Supervisor, Lifesaving & Care - Dogtown

Location:   Kanab, Utah (relocation assistance available)

Hiring Range:  This position's hiring range is anticipated to be $58,000 - $62,000 annually, depending on experience, plus great benefits! 

Manager interviews will occur weekly and will continue until the position is filled (recruiter phone screens will occur prior to a manager interview).

Position Summary: Supervisors, working under the guidance of the Director and Manager, play a key role in achieving Best Friends Animal Society’s organizational no-kill mission and goals. Supervisors provide oversight of the health, care, and wellbeing of Sanctuary dogs, and leadership and mentorship for the care specialists and volunteers in their assigned areas and act with urgency and efficiency to maximize lifesaving.   

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Promote, coordinate, and facilitate innovative solutions to maximize lifesaving.  

• Manage, promote, support, empower, and enable staff and volunteers to maximize lifesaving and quality of care. 

• Serve as a care provider alongside team members, and liaison between Dogtown and other departments, ensuring all department objectives for care, and health and behavior monitoring, as established by leadership, are met. 

• Work collaboratively with all Best Friends’ department teams for the care, benefit, promotion, and ultimate outcome of all dogs in our care.  

• Maintain a safe workplace, valuing, and modeling safe work practices, adhering to organizational safety practices and rules, and communicating about unsafe practices and conditions.  

• Demonstrate kindness and the Golden Rule in our everyday actions by practicing inclusion and respect for every person for the value they bring to the table. Be a role model for the spirit of authenticity, kindness, and positive influence with each other, our visitors, volunteers as well as to the animals every day.  

• Provide support, training, and performance feedback; participate in performance conversations; support hiring and onboarding; ensure teams meet expectations for Best Friends’ program requirements and procedures; support teams so that each person achieves their fullest potential as contributors to Best Friends mission and goals. 

• Other duties as assigned. 

Skills and Experience:

• Minimum of 1 year of experience working with dogs in an animal sheltering, animal behavior, or veterinary setting is required.

• Ability to work with, leash, kennel, walk, and handle all dogs, including those with health and/or behavior conditions/concerns; basic ability to identify and speak to medical and behavioral characteristics of dogs.

• Experience in leading teams or managing people preferred but not required.

• Customer-centric, non-judgmental approach to engaging with adopters, partners, visitors, volunteers, and colleagues; familiarity and comfort with an open adoption process.

• Bilingual or multi-lingual skills preferred but not required; strong communications skills, presentation experience with the ability to professionally advocate Best Friends’ position on issues.

• Resourceful, get-it-done attitude; an initiative to assist in any area or process; problem-solving, seeking answers independently and enthusiastically; the flexibility to persist until goals are achieved.

• Strong interpersonal skills, a team player, personable, professional, and able to get along with people from different backgrounds, as well as the ability to handle sensitive and confidential situations. 

• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with well-developed organization skills to juggle multiple competing tasks and demands.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office products; familiarity with shelter software/animal management software, or desire to learn.  

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to:

  • Routinely lift 40 pounds and perform daily strenuous activity including, but not limited to lifting, carrying, reaching, stooping, squatting, cleaning, and bending.

  • Work at a computer or driving a car for extended periods of time with repetitive typing, sitting, arm, and hand motion. 

  • Work indoors and outdoors in a variety of weather conditions including extreme heat and cold.

• Exposure to dogs, cats, and other animals of all sizes, temperaments, and medical status. 

• Valid driver's license, ability to qualify to be added to Best Friends insurance, ability to travel, including overnight stays, when needed. 

• Daily hours and days of the week may vary according to the needs of the department schedule; the position includes weekends, nights, and holiday work. 

*During the selection process, candidates may be asked to participate in an onsite working interview. 

Best Friends recently received a 2022 Top Workplaces USA award from Energage. Visit the Best Friends Animal Society page on the Energage Top Workplaces award winners’ site here to learn more. Not only do we take pride in cultivating a welcoming and supportive community and culture for our employees, but we also offer competitive benefits that make it easy to see why we were granted such an awesome award! We offer competitive pay including the opportunity to receive a discretionary bonus based on performance. We offer medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, short and long-term disability, dependent care reimbursement, pet sitting reimbursement when traveling for work, flexible spending account, and health savings account. We offer generous paid time off up to 9 hours per month for full time employees, nine paid holidays annually, auto insurance discount, and legal and identity theft coverage.  For added well-being support, we offer Pawternity Leave for employees to have time to care for their personal pets, mental health support, and an employee assistance program. We also offer a generous 401k savings plan. Do you want to love where you work and make history and end the killing of shelter pets by 2025? Look no further and apply today! 

Thank you for your interest in pursuing a career at Best Friends Animal Society.  Best Friends Animal Society is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, or domestic partner status.

Applicants for employment in the US must have valid work authorization that does not now and/or will not in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the US by Best Friends Animal Society.