Location: temporary location for training: 408 Industrial Ave, Truro, NS, with the eventual transition to permanent work location: 15 Heritage Ave, Stellarton, NS
Number of Positions: 1
Job Start Date: June 2024
Job Competition Closes: When position is filled
Job Type: Full time
Salary: $21 – $23 /hr depending on relevant experience
A Nova Scotia SPCA Shelter Coordinator is a key member of the Nova Scotia SPCA team. This individual is responsible for ensuring the smooth and efficient day-to-day animal care operations of an Animal Shelter to make certain they are compliant with the Society’s animal care protocols and procedures, mission and mandate.
Responsibilities
The Primary duty of a Shelter Coordinator is to oversee a Shelter’s operations to achieve the desired outcomes.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to, in coordination with Shelter Coordinator Medical, Animal Shelter liaisons and Associates:
- Communicate with management support team on daily challenges, ongoing operational needs and trends/challenges to identify shelters support needs.
- Ensure positive and consistent communication between staff and management.
- Encourage and supporting a positive team environment through addressing conflict, facilitating team meetings, building a strong team dynamic.
- Assist with performance management procedures in coordination with the shelter liaison team
- Support staff in developing and expanding their knowledge and skills by identifying training needs and facilitating appropriate training for office/reception roles.
- Support communication efforts by ensuring policy and procedure changes are communicated, clarified, and implemented.
- Perform a variety of clerical functions to plan, organize, and accomplish department day-to-day functions and goals.
- In collaboration with Shelter Manager, assist with the employee recruitment process by identifying and interviewing candidates, performing reference checks and completing all mandatory new hire paperwork.
- Oversee and support onboarding new reception and office administration employees following the existing training plans.
- Assist development staff with facilitating partnerships with community groups, organizations, and other stakeholders to advance the SPCA’s mission and strategic priorities;
- Understand the impact of financial and operational changes and demonstrate strong problem-solving skills on behalf of the animals, community, stakeholders with the Provincial Leadership Team.
- Works directly with those responsible for maintaining the shelter volunteer and foster based programs
- Schedule, organize and coordinate volunteer onboarding and training/mentoring.
- Coordinating with Medical Coordinator to ensure animals requiring foster homes are communicated to foster coordinator and that the foster program applications are being processed in a timely manner and response time to foster remains at an acceptable turnaround time.
- Ensure policy compliance operationally and accurate and transparent reporting of statistical animal care data.
- Provide excellent customer service at the front end while maintaining positive interactions with the public, staff and volunteers in a fast paced, sometimes hectic and noisy environment while remaining calm, focused, resourceful and efficient.
- Assist members of the public in person, over the phone and via email communication.
- Plan, organize and oversee daily office operations ensuring all front desk staff adhere to Nova Scotia SPCA Processes and Policies.
- Oversee and ensure compliance on accurate record keeping for animals, inventory, health, medications, treatments, procedures and behavior history.
- This position supports provincial animal care initiatives and ensures that the shelter is collaborating and has the resources required to achieve the Society’s goals.
- Other duties as requested.
- In coordination with the Medical Coordinator, handle sensitive communication in a timely manner, handle escalations in person and via phone.
- Participate in marketing of animals for adoption by reviewing adoption profiles, ensuring animal profiles are posted to the website and monitoring fee reductions are occurring when necessary by monitoring adoptability and length of time available for adoption.
- Coordinator with Marketing team to ensure pictures/stories are proactively gathered and sent within established timelines for future marketing and development activities.
- Coordinate with offsite partners, ensuring issues are addressed and the relationships remain positive, coordinate the drop off of pets to the partner locations including the preparation of paperwork, ensuring with the Shelter Coordinator – medical, the animals are cleared to move.
- Ensure receipt entry is accurate, resolve any data entry errors, provide feedback to staff, ensure accuracy in data entry and accuracy in receipt entry.
- Gather and record bank deposits, ensure consistent bank deposits are occurring.
- Via social media ensure a shelter animal content is regularly posted by gathering pictures/stories, and scheduling animal features to promote adoption.
Required Skills
In addition to having the ability to travel and a valid Driver’s license, the following are some of the skills required of a Nova Scotia SPCA Shelter Coordinator.
Leadership Skills: Shelter Coordinators must keep staff motivated, resolve conflicts and make hard decisions. Good leadership qualities and administrative abilities are essential.
Time Management: Shelter Coordinators work with multiple staff, managers and volunteers across the province, assist in crisis situations and perform reviews. Shelter Coordinators must have the ability to create schedules, order supplies and write reports. The ability to work under tight deadlines and pressure situations is essential.
Math and Budgeting: Shelter Coordinators are expected to keep and maintain budgets, and make sure Shelters are staying on budget. It is essential that the Animal Care Supervisor is proficient with computers and has extensive knowledge of marketing and sales.
Decision-Making Skills: Whether it is dealing with staff, management, government agents, veterinarians or suppliers, the Animal Care Supervisor will have to make decisions that affect the Society. Having the ability to make hard decisions under pressure is crucial to success.
Speaking and Writing: Shelter Coordinators are required to have strong written and oral communication skills.
Qualifications
- Management experience mandatory.
- Business operations experience, including computer skills required.
- Donor and volunteer relations, marketing knowledge are necessary.
- Animal welfare knowledge an asset but not required.
Additional Information
- Schedule will be consistent each week although may require some flexibility. Evenings and weekends may be required.
- Driver’s license is required
Physical Requirements
- Physical ability to walk and/or stand on your feet throughout a normal workday is required.
- Physical ability to lift and carry 40 pounds regularly.
- Working conditions include working alone, working outside in varying weather conditions, frequent interruptions, and some evening meetings.
Hours of Work
Work responsibilities require a standard 40 hours per week plus additional overtime as required fulfilling the duties associated with the position. Some on call duties may be required.
Nova Scotia SPCA is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all qualified applicants, regardless of gender, race, age, sexuality, or disability. SPCA provides a competitive salary and a rewarding work environment. Preference will be given to candidates who self-identify as African Nova Scotians, racially visible persons, persons with disabilities, Aboriginal persons and persons of the LGBTQ+ community. We encourage applicants to self-identify.
Interested applicants are asked to submit their resume and cover letter indicating salary expectations to resumes@spcans.ca. As long as this job description remains posted it is an indication that the position has not been filled and we are still accepting resumes.
Please quote “SPCA North Nova” in the subject heading in your email reply.
As a part of our hiring process, we require applicants to complete behavioural and cognitive assessments. You will be sent the links along with screening questions after submitting your resume.
Evidence of full vaccination for COVID-19 is required prior to an interview being scheduled.
We thank all applicants for their interest in a career at the Nova Scotia SPCA, however, only those selected for screening will be contacted.
