Animal Adoption Counselor

Help pets meet their perfect match.

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa is seeking compassionate, customer-focused individuals to join our team as an Animal Adoption Counselor. This role helps connect homeless pets with loving families while creating a welcoming and positive experience for adopters, visitors, volunteers, and community partners. This is a great opportunity for someone with customer service, retail, hospitality, and animal handling experience who enjoys helping people, working with animals, and being part of a mission-driven team.

Schedule

We are currently hiring for both full-time and part-time opportunities.

Full-time:

• 40 hours per week
• Hours are typically scheduled between 10:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday availability is required

Part-time:

• Up to 30 hours per week
• Hours are typically scheduled between 10:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday or Sunday availability is required

Before You Apply: See the Role in Action

Watch Adoption Supervisor, Brian Madison, share what makes this position rewarding, what a typical day looks like, and the qualities that help team members succeed on the Adoption team.

Animal Adoption Counselor Career Spotlight Video

This short video offers an inside look at the team, the work, and the impact you will have helping pets find loving homes.

About the Animal Rescue League of Iowa

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa is Iowa’s largest nonprofit animal welfare organization, helping animals and the people who love them through sheltering, adoption, veterinary care, animal services, community programs, and pet support resources. Across multiple locations and programs in the Des Moines metro, the ARL works every day to provide compassionate care, practical support, and trusted resources for animals and families in our community.

What You’ll Do

• Welcome visitors and guide potential adopters through the adoption process.
• Answer questions, review adoption applications, and help facilitate successful matches between people and pets.
• Provide basic information about animal behavior, medical needs, and adoption expectations.
• Assist with retail purchases, transactions, and cash drawer balancing.
• Help maintain clean, organized, and welcoming adoption lobby and work areas.
• Support off-site adoption events and community outreach opportunities.
• Work closely with staff and volunteers while using low-stress, compassionate animal handling techniques.

What We’re Looking For

• High school diploma or GED, required.
• Valid driver’s license and acceptable driving record required.
• Previous customer service, retail, hospitality, animal handling, animal welfare, veterinary clinic, shelter, or community event experience preferred.
• Strong communication, customer service, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to stay professional and compassionate in a fast-paced environment.
• Dependable, organized, adaptable, and comfortable working with people and animals.
• Basic computer proficiency, including Microsoft Office.

Benefits for Full-Time Employees

The ARL is proud to offer competitive, market-driven compensation and a mission-focused culture. In addition, a variety of benefits are available to full-time employees including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Employer-paid long-term disability and basic life insurance
• Supplemental insurances, including short-term disability, supplemental life insurance, accident, and critical illness insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with an employer contribution
• Veterinary benefits
• Work-life balance through our expansive holiday and paid time off policies

Physical and Work Environment Requirements

This position works in an active animal shelter and adoption environment and may require standing, walking, bending, cleaning, safely handling animals, transporting animals, supporting events, and lifting up to 50 pounds. The role may involve exposure to moderate noise, animal waste, cleaning chemicals, zoonotic diseases, and the possibility of bites or scratches while following established safety procedures.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

Why Join the ARL?

As an Animal Adoption Counselor, your work helps pets find loving homes while supporting adopters through an important and exciting decision. You will play a meaningful role in creating positive adoption experiences for people and animals.

If you are compassionate, customer-focused, and excited to help pets and people connect, we would love to have you join our team.

Employment in this position is at-will, meaning either the employee or the ARL may end the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause or notice, as permitted by law.

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and applicable state law. Applicants and employees are encouraged to discuss potential accommodations as needed.