Adoption Counselor

Butte Humane Society is currently hiring for an Adoption Counselor! Do you have animal handling experience in a professional setting? Are you an animal lover? Do you want to help care for shelter pets at BHS while they await their forever homes? Are you interested in helping adopters find the perfect pet? Do you enjoy working as part of a team? If you answered yes to all of those, then this may be the job for you! We have a part-time position available Monday through Wednesday. Please see the job description below and apply!.

The schedule for this role is Tuesday 1pm-6pm, Friday 9am-6pm, and Saturday 8am-5pm.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

It will be the responsibility of the Adoption Counselor to perform adoption counseling and animal care services for Butte Humane Society (BHS) under the direction of the department manager. Individuals in this classification will perform various tasks related to animal care, counseling potential adopters, administrative duties, customer service, and animal handling for both shelter cats and dogs. Individuals will be expected to provide prompt and courteous customer service as well as conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times.

CHARACTERISTICS

Candidates applying for this position will possess:

• Extreme passion for our agency’s mission of finding homes, saving lives and inspiring compassion.
• Proven ability to exercise good judgement when dealing with the public, staff, volunteers, and confidential information.
• A love of animals without bias against specific breeds/sizes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills as well as ability to communicate with people from all backgrounds.
• Ability to maintain a professional demeanor with the public, volunteers, and other staff members.
• Ability to problem solve and face challenging situations in a calm and mature manner.
• Self motivated and proactive work ethic as well as ability to work independently.
• Ability to absorb and apply information quickly.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Participates in every aspect of care for our shelter animals while they are with Butte Humane Society, including cleaning, feeding, socialization and enrichment.
• Socialize and handling animals, assist with tests related to animal temperament, dispense and administer vaccines and preventatives. 
• Coordinate adoption appointments with adopters.
• Listen to customers and provide effective responses and remedies to their questions and needs in person and over the phone.
• Counsel potential adopters on adoption process as well as all BHS policies and procedures, educate customers of topics related to adopting shelter animals, evaluate adopter surveys against animal behavior and personality tests using established criteria to create a long lasting human/animal match.
• Commit to a high standard of safety and follow all established safety procedures and protocols. Take immediate action to address any safety concerns that could put a staff member, volunteer, customer, animal, or the organization at risk.
• Solicit donations from customers and accept in-kind donations as needed.
• Basic clerical and administrative tasks such as cash handling, data entry, filing , opening and closing procedures, and keeping a clean and organized work station.
• Cultivate positive client, volunteer, and coworker relations through professional, courteous, and educational interactions.
• Responsible for knowing when animals are available as well as know their personalities and temperament.
• Perform additional tasks given.

ANIMAL CARE:

• Clean, disinfect, and maintain shelter cages/kennels each day.
• Provide adequate food and water to shelter animals daily.
• Follow established disease control protocols to clean, disinfect, and maintain shelter cages/kennels each day.
• Monitor animals and immediately report health or behavior abnormalities to supervisor.
• Participate in stress and disease reduction efforts through purposeful and compassionate handling and placement of animals in the shelter environment.
• Assist with animal intake, evaluation, and treatment as needed.
• Operate laundry and dish washing equipment.
• Restock cleaning areas with supplies and equipment.
• Maintain equipment in working condition; report equipment or supply needs to supervisor.
• Maintain BHS in a clean and organized manner to present BHS and our adoptable pets in an appealing way.

PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE

• Maintain professional standards of performance, demeanor and appearance at all times.
• Complete tasks and responsibilities in a timely and efficient manner, comply with agency policies and standards, and meet the requirements of the position.
• Maintain a creative, cooperative approach to the position and seek to bring a constructive, problem-solving mentality to all tasks.

SKILLS, REQUIREMENTS, AND ABILITIES

• 18 years of age or older.
• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• Ability to lift a minimum of 50 pounds, sit/stand for long periods of time, and possess willingness/ability to humanely handle possibly feral cats and large (60+ lbs.), strong dogs (rarely) in an effective manner.
• Ability and willingness to work in all types of weather.
• At least 1 year of customer service experience.
• Computer literacy and ability to master software as applicable to BHS operations
• Experience handling and interacting with cats and dogs.

Physical Demands:

• Standing : Frequently
• Walking : Constantly
• Stairs : Occasionally
• Sitting : Frequently
• Lifting/Carrying : Frequently
• Pushing/Pulling : Frequently
• Bending/Stooping : Frequently
• Kneeling : Occasionally
• Squatting/Crouching : Frequently
• Reaching : Frequently
• Grip/Dexterity : Constantly
• Twisting : Frequently
• Talking : Constantly
• Hearing : Constantly
• Repetitive Motions : Constantly
• Eye/Hand/Foot Coordination : Constantly
• Visual Acuity: Constantly

This position description does not imply that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. This document does not create an employment contract implied or otherwise, other than an, “at-will,” relationship.

Position Hours: Part-time, 20-28 hours per week.  Animals never stop needing care: Must be available weekends and holidays.