What are the responsibilities and job description for the Overnight Shelter & Clinic Support Technician position at Austin Pets Alive!?
Overnight Shelter & Clinic Support Technician
APA! BACKGROUND: Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austin’s most dynamic and best-loved nonprofits. The organization is the leader in the no-kill movement nationally and is considered a national thought leader in animal welfare. APA! locally rescues, treats, and adopts out 10,000 homeless dogs and cats each year, providing the safety net for Austin’s most at-risk shelter pets, which helps Austin to be a no-kill city, while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals. The organization is distinguished by the scrappiness of its grassroots, non-traditional community-based animal rescue work.
POSITION SUMMARY/OVERVIEW: The Overnight Shelter & Clinic Support Technician will serve as the onsite/shelter point of contact and first responder for facility or weather-related emergencies, such as fire, flooding, power outages, etc. This position will provide support to the medical clinic through the completion of assigned tasks, including but not limited to kennel technician duties, basic animal care and monitoring, and administrative duties.
This position works overnight shifts, 3-4 nights per week. Schedule may vary based on business needs.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Complete facility rounds as assigned during shift; monitoring for safety, security, and weather-related concerns
- Support Overnight Veterinary Technician as first responder and point of contact for overnight facility emergencies
- Provide overnight animal care as needed, potentially including bottle feeding or administering medications
- Clean and change bedding of hospitalized animals (including parvo), ensuring they are living is a clean, environment and their needs are met.
- Assist with data entry or administrative work as assigned
- Sweeping and mopping the whole clinic at least twice per shift
- Maintaining a clean sink area in the clinic, including organizing and doing dishes at least once per shift
- Taking clinic’s dirty laundry to laundry room and running loads of laundry
- Cleaning and laundry duties in the Parvo ICU using proper PPE, changing in and out of the ward while fully understanding how parvovirus is spread
- Restocking surgery and clinic with clean towels
- Decontaminating kennels and crates as needed, including after surgery. Taking kennel doors off kennels to disinfect once weekly
- Keep Davenport building clean and tidy
- Maintain consistent communication with clinic staff, animal care teams, facilities team, and supervisor
- Putting away donations with help of managers
- Deep cleaning projects as they come up
- Other duties as assigned; duties may differ slightly from this Job Description; all duties are outlined by the Medical Care Director, Clinic Managers, or another individual designated by APA!
OTHER FUNCTIONS:
- Complete 90-day onboarding and training requirements as assigned
- Attend and participate in all required training sessions and meetings
- Maintain open and consistent communication with supervisor and other colleagues
- Able to react to change productively and perform other related duties as assigned
- Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
- Able to work in a high volume, fast-paced, high-stress environment
QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, & EXPECTATIONS:
- Experience working with animals in an animal shelter, veterinary clinic, or boarding facility, and/or experience overseeing safety and security of a business preferred
- Experience working swing or overnight shift preferred
- Knowledge of or ability to learn dog and cat care and handling techniques, including critical care tasks such as bottle feeding, syringe feeding, and administering medications
- Ability to work independently and remain on-task with limited supervision
- Strong communication skills; experience using or ability to learn Google Suite
- Must embody APA!'s core values of innovation, respect, drive, resourcefulness, and inclusion
- Commitment to APA!'s customer experience expectations
- Willing and committed to working well with volunteers and staff in all roles
PHYSICAL JOB REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be able to work around animals (including diseased, injured, and/or potentially aggressive animals), loud noises, chlorine or other chemicals, and inclement weather
- Must be able to comfortably interact with cats/dogs of various health levels, including cats who may carry zoonotic diseases such as ringworm, scabies, intestinal parasites, etc.
- Must be able to routinely lift 40-50 pounds
- Able to be on your feet for multiple hours of the day
- Must be able to visually observe people and animals from up to 150 feet away
- Ability to hear normal speech at close contact and shouting up to 150 feet away with the ability to hear and discern dog vocalizations both soft and loud
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Must be able to pass all required dog handling training required for this position
- Must be able to walk around shelter as needed - uneven ground, keeping a safe distance from dogs and handlers
- Will sit, stand, walk, talk, hear, stoop, bend, stretch, squat, kneel, grasp, grip, put fingers together firmly and reach above and below shoulder level, lift and/or carry up to 30 pounds and push and pull up to 50 pounds for situations of moving supplies and setting up for events; repetitively use hands to operate computers; flex the neck upward and downward; twist the neck and the waist.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
- On shelter campus and medical clinic, with exposure to environmental conditions that include working with and near animals
- Uses own transportation to travel and transport
- Exposure to unpleasant odors and noises.
- Exposure to bites, scratches and animal waste
- Exposure to contagious diseases
- Rapid pace with exposure to potential hazards including animal waste, disinfectants, and high levels of noise
TIME COMMITMENT:
- This is a full-time position
- Shift and schedule flexibility is required, as weekly schedule is subject to change
- Able to work weekends and holidays as needed
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:
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This position reports directly to the Medical Clinic Team Manager.
LOCATION(S):
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APA! Main - Town Lake Animal Center 1156 West Cesar Chavez Austin, TX 78703
- Hwy 290 Medical Clinic - 4942 W Hwy 290 Austin, TX 78735
- May travel to offsite locations as needed
BENEFITS
Austin Pets Alive! is proud to offer a competitive benefits package for full-time employees, including a subsidy on employer sponsored medical coverage, subsidized and voluntary life insurance, voluntary dental, vision and short term disability options, all effective the first day of employment. We also offer voluntary wellness and emergency sick plans, up to 2% match on 401(K) retirement plan, supplemental benefits, subsidized pet insurance, flexible spending accounts and additional life coverage. Full-time employees receive 10 paid holidays and accrue 10 days paid time off during the first year of employment, with an additional 5 days of PTO accrual upon completion of 12 months of employment. Employees will also receive professional development opportunities through APA!’s ongoing mission to advance our animal welfare professionals in our life saving work.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT
Austin Pets Alive! is an equal employment opportunity employer and we value having staff who come from communities that are most impacted by the issues we engage on. We especially encourage people of color, LGBTQ people, women, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities to apply.
Austin Pets Alive! does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Austin Pets Alive! is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion, respect and integrity, community focus, and innovation.
