Adoption Counselor - Maui Humane Society

MAUI HUMANE SOCIETY

Job Description

The Maui Humane Society's mission is to protect and save the lives of Maui's animals; accepting all in need, educating the community, and inspiring respect and compassion towards all animals.

Job/Position Title: Adoption Counselor

Status: Hourly

About Us

Maui Humane Society is a beautiful, open air animal shelter for cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, turtles, and other animals in need of safe shelter. We are the island’s only open admission animal shelter, which means we take in every pet in need, providing veterinary and routine care and helping surrendered animals find a new home. We also provide humane law enforcement services, humane education and outreach, and free and low cost spay and neuter surgeries. Our team culture is creative, fast paced, and collaborative and we are seeking problem solvers who love animals and have great customer service skills.

Our team adores people with can do attitudes and friendly smiles who love people as much as animals. We approach every person and animal as an individual and pride ourselves on being a place where our employees love to come to work!

Our employees are trained in Fear Free animal handling and can even receive a certification. We are committed to your growth and will work with you to get you where you want to be in your career. Our benefits include a competitive salary, paid time off, medical, vision, and dental insurance, and free adoptions. Employees get at least one weekend day off and you’ll have a consistent, flexible schedule. Our employees and volunteers love MHS because we have very low euthanasia rates, everyone is empowered to save lives, and we truly care about the people who work here!

This Position: Our Adoption Counselors change lives and we’re looking for a person who loves animals AND people to join our team in this important role. If you have a background in providing exceptional customer service and are comfortable interacting with and handling cats, dogs, and small animals, this might be the perfect job for you. This position will report to the animal outcomes manager and is responsible for greeting potential adopters, helping them meet pets they’re interested in, providing adoption counseling, and completing our adoption process which includes paperwork and data entry. In this position, every day is different and you’ll never be bored, so we’re looking for someone who can adapt to change, loves a challenge, and can solve problems big and small. This position also requires creativity and positivity, coming up with new ideas and solutions to help our longest term residents find great homes. Patience and kindness are both important skills for this position because adopting a new pet is a big deal and our adopters need someone who will spend a few extra minutes answering questions and providing guidance to give customers the best possible experience. Previous experience with animals is important, but it does not have to be in a professional capacity we can teach you the animal stuff!

Essential Duties/Functions

• Greet potential adopters and foster caregivers, making everyone feel welcome.
• Ensure potential adopters and fosters get help in a timely manner so no one's ever stuck standing around or searching for help.
• Show appreciation to the people who come to help and let them know how they can save lives.
• Provide adoption meet and greets between potential adopters, their family members, children, and in some cases, other pets, spending approximately 45 minutes to an hour with each adopter.
• Complete data entry and ensure all adoption paperwork is completed.
• Provide adoption counseling, explaining all medical and behavioral information about the pet to potential adopters.
• Direct potential adopters and foster parents to potential matches, paying particular attention to animals that have long lengths of stay or are experiencing stress in the shelter.
• Get to yes! There is no perfect adopter, so our counselors look for ways to make great matches and provide effective counseling.
• Provide post--adoption support triage. Make sure adopters and foster caregivers know how to get support and assistance after they leave.
• Work in collaboration with other teams including the foster and rescue team, animal care technicians, humane law enforcement, and veterinary services.
• Work side--by--side with committed volunteers, ensuring volunteers feel welcomed and included in adoption processes.
• Maintain a culture of safety by following safety rules, reporting bite incidents, and alerting other teams and supervisors about safety risks.
• Attend weekly team meetings and quarterly all--staff meetings, as well as training and other meetings as required.
• Document animal observations objectively within the shelter software system.
• Perform other duties as assigned by your manager or supervisor.

Work Location/Conditions: Works indoors and outdoors throughout the year. Most work is performed at MHS’ main shelter location, but some off--site adoption events may be required.

Equipment Use: Telephone, cell phone, computer, fax machine, copier, printer, adding machine, paper shredder and other office--related equipment.

Work Hours: Adoption counselors work some weekend and evening hours, with most counselors being assigned to work either Saturday or Sunday. Shifts depend on the open hours of the shelter, which most days are 11am to 5pm.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $19.23 - $26.85 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Day shift
• Holidays
• Monday to Friday
• On call
• Weekends as needed

Application Question(s):

• A cover letter is required, along with a resume.

Work Location: In person