Adoption Counselor (Part-Time)

About the role

The Adoption Counselor position at ACC is part-time, with a flexible schedule including Thursdays from 12-7:30pm, Fridays from 12:30-8PM, Saturdays from 10:30-6PM, and Sundays from 10:30-PM, with Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays off.

Responsibilities

• Provide exemplary customer service to adopters by effectively communicating and guiding them through the adoption process, including helping them find a good match for their families and supplying them with the necessary information and resources during counseling sessions.
• Routinely socialize and interact with dogs, cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs.
• Process adoption paperwork, ensuring it is filed and organized according to policy, and process payments and donations in the Shelterbuddy database.
• Escort clients to view available animals for adoption, explaining kennel cards and answering questions.
• Review adoption applications, interview prospective adopters, and make decisions on the outcomes of adoptions.
• Perform reference checks as needed.
• Check and provide answers via email on a shared adoption account.
• Occasionally attend offsite adoption events and participate in community outreach.
• Answer phones and check voicemails in a timely manner.
• Provide follow-up post-adoption support to answer any questions or address common challenges.
• Interact with and get to know available animals to provide information and facilitate the best matches.
• Handle and conduct interactions between animals and their potential adopters.
• Prepare animals to leave the shelter by fitting dogs with collars/harnesses and placing cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs into carriers using low-stress techniques.
• Conduct and write rabbit evaluations to promote adoptions.
• Write bios and take photos to help increase adaptability.
• Photograph and keep track of positive adoption stories or "Happy Tails" to share with the organization.
• Clean and organize adoption areas.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required.
• At least one year of customer service experience required.
• Strong computer literacy required.
• The ability to handle different breeds and sizes of dogs.
• Treating animals and people with respect and employing humane handling techniques whenever possible.
• Must be able to lift a minimum of 50 lbs.

Benefits

ACC offers a generous paid-time-off (PTO) package that includes vacation time, birthdays off, personal days, and sick pay. We also offer great open access Cigna medical, dental, and vision insurance at a low premium, as well as 401K and Pension, Life Insurance. We also provide on-the-job training for 2-4 weeks, periodic all staff trainings to include safety, DEI, cross training, and other growth opportunities. Employees may be eligible for loan forgiveness, cancellation, and/or consolidation under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF).

Essential Job Functions

• Provide exemplary customer service to adopters by effectively communicating and guiding them through the adoption process, including helping them find a good match for their families and supplying them with the necessary information and resources during counseling sessions.
• Routinely socialize and interact with dogs, cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs.
• Process adoption paperwork, ensuring it is filed and organized according to policy, and process payments and donations in the Shelterbuddy database.
• Escort clients to view available animals for adoption, explaining kennel cards and answering questions.
• Review adoption applications, interview prospective adopters, and make decisions on the outcomes of adoptions.
• Perform reference checks as needed.
• Check and provide answers via email on a shared adoption account.
• Occasionally attend offsite adoption events and participate in community outreach.
• Answer phones and check voicemails in a timely manner.
• Provide follow-up post-adoption support to answer any questions or address common challenges.
• Interact with and get to know available animals to provide information and facilitate the best matches.
• Handle and conduct interactions between animals and their potential adopters.
• Prepare animals to leave the shelter by fitting dogs with collars/harnesses and placing cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs into carriers using low-stress techniques.
• Conduct and write rabbit evaluations to promote adoptions.
• Write bios and take photos to help increase adaptability.
• Photograph and keep track of positive adoption stories or "Happy Tails" to share with the organization.
• Clean and organize adoption areas.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience with Microsoft Office Suite preferred.
• Bilingual (Spanish) preferred.
• Prior animal handling experience for dogs/cats/small animals preferred.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, often high-stress, ever-changing environment.
• Customer-driven and focused on providing a positive, upbeat experience for all clients.
• A high attention to detail, strong work ethic, and the ability to thrive in a busy environment.
• Work well independently but also function seamlessly as a member of a team.