Facility
The Living Coast Discovery Center
Closing Date
[jobclosingdate]
Description
The Animal Care Specialist is responsible of all aspects of the care and husbandry of the animal collection with in the Aquarium and Reptile Department, including preparing diets, cleaning, training, record keeping, exhibit upkeep and enrichment. The Animal Care Specialist is also responsible for coordinating and managing volunteers, assisting in the development of protocol, and assisting in the delivery of training and professional development sessions for staff and volunteers. The Animal Care Specialist will work alongside the Lead Animal Care Specialist and Animal Care Coordinator to assist in the overall management of the department to ensure the highest quality of care and presentation of the animal collection, along with providing exceptional customer service to visiting guests. This position will require availability to include weekends, holidays, and occasional evenings.
Education and Pre-requisites
QUALIFICATIONS
-A Bachelor’s degree in biology, zoology, life sciences, or equivalent experience.
-Current First Aid & CPR Certification or must be willing to obtain certification upon employment.
-Open water SUCBA
-A minimum of two years of aquarium systems and aquatic animal husbandry is preferred.
-A minimum of one year of supervisory experience managing volunteers and interns.
-Proven ability to work cooperatively, enthusiastically with team members and the
promotion of a quality guest experience.
-Previous experience with the maintenance and operation of large life support systems including sand filters, canister filters, UV sterilizers, protein skimmers, and ozone generators is also preferred.
PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE
-Endemic and exotic wildlife and coastal and wetland environmental issues.
-Animal husbandry, enrichment, training and behavior standards and techniques.
-Word processing, spreadsheet and power point.
-Current trends and techniques in animal care, exhibitory and training.
-Interpretive techniques and public speaking experience.
-Animal restraint and delivery of medications.
-Familiarity with water quality testing and life support systems.
-Familiarity with diagnosis and treatment of fish disease.
GENERAL SKILLS
Ability to:
-Interpret and follow rules and regulations.
-Perform emergency first aid and CPR as needed.
-Communicate clearly verbally and in writing.
-Assess and evaluate situations effectively.
-Respond to high stress scenarios safely and efficiently.
-Exert optimal effort in successfully completing tasks and manage time efficiently.
-Take initiative with minimal supervision.
-Extract and record data and carry out calculations accurately.
-Set up and operate equipment that can require selection from options or different settings.
-Work within and contribute to the effectiveness of a team, respecting differences.
-Perform physical labor.
-Work effectively in a team.
WORKING ENVIRONMENT/PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
This position is primarily an outdoor job with exposure to a variety of weather conditions, physical hazards, noise, fumes and odors. A lesser portion the job requires office work, research, and record keeping. Occasional driving to move equipment or pick up supplies may be required. Physical requirements include walking or standing for long periods of time, performing physical activities on a continual basis, seeing in the normal vision range with or without correction, hearing in the normal range with or without correction, bending, stooping, crouching, kneeling, climbing, balancing, stretching, reaching and lifting up to approximately 50 lbs.
Compensation and benefits
$10.00 – $14.00 per hour, depending on experience
Application instructions
Please submit a cover letter and resume in electronic format to Beth
Sabiston, Animal Care Coordinator, directly at Beth@thelivingcoast.org
by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, April 25, 2018.
http://www.thelivingcoast.org/get-involved/careers/