Director of Animal Care (Volunteer/Work Trade)

Responsibilities:

• To coordinate, oversee, maintain, and promote the health of the Sanctuary residents through diet formulation, quality care, and preventative, supportive, and medical treatments. The Director of Animal Care:
• Coordinates routine health exams, vaccinations, and de-worming for residents
• Determines feeding, enrichment, and cleaning requirements for residents and oversees animal care shifts
• Oversees training and management of all animal care staff/volunteers
• Actively fosters a culture of strong communication and reliability of the animal care team
• Serves as the point of contact for animal care questions and concerns
• Oversees the sanctuary's animal health database, e.g. Shelter Manager
• Oversees animal hoof and tusk care
• Oversees fecal examinations for residents
• Oversees veterinary/medical supplies inventory
• Collaborates with offsite veterinarian(s) when required

Requirements:

• Minimum undergraduate/bachelors degree, additional veterinary degree/certification(s) preferred
• Experience in veterinary medicine (1-2 years required), preferably with ruminants
• Previous animal sanctuary experience preferred
• Knowledgeable in farm animal care and sanctuary operations
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Strong leader who can delegate effectively
• Must be a team player and passionate about animal welfare
• Leadership/management experience preferred
• Experience with veterinary software (Shelter Manager or similar preferred)
• Basic computer competency (e.g., Excel, Word, etc.)

Supervises:

• Animal Health Manager (full time)
• 3-4 Animal Care Interns, including a Lead Intern and an Animal Health-focused Intern (full time)
• Feeding, Hoof Care, and Fecal Analysis volunteers (weekly/biweekly)

Supervision:

• Direct supervision by Executive Director
• Collaborates with other Directors, especially the Director of Operations, as well as the Recruitment Manager

Commitment:

• One-Year commitment
• 2-4 week trial and training period
• Approximately 30 hours/week, with 2 full days off each week

Accommodations:

The Director of Animal Care has their own private housing provided onsite. We are completely off-grid, so staff must be conservative with electricity and water usage.

Applicants must be appropriately licensed to drive a car in the U.S. If you do not have your own vehicle, we try to make the sanctuary van available for staff to grocery shop and explore the island one day per week.

We do not allow any smoking or excessive drinking, and no animal products onsite out of respect for our rescued cows, pigs, chickens, goats, etc. Food is not provided with this position and will be one of your only expenses while staying with us, though we do receive frequent food donations to the sanctuary.

Please note: We require all live-in staff members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (including boosters if eligible) before arrival at the sanctuary.

Our team:

We are a completely volunteer-run organization, and at this time there are no paid positions available. We sincerely appreciate the time our staff members and other volunteers generously donate to caring for the animals and supporting our cause, and hope that you feel well compensated by the love they will shower you with every day.

Job Type: Full-time

Application Question(s):

• What interests you most about this opportunity? What are you hoping to gain from this experience?
• What types of animals do you have direct experience with? Please describe.
• Do you have experience working with or managing volunteer teams? Please describe.
• Do you have any experience with or exposure to animal sanctuaries? What does sanctuary mean to you?
• Do you understand that this is a volunteer position? Do you have any prior experience work trading for shared or private accommodations?
• If you could pick three key traits that make you a good fit for this position, what would they be and why?
• What is the earliest date you would you be available to potentially join our sanctuary? Please note we are planning for a Spring 2024 start date but are flexible.
• Please describe your past work or volunteer experience(s) you feel are relevant to this position.

Education:

• Bachelor's (Preferred)

Language:

• English (Required)

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Laupāhoehoe, HI 96764: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person