Location: Bentonville, AR (onsite)

Hiring Range: The hiring range for this position is between $19.76 per hour to $20.50 per hour, depending on experience.

Be part of our dynamic team and help us save lives of cats and dogs, we are on a mission to Save Them All by 2025! Our specialists play a direct role in achieving our mission by providing the hands-on care for the animals in our center and in foster care. Our team works cross functionally across the Best Friends network, with animal shelters and rescue groups to find dogs and cats loving homes. We serve as mission and brand ambassadors for our guests, community members, volunteers, donors, and adopters who visit and interact with us.

If you enjoy a busy day-to-day, love caring for cats, kittens and dogs and are passionate about exceptional customer service, then we want to meet you!

Position Summary: Specialists are responsible for the daily functions, and growth of lifesaving programs including adoption, foster care, transfer/transport, as well as providing basic animal care for animals in our program locations. They act with urgency to accomplish important tasks and play a direct role in achieving Best Friends Animal Society’s no-kill mission and organizational success. Specialists may receive intensive assignments in a particular program, based on organizational needs.

Culture Statement and Responsibility:

We value attitude over aptitude, and we treat Kindness as a discipline because it is paramount in our culture along with our other Guiding Principles. Culture is how we talk to and treat ourselves and one another, it’s how we generate and respond to change, it’s how we plan and make decisions, it’s how we do what we do.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• 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, and volunteers as well as to the animals every day. This includes listening, being present, being supportive of others and demonstrating compassion and curiosity in conflict.
• Responsible for the daily care of the cats and dogs at the center, to include feeding, medicating, walking, and enrichment for the animals and cleaning all animal enclosures. Other duties as assigned.
• Promote, coordinate, and facilitate pet adoptions, providing superior customer service, new pet parent counselling, and post-adoption support throughout; coordinate and conduct transport program operations including but not limited to animal selection, travel logistics (driving/driver recruitment, vehicle preparation), records management, supply management, and vehicle management; support, empower and enable volunteers and foster parents with the goal of utilizing volunteers to expand Best Friends lifesaving capacity.
• Deliver superior customer service, assist adopters, fosters and transfer partners by gathering information to match them with appropriate animals; arranging introductions, pet to pet meets; acquiring/providing medical records, follow-ups as needed or required.
• Develop a general knowledge of the animals in the Best Friends’ care, and on our partners shelter’s care, to best match both the animal and client’s needs.
• Work directly with and support volunteers on all aspects and protocols of lifesaving care and outcome programs, including but not limited to program protocols, cleaning protocols, specific animal behavior and care, animal handling, transportation requirements and procedures, data entry, and communications.
• Work collaboratively with Best Friends’ team members in all areas of operations to achieve lifesaving goals; follow Best Friends policies, procedures, and task lists for daily lifesaving outcome assignments, including accurate and timely communications, work completion, data entry, and recordkeeping.

Skills and Experience:

• Previous professional or pro-longed volunteer experience with animal handling preferred. Ability to work with, leash, kennel, walk, and handle all cats and dogs, including those with health and/or behavior conditions/concerns; basic ability to identify and speak to medical and behavioral characteristics of dogs and cats.
• Customer-centric, non-judgmental approach to engaging with adopters, partners, visitors, volunteers, and colleagues; familiarity and comfort with an open adoption process.
• Resourceful, get-it-done attitude; initiative to assist in any area or process; problem solving, seeking answers independently and enthusiastically; flexibility to persist until lifesaving outcome 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.
• Bilingual or multi-lingual skills preferred but not required.
• 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.
• Ability to travel, including overnight stays, when needed.
• Held a valid driver’s license for the past three years and qualify for Best Friends insurance.
• Daily hours and days of the week may vary according to the needs of the department schedule; position includes weekends, nights and holiday work.

After applicants accept an offer of employment in writing, they will be asked to provide Covid-19 vaccination status information pursuant to any applicable policies in place at the time of hiring.

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.