Thrift Store Manager - San Marcos

Austin Pets Alive!; San Marcos (TX); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is seeking a Thrift Store Manager to oversee day-to-day operations of a busy APA! Thrift store and lead on-site volunteers and staff. This full-time role requires strong leadership, excellent communication, and a commitment to APA!’s lifesaving mission.

The manager will drive sales, uphold brand standards, recruit and train volunteers, coordinate in-store events, and ensure a welcoming, organized shopping experience that expands support for pets in Central Texas.

Responsibilities

• Manage staff and volunteers with clear communication and mentorship, ensuring policies and procedures are followed and revenue targets are met.
• Provide ongoing training to staff and volunteers to maximize effectiveness of APA! Thrift operations.
• Maintain a neat, clean, and organized store environment and uphold APA! Thrift brand standards, signage, and aesthetics.
• Assist with sourcing and coordination of in-store events targeting the local community to attract customers and supporters.
• Work with Human Resources on recruitment, onboarding, and staff Development, ensuring accountability and progress toward goals.

Job description

Thrift Store Manager

APA! BACKGROUND:

Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austin’s most dynamic and best-loved nonprofits. The organization is a national leader in the no-kill movement and is recognized as a thought leader in animal welfare. APA! locally rescues, treats, and adopts out approximately 10,000 homeless dogs and cats each year, providing a critical safety net for Austin’s most at-risk shelter pets and helping Austin remain a no-kill city, while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals. The organization is distinguished by the scrappiness of its grassroots, non-traditional, community-based approach to animal rescue. APA! continues to innovate lifesaving best practices and shares its renowned lifesaving model through American Pets Alive!, APA!’s national division. In 2020, AmPA! launched the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) project, a collaborative movement of more than 10,000 animal welfare professionals working across nearly 1,900 organizations. HASS brings shelters and animal welfare professionals together to build community-focused animal services that better meet the needs of people and pets, keep human-animal families together, and prevent pets from unnecessarily entering shelters.

APA! THRIFT & HAYS COUNTY PETS ALIVE!:

APA! Thrift began in May 2017 with its first location on Burnet Road and has since expanded across Central Texas, with additional stores on Oltorf, 51st Street, Round Rock, and Pflugerville. Our boutique-style thrift stores sell high-quality new and gently used items at affordable prices, with net proceeds directly supporting lifesaving animal welfare programs. Now, that mission is expanding into Hays County. Hays County Pets Alive! is a locally led and operated initiative launched by Austin Pets Alive!, to save more lives and expand pet support services across Hays County. Our new Hays County thrift store will be part of this growing local presence, combining APA!’s successful thrift model with a community-focused mission to support pets and the people who love them.

POSITION SUMMARY/OVERVIEW:

The Thrift Store Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations over an individual APA! Thrift store and in leading the on-site volunteer and staff teams to maximize profits and impact. This is a full-time, exempt position, with an average of 40 hours per week. The Thrift Store Manager reports to the Director of Retail Operations. The Thrift Store Manager leads and oversees the strategic direction, growth, and daily operations of APA!’s Thrift Store Program. This role ensures alignment with APA!’s broader mission to increase the live release rate across Texas, while building a sustainable, inclusive, and high-impact model for retail operations. The Thrift Store Manager is responsible for managing daily workflows, supervising staff, and setting clear, mission-aligned goals. This includes creating structured plans, tracking progress toward outcomes, and ensuring accountability and follow-through on team priorities. The role uses data to guide decisions and helps keep the team focused on consistent, measurable impact. This is a leadership role rooted in empowerment, facilitation, and values-driven oversight. Rather than working independently, the Thrift Store Manager sets the tone that APA! is a volunteer-powered organization—every staff member is expected to work collaboratively with volunteers and to help create meaningful opportunities for them to lead and contribute. This includes pairing with volunteers to complete day-to-day tasks, modeling strong partnership, and developing a culture of shared effort and team accountability. This position requires a high level of responsiveness and Manager on Duty (MOD) availability. The work is often fast-paced and dynamic, with weekend or shift flexibility expected. While APA! strongly encourages work-life balance, during on-duty shifts, the [Job Title] is expected to be highly present, solutions-oriented, and ready to support the team with real-time problem-solving. Every individual at APA! is responsible for working in collaboration with volunteers; making sure volunteers are recruited, trained and feel impactful through their efforts at APA!. A core part of this role is creating a welcoming and empowering experience for volunteers, including assisting with onboarding, training, and volunteer engagement as part of the day-to-day workflow.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Manage staff and volunteers by providing ongoing support through effective communication, clear expectations, and mentorship, as well as ensuring policies and procedures are being followed, revenue targets are being met, signage and all store aesthetics are per APA! and APA! Thrift brand standards, etc.
• Ensure staff and volunteers are receiving adequate and updated training so as to be the strongest possible assets for APA! Thrift
• Provide ongoing appreciation to staff and volunteers to keep engagement high
• Assist with creating, implementing, and updating policies and procedures as needed and ensure updates are disseminated and implemented by staff and volunteers
• Assist with sourcing and coordination of in-store events targeting local student populations, organizations and businesses with the goal of driving as many new customers to the store as possible
• Oversee compliance of staff with all established agency policies and procedures
• Work with Human Resources to facilitate staff recruitment, selection, and onboarding
• Maintain a neat, clean, and organized store environment at all times
• Responsible for