Part-Time Adoption Counselor (Flexible Hours)

Animal Care Centers of NYC; New York (NY); On-site; USD 11,000 - 17,000; Part time

Job summary

Animal Care Centers of NYC is seeking an Adoption Counselor to support the Adoptions team. This part-time role offers a flexible schedule, with a minimum of eight hours and a maximum of twelve hours per week, primarily on weekends and early evenings.

You will guide potential adopters, answer questions, and help match pets with their families. Responsibilities include greeting visitors, processing adoptions, completing paperwork, and providing post-adoption resources.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required.
• At least one year of customer service experience is required.
• Must be able to lift a minimum of 50 lbs.
• Ability to handle different breeds and sizes of dogs.
• Humane handling techniques whenever possible.

Responsibilities

• Provide exemplary customer service to adopters by guiding them through the adoption process and offering resources.
• Routinely socialize and interact with dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs.
• Process adoption paperwork; file records and process payments; update rabies/dog license data.
• Escort clients to view available animals and discuss desired traits for matching.
• Review adoption applications, interview prospective adopters and make decisions on outcomes.
• Attend offsite adoption events and perform follow-up communications.

Skills

Customer service

Animal handling

Humane handling

Lifting ability

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

Schedule

This is a part-time position with a flexible schedule based on the needs of the Adoptions team. Adoption Counselors are expected to sign up for and work a minimum of eight hours (can be one 8 hour shift or two 4-hour shifts) and maximum of 12 hours per week. Shifts are typically on weekends and early evenings. Additional shifts may be available based on departmental needs.

Who We Are

ACC is one of the nation’s largest open-admission animal shelters, whose mission is to End Animal Homelessness in NYC. We touch the lives of nearly 20,000 animals each year. ACC is more than an animal shelter; we are a resource to the community, always seeking ways to keep the human-animal bond intact. With a 90% placement rate, our progressive, life-saving initiatives contribute to the successful placement of our animals.

We strive to find loving homes for homeless and abandoned cats, dogs, guinea pigs and rabbits, both by adopting animals directly to the public and by partnering with more than 200 dedicated animal placement organizations (our New Hope partners). We also help keep NYC communities safe and rescue animals in need, responding to emergencies that involve animals as well as keeping our doors open 24/7 for people and animals in need.

Summary

The Adoption Program at ACC has a goal that is simple and powerful: we are looking to help end animal homelessness in New York City by connecting people and pets for adoption. ACC employs an open adoption approach where we understand that there is no such thing as the \"perfect home\" and we welcome all clients as potential adopters. Using an \"open adoptions\" approach, the adoption process is conversation based and non-judgmental. Our focus is on matching pets with people and providing resources to continue assisting these new families post adoption. Adoption Counselors are the voice of the homeless pet population and work to promote their adoptions. They will need to provide superior customer service skills and must be willing and prepared to answer a wide variety of questions regarding animal husbandry.

Required Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required.


• At least one year of customer service experience is required.


• The ability to handle different breeds and sizes of dogs.


• Treating animals and people with respect and employing humane handling techniques whenever possible.


• Must be able to lift a minimum of 50 lbs.

Part-Time employees are not eligible for vacation time or personal leave.

Essential Job Functions

• Provideexemplary customer service to our adopters by effectively communicating and guiding them through the adoption process which includes helping them find a good match for their families and supplying them with the information and resources during counseling sessions to set them up for success.


• Routinelysocialize and interact with dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs.


• Process adoption paperwork; ensuring that it is filed and organized accordingly to policy as well as process payments. This includes closing animal records, entering rabies/dog license information, processing payments and donations in our Shelterbuddy database.

Other Responsibilities

• Escort clients to view available animals for adoption to find out what they are looking for in a pet and explain kennel cards.


• Review adoption applications, interview prospective adopters and make decisions on the outcome of adoptions.


• Perform reference checks as needed.


• Check and provide answers via email on a shared adoption account.


• Occasionally attend offsite adoption events and participate in community outreach.


• Answer phones and check voicemails in a timely fashion.


• Provide follow-up post adoption to answer any questions or to address and work through common challenges.


• Interact with and get to know available animals in order to provide information and to provide the best matches.


• Handle and conduct interactions between animals and their potential adopters.


• Prepare animals to leave the shelter by properly fitting dogs with collars and/or harnesses and placing cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs into carriers using low-stress techniques.


• Conduct and write rabbit evaluations to promote their adoptions.


• Write bios and take photos to help increaseadaptability.


• Photograph and keep track of positive adoption stories or \"Happy Tails\" to share with other members of the organization.


• Clean and organize adoption areas.


• Fear Free Shelter certification within 30 days of hire.


• Complete other duties as assignedby supervisor.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience with Microsoft Office Suite preferred.


• Prior animal handling experience for dogs/cats/small animals preferred.


• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, often high-stress, ever changing environment.


• Customer-driven and focused on providing a positive, upbeat experience for all clients.


• High attention to detail, strong work ethic, and thrive workingin a busyenvironment.


• Work well independently but also function seamlessly as a member of a team.

At ACC it's all hands-on deck. We work together as a team, which means you may be asked to help with tasks that involve working outside in all sorts of weather. As a busy animal shelter in one of the biggest cities in the world it can get noisy inside. Employees should have the ability to remain calm yet professional in stressful situations involving animals and/or members of the public. Animal Care Centers houses hundreds of animals in its facilities at any given time and with that comes fur, odors and other airborne particles in abundance.

ACC offers many low-cost services to pets and people in need. This includes compassionate end-of-life services for people who cannot afford to go to a private veterinary office but still want to provide a professional and peaceful transition for their beloved pet.

Reports to:

Adoptions Supervisor

Overtime:

This is a non-union hourly position and is eligible for overtime.