Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT)

About the role

The Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT) plays a key role in the Animal Recovery Center (ARC), a facility dedicated to the recovery and rehabilitation of animals admitted through NYPD and the ASPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) and Community Engagement (CE) programs. Working alongside a team of over 45 sheltering, medical, and animal behavior professionals, the LVT delivers compassionate nursing care and supports holistic, high-quality care for victims of cruelty and neglect. This position requires a broad knowledge of animal science, medicine, and husbandry, including pharmacology, shelter medicine, behavior, and strong mathematical skills. Collaboration with medical, behavior, and sheltering teams is essential to ensure coordinated care.

Responsibilities

• Nursing and Shelter Population Care (50%)
  • Provide compassionate, high-quality patient care for up to 40 cats/dogs per day using Fear Free/Low Stress handling techniques.
  • Perform technical nursing skills, including venipuncture, catheter placement, intubation, anesthesia monitoring, diagnostic imaging, critical care, pharmacology, and dentistry.
  • Prioritize tasks based on hospital, ARC, and new case needs, demonstrating critical thinking and multitasking abilities.
  • Administer injections, vaccinations, medications, treatments, and supportive care as directed by Standard Operating Procedures and attending veterinarians.
  • Perform venipuncture, run diagnostic tests, and administer fluids as needed.
  • Maintain and compile weekly medical supply inventories, including emergency drugs, ensuring supplies are in-date and equipment is functional.
  • Report malfunctioning equipment for timely repair and maintain logs, inventory, DTM plates, and patient records.
  • Create and manage accurate treatment sheets, surgery/procedure requests, and medication orders.
  • Stay current on emergency drugs and protocols and communicate animal conditions to the direct care team.
  • Support the Medical Supervisor and veterinarians in planning and performing humane euthanasia.
  • Familiarity with infectious diseases, their prevention, and steps to reduce transmission.
• Team, Administrative, and Training (30%)
  • Maintain an open mind toward changes and willingness to learn, implement, and teach new protocols.
  • Provide leadership, onboarding, and training to the direct care team and new hires.
  • Remain composed in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities.
  • Work independently and cooperatively as part of a team.
  • Communicate medical information to other ASPCA departments and provide thorough patient updates to ARC management, veterinarians, and oncoming LVTs.
  • Keep veterinarians, behavior, and management teams informed of medical, behavioral, and safety issues.
  • Adhere to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) protocols and departmental Standard Operating Procedures.
  • Follow behavior sedation procedures and communicate deviations immediately to ensure safety.
  • Attend daily shift rounds, monthly staff meetings, and scheduled training sessions.
  • Deliver presentations/trainings to new and existing staff as directed.
  • Delegate appropriate tasks to the direct care team and communicate professionally with the public and ASPCA staff.
  • Perform administrative duties as needed.
• Housekeeping and Maintenance (20%)
  • Clean and disinfect kennels, transport carriers, equipment, and facility using appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).
  • Follow all departmental PPE and cleaning protocols.
  • Take inventory and stock supplies, noting when supplies are running low.
  • Maintain cleanliness and organization in ARC areas, including exam rooms, common areas, playrooms, and kennels.
  • Direct ICA staff as needed.
• Core Values
  • Commitment and dedication to improving the lives of animals.
  • Ownership and accountability for outcomes.
  • Belief in teamwork and collaboration.
  • Elevation of others and reimagining possibilities.
  • Focus on impact and driving change for animals.

Requirements

• Ability to work in a high-volume, fast-paced environment combining emergency and shelter medicine while multitasking with integrity and attention to detail.
• Proficiency in handling multiple tasks and managing high stress in an environment with constantly changing priorities.
• Excellent low-stress animal handling skills.
• Strong teamwork and communication skills across all staff levels.
• Willingness to learn, implement, and teach new protocols and adapt to changes.
• Maintain strict confidentiality when dealing with criminal cases.
• Comfort working with behaviorally and medically compromised animals and in environments where humane euthanasia is performed regularly.
• Obtain continuing education as required by ASPCA and state licensing board.
• Ability to deploy locally or nationally at least once per year.
• Dependable with regular and reliable attendance; willingness to adjust schedule as operations require.
• Physical ability to walk, bend, stand, and reach constantly during a minimum 8-hour day; lift up to 50 lbs; safely handle dogs over 100 lbs, including navigating stairs.
• Basic computer skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Qualifications

• Associate’s degree in Veterinary Technology (Required).
• Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT) certification (Required).
• 1–3 years of veterinary hospital and/or shelter experience preferred.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish (Required).

Pay

The target hiring range for this role is $34.60 - $37.00 per hour. Starting pay depends on education, training, experience, location, business needs, internal equity, and market demands. A signing bonus is also offered for this position.

Benefits

For more information on our benefit offerings, click here.

Schedule

• Full-time position.
• Weekends may be required.
• Occasional flexibility and overtime may be required.