Job Summary

PAWS Adoption and Foster Coordinators facilitate foster and adoptive placement for homeless animals in PAWS’ care. Adoption-Foster Team (AFT) staff members interact with the public regularly and must strive to provide a positive experience for these individuals at all times. Because our team is collaborative and our animal population can have complex medical and behavioral needs, excellent communication and organizational skills are crucial for this role.

 

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• – Engaging with potential adopters to ensure smooth and timely adoptions by:
  •       * Communicating with all applicants in a non-judgmental manner;
  •      * Screening applications thoroughly;
  •      * Employing compassion, curiosity, patience, and deliberate attention during conversations with applicants;
  •      * Sharing resources and information relevant to each home and experience level;
  •      * Making appropriate matches between applicants and the population of available animals; and,
  •      * Providing post-adoption support for adopters with questions or concerns after bringing their new pet home.
• – Providing information, guidance, and support for foster parents as they navigate foster procedures, get their foster pets ready for adoption, resolve or manage medical issues, and work through behavior concerns. This includes:
  •      * Communicating with consideration to the foster’s experience level and emotional investment and honoring their feedback;
  •      * Asking questions to get objective information and sharing relevant resources and information;
  •      * Problem-solving with foster parents who encounter challenges or have questions; and
  •      * Supporting foster parents through emotional decisions and events in their foster pets’ care including unexpected illness, death, or euthanasia.
• – Leading with compassion in each interaction with clients and members of the public, including visitors to adoption centers, potential foster parents or adopters, recent adopters, donors, clinic clients, people inquiring about our services, and surrendering owners.
• – Promoting a humane and caring attitude towards pets and treating all animals with compassion at all times, including those who are sick, injured, feral, stressed, or reactive.
• – Creatively promoting PAWS animals to both foster parents and potential adoptive homes by taking photos of animals available for foster or adoption, posting on social media, and writing bios to attract fosters or adopters.
• – Following established procedures governing safe work practices for preventing the spread of disease and safely handling animals.
• – Supporting animal care and operations at our adoption centers by:
  •      * Training and supervising volunteers;
  •      * Administering medication;
  •      * Providing enrichment for resident animals;
  •      * Ensuring animals have clean cages, fresh food, water, and litter
  •      * Supporting volunteers and kennel staff as needed;
  •      * Supervising, providing, and supporting animal handling during adoption meets;
  •      * Providing safe and fulfilling enrichment for our resident animals; and,
  •      * Working cooperatively with staff and volunteers to create a welcoming and supportive team and work environment.
• – Administrative support, including:
  •      * Responding to voicemails and emails;
  •      * Paperwork and computer file organization for contracts & and resources;
  •      * Record-keeping and data entry of pet files and adoption and foster applications;
  •      * Scheduling appointments; and,
  •      * Inbox hygiene with attention to existing procedures and best practices so information is easily accessible by staff who need it.
• – Other duties as assigned

 

Education and experience required:

• – A high school diploma or equivalent is required. Bachelor’s Degree or some college preferred.
• – Experience working or volunteering in an animal rescue, shelter, or veterinary practice is preferred.
• – Experience working with dogs in a shelter environment is preferred.
• – Experience with customer service experience preferred.

 

Physical Requirements:

• – Ability to walk and/or stand on your feet throughout a normal workday and tolerate loud noises.
• – Ability to lift and move objects and animals weighing up to 50 pounds for short distances and to humanely restrain an animal when necessary.
• – Allergic conditions that would be aggravated when handling animals may be a disqualification.

 

Required Skills and Qualities:

• – Ability to read, write, and understand English (other language proficiency a plus);
• – Computer proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google/G-Suite products, and proficiency or comfort with learning the internet-based software used by the organization (ShelterLuv, Trello, Mailchimp);
• – Working knowledge of basic animal health and behavior;
• – Excellent customer service;
• – Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills;
• – Strong sense of initiative, identifying tasks that need to be accomplished and prioritizing appropriately, working independently with minimal supervision and direction;
• – Flexibility, maturity, and ability to manage multiple tasks and accommodate varied work assignments and schedules;
• – Ability to communicate effectively with a culturally diverse staff, volunteers, and community in a professional, pleasant, respectful, courteous, and tactful manner at all times; and
• – The ability to remain pleasant and calm even in stressful situations, and to turn people down, firmly when necessary, without becoming aggressive or unpleasant.

 

Direct Supervisor: Adoption Program Manager, Foster Program Manager

 

Hours, Schedule, Compensation:
A minimum of 40 hours per week, 8 hours a day is required. This position includes at least one weekend shift per week.

 

This position will have shifts at both the PAWS’ Gray Ferry clinic at 2900 Grays Ferry Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19146, and the Old City Adoption Center at 100 N. 2nd Street.

 

Interested? We want to hear from you! Please submit your resume and cover letter through this form!