Wildlife Rehabilitator

Facility

The Wildlife Center of Virginia

Closing Date

[jobclosingdate]

Description

The Wildlife Center of Virginia is currently accepting applications for a full-time wildlife rehabilitator. The Center is looking to fill the position immediately; however, the position will remain open until the right candidate is hired.

As part of the rehabilitation team, wildlife rehabilitators are responsible for a variety of tasks, including animal care and, most importantly, training. Primary duties of this position include:

I. Training
A. Train, supervise, and mentor rehabilitation intern, rehabilitation externs, animal care volunteers, and community service volunteers. This includes daily oversight as well as orientation and mid-term and final evaluations of rehabilitation intern and rehabilitation externs.
B. Train and mentor rehabilitation apprentices as needed.
C. Develop and lead educational programming for rehabilitation externs and veterinary and veterinary technician externs.
D. Assist in teaching veterinary and veterinary technician interns and externs about rehabilitation/caretaking protocols.
E. Teach developed courses to rehabilitators and volunteers as needed.
F. When travel funding permits, submit one abstract per year to speak at a national conference (NWRA, IWRC, etc.)

II. Animal Care
A. Provide excellent rehabilitative care to all animals at the facility.
B. Daily cleaning and feeding of all animals housed at the facility.
C. Evaluate patients for release. Monitor animal’s health, attitude, appetite, etc., and maintain written records of each animal’s progress. Report evaluations to veterinarians and participate in daily clinical rounds with veterinary staff to discuss medical cases.
D. Must be able to handle emotional aspects of euthanasia.
E. Exercise all flighted raptors daily and record progress in patient record.
F. Assist with restraint, examination, diagnostic procedures and treatment of animals.
G. Admit patients and complete associated records. May also examine and initiate first aid to patients or new arrivals in the absence of the veterinarian or technician, within constraints of training and experience.
H. Communicate with other permitted rehabilitators in the state to transfer healthy juvenile animals out of the hospital. Arrange for transportation to transfer site as needed.
I. In conjunction with veterinary staff, develop and improve rehabilitation protocols for birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals.
J. On a regular basis and in conjunction with the Hospital Director, re-evaluate protocols and give input on accepted procedures.
K. Maintain high standards of cleanliness in hospital, kitchen and animal housing areas.

III. Other duties
A. Daily and seasonal maintenance of cages, grounds, perches, etc. Recognize and correct any maintenance or safety hazards when possible. Report other problems to the Hospital Director.
B. Obtain a personal Virginia Wildlife Rehabilitator Permit (Category 4) within one month of start date. Acquire six hours of continuing education yearly to maintain permit. Renew permit annually.
C. Obtain IWRC’s Certified Wildlife Rehabilitator (CWR) designation within one year of start date. Acquire two continuing education units (CEUs) biennially to maintain permit. Renew permit every two years.
D. As a team, coordinate with other rehabilitation staff to ensure daily coverage of hospital [weekdays, weekends, holidays, and snow days].
E. Write at least two articles per year for submission to a national wildlife rehabilitation journal.
F. Provide support for the Wildlife Center of Virginia’s annual Call of the Wild Conference and Gala and Benefit Auction; present at Call of the Wild Conference when requested.
G. Act as primary on-call for the after-hours phone one to two nights per week, as needed.
H. Assist in creation of a collection of photographs of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds for classes, workshops and educational/promotional materials.
I. Other duties, responsibilities, and special projects, as requested.

Schedule
 40 hours per week.
 Generally four ten-hour days; occasionally switching to five eight-hour days may be required.
 One weekend day per week required.
 Holiday work required.

Education and Pre-requisites

Requirements
 Bachelor’s degree preferred.
 At least one year of wildlife rehabilitation experience.
 IWRC Certified Wildlife Rehabilitation designation preferred.
 Pre-exposure rabies vaccination required. Provide proof of vaccination or adequate titer within the previous two years of start date.
 Demonstrated supervisory and managerial experience.
 Teaching experience required.
 Demonstrated experience in effective public speaking and writing skills.
 Demonstrated reliability and dependability; willingness to work weekends and holidays as necessary.
 Demonstrated ability to handle diverse, competing tasks independently, efficiently, and accurately; flexibility is a must.
 Must be even-tempered and diplomatic.
 Ability to organize, set goals, and meet deadlines; attention to detail.
 Team player with strong interpersonal and communication skills.
 Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
 Professional appearance and demeanor; ability to interact and communicate with the public, law enforcement, regulators, veterinarians and others.
 Strong commitment to protection of wildlife and the environment.
 Ability to lift/carry equipment and animals up to 50 pounds.

Compensation and benefits

Salary
 $12.00 per hour plus overtime.
 One week paid vacation during the first year of employment.
 Paid sick and personal leave.
 Health insurance.
 Eligibility for 401k plan enrollment, with employer match, after six months of employment.
 Cost of VA permit and CWR designation paid by employer.

Application instructions

TO APPLY:
Please email cover letter, résumé, and two letters of recommendation to:

Brie Hashem
rehab@wildlifecenter.org