Coordinator, Community Programs

Schedule: Tuesday – Saturday

Direct Reports: Volunteers and Interns

Key Work Partners: CACC Team, 360@CACC Program Team, Adoption Team, Volunteer Program Team, Foster Team, Animal Care Team, Intake Team

PAWS Chicago and Chicago Animal Care & Control (CACC) have joined forces on 360@CACC, an innovative public-private partnership delivering 360-degree, lifesaving support across the full journey of Chicago's homeless and at-risk pets — from keeping animals out of the shelter in the first place, to getting them adopted, transferred, or reunited with their families. In 2025 alone, this partnership helped drive CACC's most successful adoption year on record and a 22% increase in animals transferred to rescue partners. This is a program with real, measurable momentum, and the Coordinator, Community Programs will be at the center of it.

Based full-time at CACC, this role is both an adoption and volunteer leader and a key builder of 360@CACC's newest initiatives. The Coordinator approves, coordinates, and completes adoptions at CACC while coaching and empowering the volunteers and interns who make those adoptions possible. This role also serves as Program Coordinator for Rescue Ready, PAWS Chicago's spay/neuter and medical-resource program that helps CACC pets become transfer- and adoption-ready, and provides critical support in standing up new 360@CACC programming — including Pet Resource Fairs, the Homeward Bound Highway intake and networking program, and administrative support for the Pet Owner Support team.

This is a role for someone energized by fast-paced shelter work, skilled in compassionate and crucial conversations, and excited to help build new programs from the ground up alongside a growing, innovative partnership between two respected Chicago animal welfare organizations.

About CACC

As the city's impoundment facility, Chicago Animal Care & Control's mission is uniquely responsible for protecting public safety and ensuring the humane care of animals through sheltering, pet placement, education, and animal law enforcement.

About PAWS Chicago

As the largest comprehensive No Kill humane organization in the Midwest, and one of the largest in the nation, PAWS Chicago's founding mission is to build a No Kill Chicago; to end the overpopulation of homeless animals through prevention programs like spay/neuter; and to transform animal welfare by setting higher standards in the way animals are treated and developing a sustainable, solutions-based model.

About 360@CACC

360@CACC is a public-private partnership between PAWS Chicago and Chicago Animal Care and Control designed to provide life-saving resources to Chicago's homeless and at-risk dogs and cats. Developed in response to a post-pandemic surge in pet homelessness and strain on city shelter resources, the program's mission is to provide 360-degree support across the full lifecycle of shelter animals — from preventing intake to improving live outcomes through transfer and adoption.

Adoption & Volunteer Leadership at CACC

• Set a positive tone for an inclusive volunteer culture, recognizing and appreciating volunteer commitments.
• Provide guidance and direction for CACC's adoption program, comfortably discussing complex animal behaviors and backgrounds in terms adopters can easily understand.
• Approach adopter conversations and matchmaking with a lens of empathy and social-work-informed support, meeting people where they are to find the right fit for both pet and family.
• Understand and communicate the tenets of pet ownership, animal care, and training suggestions with potential adopters. Liaise and collaborate with CACC volunteer base to complete adoptions and other 360@CACC initiatives.
• Comfortably and confidently handle dogs of all sizes and cats to safely introduce animals to potential adopters.
• Participate in in-building and off-site adoption events, in collaboration with CACC staff, volunteers and interns, and PAWS staff.

Rescue Ready Program Coordination

• Serve as Program Coordinator for Rescue Ready, PAWS Chicago's spay/neuter and medical-resource program that prepares CACC animals for transfer to rescue partners, working in collaboration with the Lurie Spay/Neuter Clinic staff.
• Monitor program data and outcomes, flagging trends or bottlenecks to leadership.

360@CACC Program Growth

• Support the launch and ongoing operations of new 360@CACC programming, including but not limited to:
• • Pet Resource Fairs — helping plan and staff community-facing events connecting pet owners with resources.
  • Homeward Bound Highway — supporting intake and the rescue-partner networking program that moves animals from CACC to partner organizations.
  • Pet Owner Support — providing administrative support to the team that helps families keep and access resources for their pets.
• Serve as a flexible, hands-on contributor as 360@CACC programming continues to expand, helping build processes and workflows for new initiatives from the ground up.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Positive, outgoing communication style
• Passion for animals and animal welfare
• 3 years of customer-service-focused management experience
• Comfort and familiarity handling dogs of all sizes and cats
• Excellent leadership skills and the ability to motivate staff, volunteers and interns
• Exceptionally strong communication and interpersonal skills, including comfort with compassionate and crucial conversations
• Experience with web-based CRM technology preferred
• Strong time-management skills, with the ability to juggle multiple programs and priorities and work well under pressure
• Strategic and creative thinker and planner, comfortable helping stand up new programs
• Ability to coach and provide feedback
• Ability to multi-task and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced team environment
• Availability Tuesday through Saturday

Physical Requirements  

• Climbing stairs, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, lifting and grasping.
• Walking and moving about to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another.
• Able to lift 25lbs occasionally, 10lbs frequently and a negligible amount constantly.  

• Respect: for each and every life.
• Community: of people and organizations committed to helping homeless pets.
• Innovation: to constantly improve best practices and seek out new ideas and strategies to save more lives — to be a Learning Center that evolves and grows.
• Pro-activity: to solve difficult problems and to be prepared to offer emergency and crisis support.
• Transparency: that informs the public about the fate of homeless animals.
• Education: that raises awareness about the realities homeless animals face in the community and across the nation, providing a forum for people to get involved in effecting change. Promotes and supports responsible pet ownership.
• Sustainability: through financial management practices that maximize the impact and reach of our resources and ensure that PAWS Chicago will always be a resource for homeless animals.
• Compassion: towards all people and animals.