Animal Behavior Manager
Company: Humane Society Silicon Valley
Location: Milpitas, CA 95035
Pay: $75,000 - $85,000 a year - Full-time
Indeed Posting

Overview
The Animal Behavior Manager will be responsible for building scalable programs to help more animals find and stay in homes by training staff, fosters, volunteers, and adopters. As a key element of helping adopters, this individual will also manage our ~$250K gross revenue training business run by a contracted partner. The Animal Behavior Manager will develop and maintain shelter behavior and internal/external educational programs that reinforce HSSV goals and philosophies towards positive behavior modification and fear free handling. We are looking for someone with a passion for working for animals of all breeds and sizes and the creativity to innovate beyond traditional shelter behavior programs.
Duties and Responsibilities
Drive department strategic planning and own outcomes for behavior and training programs.
Manage and develop a high performing team; spearheading hiring, team building, employee relations, communications, training, performance management, and goal setting.
Partner with the Volunteer Department to ensure volunteer recruitment needs are met and supervise volunteers assigned to the department.
Provide training for new volunteers in all areas/levels of animal socialization.
Develop a culture of learning and feedback by implementing on-going skill-building for staff and volunteers to meet training targets and maintain safe working conditions.
Create, implement, and continually evaluate the most effective ways to identify and report on animal behavior. Ensure that staff are trained to properly assess and report behavior observations. Make recommendations for further training, best match for new home, adoption criteria, etc.
Develop behavior modification plans for those shelter animals that need support to enhance their adoptability and to maintain their emotional well-being during their stay at HSSV.
Manage the contracted obedience class provider and ensure that instructors and classes meet strategic goals for keeping pets in their home and setting adopters up for success.
Work with operations teams to provide input on adoption matching and owner surrender programs. Through the Behavior Team, offer behavior consultation/education to potential adopters or to owners needing support to keep an animal in their home.
Partner with Animal Care to develop, implement, and document enrichment activities and behavior modification protocols tailored to each animal.
Create training programs designed to increase foster parent knowledge and ability to help with animals most in need of foster care.
Make euthanasia recommendations to the euthanasia committee for animals that may present a danger to the community or have other issues impacting their quality of life.
Maintain behavior related equipment and supply inventory and manage budget for department.
Establish metrics and reports to analyze behavior and training activities.
Create, proofread, edit, and update behavior literature.
Handle all animals safely and humanely using proper restraint techniques. Demonstrate understanding of animal diseases and transmission to other animals and people.
Record and maintain detailed behavior observations. Provide written evaluation reports on animals needing further evaluation.
Represent HSSV at industry events, including participation in presentations.
Other job duties may be assigned as needed.
Requirements
Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) preferred.
Must have animal behavior experience in a leadership role, managing staff and volunteers shelter experience a plus. Broad understanding of animal related operations, programs, and policies.
Knowledge and strong commitment to using positive reinforcement and fear-free methods to modify behavior. Ability to accurately and objectively develop, implement, perform, and document behavior evaluations on dogs, cats, and rabbits.
Experience developing online and virtual training programs.
Proven ability to plan, lead, and execute projects successfully.
Experience with the use of spreadsheets, word processing, databases, and systems such as ShelterBuddy, Vetter, etc.
Excellent animal handling skills including fearful, aggressive or vicious animals in relation to dogs, cats, and other domestic animals.
Knowledge to visually identify dogs, cats, and other animals when provided descriptions based on size, color, or breed.
Self-motivated with demonstrated ability to work well without close supervision and to make independent decisions.
Demonstrated effective interpersonal skills and good judgment with ability to collaborate effectively with others; excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to lift and carry weights of up to 50-75lbs. from floor to waist level. Ability to kneel on the floor, bend at the waist, reach forward and rotate the upper body. Sit/stand for sustained periods of time. Walk on wet or dry surfaces. Work both indoors and outdoors in all weather conditions during both daylight and after dark. Frequent exposure to loud noise, odors, and chemicals. Exposure to animals with unknown history and behaviors.
Work Days and Hours
Hours are flexible and based on organizational need. Will include one weekend day. This position requires rotating after-hours emergency on-call phone shifts and rotating coverage of holidays.
Work Place Description
Love animals? Want to spend your day surrounded by wagging tails and soft purrs? Humane Society Silicon Valley (HSSV), an independent, privately funded, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has been serving people and pets in Silicon Valley for over 90 years. Having facilitated more than half a million animal adoptions, HSSV is leading the charge for animal welfare through community programs, creative marketing techniques, and effective homeless animal prevention strategies. We are a passionate, high-performing team who believes that collaboration is key to our success. We do our best work by leveraging each other’s strengths and making sure to create opportunities for the work to be fun and meet our individual goals. We take our mission seriously: To save and enhance lives – both two-legged and four legged! We envision a better world for animals and the people who love them, and we’re dedicated to making that vision a reality. Candidate Tip Add "apps.bamboohr.com" to your email contact list so you make sure to receive emails from HSSV regarding your application.
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