Foster Coordinator

Job Description: 

One Tail at a Time - West Texas (OTAT-West Texas) is seeking a part-time Foster Coordinator. The Foster Coordinator will support OTAT-West Texas foster families to best meet the needs of their pets, prepare for positive outcomes, and position OTAT-West Texas as an invaluable member of the local animal rescue community.

Ideal Candidate: 

• Displays a sincere interest, enthusiasm, and affinity for collaborating with people and working with animals.

• Demonstrates an attitude in being of service, using good judgment, maintaining a positive outlook, and having a sense of humor.

• Leads with a transparent and effective communication style, setting a positive example, and maintaining a high level of professionalism.

• Is committed to achieving excellence individually and in collaboration with a team.

• Exhibits adaptability, curiosity, flexibility, and open mindedness; encourages others to understand changes in work tasks, situations, and environment as an opportunity for transformation.

• Is committed to personal and professional development.

• Written and verbal Spanish skills are considered valuable.        

• Passion for the mission is a must!

• Willing to learn new tools and technologies in support of the rescue’s mission.

Essential Duties and Primary Responsibilities: 

Expand, improve and organize our bank of foster resources, including developing communication forms and templates 

• Prep foster supplies to ensure all fosters have an appropriate supply kit when they receive their foster dog

• Maintain foster supply inventory and resupply as appropriate

• Provide foster support in reasonable timelines (by email except in cases of emergency).

• Cultivate donations of foster supplies from our local community, local businesses, regional supporters, and beyond! 

• Collect and input weekly feedback/content from fosters to support the successful and expedient placement of foster pets.

• Coordinate the fulfillment of medical treatment plans, which may include giving vaccinations and implanting microchips.

• Recruit and engage ancillary support for our foster program and overall operations (i.e., photographers, groomers, behaviorists, etc).

• Grow the number of foster families.

• Understand our regional foster capacity to help make strategic and tactical decisions about which animals we can support. 

• Improve the opportunities for our foster community to share and support each other and the mission of OTAT-West Texas.

• Support our foster families and their foster pets at events, as needed.

Qualifications: 

• Ability to work independently and effectively function as a team member.

• Exemplary communication skills (verbal, written and people skills).

• Previous experience working in the field of animal welfare, ideally with direct dog assessment experience.

• Confidence in engaging with a diversity of people, including adopters, fosters, donors, volunteers, businesses, government officials, and the public.

• High level of integrity and professional maturity to manage stress and remain focused in a whirlwind of priorities and in a high compassion field of work.

• Mindset that solicits constructive feedback and an openness to coaching.

• Prior experience with tools like Airtable, Google Docs, and Trello a plus!

• Valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle (OTAT-West Texas provides mileage reimbursement)

General Expectations: 

• Knows, learns and consistently improves the quality of their dog advocacy and dog guardian support.

• Exercises good judgment that includes working with sensitive and/or confidential information regarding the public, volunteer/employee issues, and animal-related concerns.

• Understands, preserves, and promotes the autonomy and collaboration of OTAT– West Texas and its shelter- and rescue-partners.

• Promotes and follows safety guidelines to ensure a safe work environment; takes immediate action to address safety concerns that could put an employee, volunteer, workforce partner, client, animal, or the organization at risk.

• Is visible to staff, volunteers, and workforce partners; communicates with the Director and staff on significant developments.

• Provides a positive example/role model for other staff.

• Maintains a positive and respectful attitude, displaying excellent people skills and a high degree of emotional intelligence.

• Demonstrates flexibility and efficient time management to prioritize workload.Communicates asynchronously via chat tools like Slack and video calls like Google Meet.

• Consistently reports to work on time prepared to perform duties of position.

• Meets productivity standards and agreed-upon goals.

Physical Requirements & Working Conditions: 

This position requires some travel within our service region (Brewster, Culbertson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell and Upton Counties). 

The Foster Coordinator must repetitively use hands to operate computer, telephone, and electronic devices; use computer keyboard for extensive periods of time. They need to be able to do what may be a substantial amount of driving. They must be physically capable to manage large and unruly pets. Reasonable accommodations may enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This work will create exposure to environmental conditions that include working near animals, with potential exposure to fractious animals; high noise levels; zoonotic diseases; animal bites and scratches; cleaning chemicals and allergens. Potential exposure of infectious diseases to owned animals. Some work may take place at offsite locations for events and event preparation and coordination.

Compensation and Benefits:

The Foster Coordinator is a part-time staff position (with tax withholding) that holds an expectation of working 20 hours per week at a rate of $25/hour. This position does accrue limited paid leave.  

About OTAT-WTX: 

Mission: 

To support homeless/unwanted pets in shelters and shelterless communities in West Texas, and reduce the number of unwanted/homeless pets in need of rescue.

Values:

Be Gentle. Listen and Learn. Share the Goods. Take Good Care. Model Transparency. People are Pets too. Pursue the End Game. Enthusiasm and Optimism Rule the Day. 

Culture:
We endeavor to seek excellence in all we do; we strive to maintain a positive attitude while doing it; we seek out opportunities to be of-service to one another; we depend on teamwork & collaboration in setting and achieving goals; with leadership as a core value, we recognize that everyone can effectively lead by setting a positive example of excellence, attitude, service, teamwork & collaboration. 

How to Apply: 

If OTAT-West Texas and this job sounds right for you, and you meet the qualifications for this position, please apply by emailing rescue@otatwtx.org with your resume and cover letter for consideration. 

Application Deadline: open until filled.