medical teams to provide psychopharmacological support to animals when appropriate.
• Oversee consistent use of the behavior databases and ensure the team consistently follows expectations for intake documentation, assessment, treatment sessions, behavioral prognosis, safe handling, and walking guidelines, plans for behavior modification and enrichment, and animals’ suitability for treatment, adoption, foster, boarding or placement
• Champion a collaborative relationship with other ASPCA team members on treatment plans, appropriate housing and other forms of environmental and social enrichment and management, and the transfer of animals among departments
• Offer and implement suggestions for improving animals’ psychological well-being including housing modifications, handling recommendations, enrichment adjustments, etc.
• Use active listening and respectful dialogue to answer questions and help staff understand behavioral signs that indicate potential aggression and/or poor quality of life
• Provide a safe and compassionate environment for animals in our care, our staff, and for our clients by using low-stress handling techniques
• Adhere to all behavioral, veterinary, and sheltering protocols set forth by the ASPCA
• Ensure that incident reports are completely and accurately filled out and submitted to the Benefits, Legal and Safety teams; readily report workers’ compensation claims and benefits.

Program and People Management

• Provide training, supervision, modeling, coaching and ongoing guidance for the ARC Behavior Team, with 5 direct reports, ensuring that team members fully understand their role and responsibilities
• Be a consistent and visible presence “on the floor” to answer questions, make timely operational and staffing adjustments, receive feedback, lend a hand, and ensure deep understanding of and compliance with behavioral operations
• Nurture a culture of learning, ensuring a respectful and welcoming environment, active participation in goal setting and monitoring, clear expectations, and regular practice of feedback and after-actions to direct reports with regular 1:1 meetings, and to indirect reports as necessary
• Champion excellent communication skills and develop those skills in others
• Conduct timely annual performance reviews for all direct reports
• Deliver timely disciplinary action when necessary in collaboration with our People Team
• Address employee concerns promptly and handle employee relations issues with confidentiality and care.
• Use active listening to understand employee concerns, encouraging and supporting employees; use a solutions-minded approach to guide a team through challenges and build those skills in others
• Maintain adequate staffing levels at all times; assign and/or re-assign appropriate responsibilities, as well as direct workflow to maximize productivity and maintain coverage in the event of planned absences, call outs, injuries, increased volume, etc.; ensure continuous coverage for events, team meetings and trainings to ensure staff and animal safety.
• Serve as a champion in times of change and work with the leadership team in identifying ways to improve change management policies and practices
• Communicate Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requests, etc., to Benefits team
• Develop, document, and implement sound, simple policies and practices to improve SOPs; see that staff and volunteers are trained and competent in SOPs and ensure New York State Companion Animal Standards Act (NYS CASA) compliance
• Grow and develop the volunteer program involvement in ARC daily care and, where appropriate, behavior modification
• Train and Coach Ensure that all team members have received training and mastered the skills to handle in a low-stress and safe manner and that they implement these handling techniques consistently in all their interactions with animals
• Provide coaching on animal behavior topics and humane handling for other staff members
• Provide trainings on appropriate topics in a variety of formats, both formal and informal, as needed; coordinate the scheduling of external lecturers when appropriate
• Stay up to date on org-wide behavior protocols and SOPs ; contribute to the development of such protocols as needed; ensure that behavior staff adhere to established protocols and practices
• Supervise and coach qualified volunteers, as needed in assisting with behavior modification and enrichment
• Instill and model the guiding principle that everyone can—and should—actively support the animals’ behavioral and mental health in everything they do

Qualifications

• Companion animal behavior and animal welfare knowledge, both basic and applied (ethology, learning theory and operant learning quadrants, enrichment strategies, behavior modification techniques)
• Comfort and experience contributing behavior observations and consultation to help a panel make, even advocate for humane euthanasia decisions; comfort handling for humane euthanasia
• Skill and experience in teaching/coaching; able to adjust training to match varied learning styles and individuals.
• Proficient in the use of computers and Microsoft Office (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and Outlook) required
• Experience with Workday, FileMaker, AirTable a plus
• Must have Strong humane animals handling skills with an emphasis on low-stress and defensive handling
• Dependent and reliable attendance
• Ability to give and receive direction in a fast paced, dynamic environment
• Demonstrated organizational and time management skills
• Strong communication skills across a variety of formats (in person, email, etc.) with internal and external stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to be a team player
• Must demonstrate the ability to interact effectively with ASPCA employees, clients and the public.
• Ability to exemplify ASPCA’s core values and behavioral competencies.
• Ability to walk, bend, stand and reach constantly during a minimum 8-hour day
• Able to lift and carry supplies of up to 40 lbs unassisted, 100lbs assisted
• Able to occasionally work in physically challenging conditions and able to wear appropriate protective gear, including a protective mask; job responsibilities may entail exposure to chemical and biological hazards, such as feces and blood, exposure to sharp objects, working in noisy environments and working in areas with uneven, wet and slippery surfaces
• Language Additional languages, especially Spanish a plus.

Education and Work Experience

• B.A or B.S. preferred Credentialing by an industry-recognized, independent certifying body( CCPDT, IAABC, ABS or ACVB) required, or able to earn certification within one- two years of starting the position
• Two years’ experience as a people manager or leadership role in a professional setting required
• Two years’ experience conducting behavior modification in a formal environment such as private sessions or shelter, including working with aggressive and fearful dogs and cats, required
• At least one year of experience working in animal shelter required
• Experience working with animal victims of cruelty preferred
• Sofia Yin’s Low Stress Handling® University Silver-Level certification (approximately 18 hours) required within six months of hire, Fear Free Shelter certification required within 60 days of hire
• Language: English (Required)
• Education and Work Experience: High School Diploma, GED, or Equivalent Experience (Required)

About ASPCA

The ASPCA was founded in 1866 on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment by humans and must be protected under the law. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation with more than two million supporters nationwide, the ASPCA is committed to preventing cruelty to dogs, cats, equines, and farm animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA is headquartered in New York City, where we maintain a full-service animal hospital, spay/neuter clinic, mobile spay/neuter and primary pet care clinics, a rehabilitation center for canine victims of cruelty, kitten nursery, adoption center, and two community veterinary centers. The ASPCA also operates programs and services that extend nationwide. We assist animals in need through on-the-ground disaster and cruelty interventions, behavioral rehabilitation, animal placement, legal and legislative advocacy, and the advancement of the sheltering and veterinary community through research, training, and resources. At the ASPCA, we are committed to fostering a collaborative and compassionate culture and we welcome all voices to contribute to our lifesaving mission. Our staff represent a vast array of backgrounds and diversity dimensions, bringing with them valuable experiences and perspectives. They join the ASPCA to learn, grow, and continually do their best work on behalf of animals. We are inspired by our staff, partners, and the communities we support across the country who work to improve animal lives. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion at the ASPCA because it elevates our organizational culture, aligns with our Core Values, and enables us to move further and faster toward the ASPCA’s vision – that all animals live good lives; valued by society, protected by its laws, and free from cruelty, pain and suffering.