Animal Foster Coordinator

Maryland SPCA

Job Description

Job title:Foster Coordinator

Reports to: Director of Operations and Assistant Director of operations

Salary range: $17-$18 per hour

FLSA status: Non- exempt (hourly)

Date created: 02/16/2024

Position Summary:

The Foster Coordinator's primary responsibilities are the day-to-day operations of the MD SPCA's Foster program for pets in our care but living in foster homes while they wait to be cleared for adoption or wait to be adopted. This position is the liaison between the foster volunteers and operations to ensure excellent animal care and volunteer management. This position is also responsible for working with the shelter medicine team assisting with exams, administering vaccines, and other treatments according to medical protocol.

Schedule:

Full time, 40 hours a week, 8 hour days, including Saturday with at least three shifts until 7:00

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Recruits, trains, and retains foster volunteers to increase the diversity of participants and placement of animals
• Supervises and provides excellent customer service to all foster volunteers by ensuring protocol is understood, and professionally addressing foster volunteers when there is a concern and bringing to manager's attention as necessary
• Ensures accurate, timely documentation of volunteer and animal records
• Responsible for ensuring that medical protocol is always followed when updating animal's medical records, giving medical treatments and vaccinations, managing health quarantines and conducting medical examinations, as well as when offering emergency triage support to foster volunteer
• Confirms that foster and shelter protocols are followed by training, communicating, documenting, and alerting management when concerns require escalation
• Collaborates closely with the MDSPCA's medical, behavior, and adoption teams to ensure quality care of shelter owned animals with an emphasis on decreasing length of stay by ensuring appropriate placement in foster homes meeting specific pet's needs
• Monitor behavioral health of foster pets and coordinate the foster volunteer with the behavior team when necessary and ensure all behavior information is communicated to them
• Exercises sound judgment and maintains professional composure with the public, staff, and volunteers
• Responds to inquiries and messages about the foster program in a polite, knowledgeable, and timely manner
• Ensures that all supplies are stocked, and foster volunteers have what is needed.
• Maintains consistent communication with foster volunteers with email updates, meetings, training opportunities, engagement opportunities, timely requests for foster, and pet appointments
• Maintain consistent communication with shelter teams regarding placement, next steps needed, adoption process, and any concerns about a foster pet.
• Ability to communicate common medical conditions and treatments typical in the foster program to foster volunteers, clients, and staff
• Collaborates with the department leads and peers to create short and long-term goals of the foster program
• Compiles statistics and produces reports on foster activities
• Supports fundraising efforts to benefit the foster department and the Maryland SPCA by sharing stories with our development and communications team
• Assists as a media representative of the Maryland SPCA. Public interviews or appearances on website, social, or news media when asked
• Complete all tasks as assigned by management

Qualifications:

• Experience in animal welfare positions such as customer service, volunteer coordination, veterinary medicine, and/or animal behavior is (preferred)
• Previous experience specializing in problem solving cat and dog behaviors to include dog to dog interactions, puppy socialization and underage kitten care
• Excellent customer service skills, with the ability to communicate and work effectively with a diverse community of staff/volunteers/clients during various types of situations in stressful situations
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to confidently speak to the public in a consistently positive manner, including presenting to large groups
• Experience with Microsoft Office (Microsoft Office 360, including Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, Power Point, and proficiency with databases strongly preferred)
• Possess basic knowledge of animal behavior, characteristics, husbandry, animals' health, nutrition, and humane care
• Experience with or willingness to learn the use of low stress handling, fear free methods, and positive reinforcement methods including the use of food and humane strategies as well as canine and feline body language/behavior
• Experience with or willingness to learn and apply the use of low stress handling when medically restraining pets, giving vaccinations, inserting microchips, administering medication or treatments, and understanding of medical terminology
• Ability to evaluate problems accurately while displaying sound judgment, under emotional stress, and with limited direct supervision
• Committed to and enthusiastic about the mission, staff values, programs, and services of the Maryland SPCA

Physical Demands:

• Standing and walking 8 or more hours per day with frequent bending, kneeling, stooping, and reaching
• Ability to lift and/or carry up to 50lbs.

Working Environment:

• Work is performed in a clinic shelter setting
• Potential exposure to zoonotic diseases, sharp objects, hazardous chemicals, disinfecting solutions, dangerous and fractious animals including risk of animal bites
• Noise level in the work environment is usually moderate