Facility

Ellen Trout Zoo

Closing Date

Description

Do you have Great Ape experience? Are you a supervisor looking for a change or a keeper ready to move up to the next level? The Ellen Trout Zoo is looking for a motivated, experienced person to lead a team with a variety of animals including future Gorillas.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to participate in finalizing the details of the Gorilla building and habitat which we are currently fund-raising and designing for. This person will develop procedures and manage the daily husbandry of Gorillas when this new capital project opens.

This is a working supervisory position involving husbandry expertise, personnel training, management skills, adaptability, and an ability to continue learning and developing animal management skills. The person in this position must be able to work within the parameters of a small municipal zoo. This position is responsible for a variety of mammals, birds, and reptiles that may include primates, crocodilians, tortoises, porcupines, psittacines, and flamingos.

Collection Managers are responsible for motivating and mentoring staff and leading by example. The Collection Manager is responsible for the daily husbandry of animals in his/her section as well as the maintenance of enclosures and support facilities/equipment. This includes operating pumps/filters, making minor repairs, painting, plant care, cleaning, feeding, and maintaining naturalistic and aesthetically pleasing animal enclosures.

Additional duties include maintaining accurate records, supporting the guest experience, scheduling, problem solving, evaluating and training personnel while ensuring safe work practices and high husbandry standards. The successful candidate will be energetic, self-motivated, work well others, demonstrate good problem solving, written and oral communication, and organizational skills. This job entails a melding of manual labor and mental know-how / expertise, resulting in visible, professional accomplishments in which employees may take pride.

Education and Pre-requisites

The position requires: Bachelor of Science degree in Biology or related field; a minimum of three years paid experience in a professional zoological institution, good physical condition; ability to work both independently and with other employees and to present a positive professional image of the City of Lufkin and the Zoo to members of the public. This position is an essential service position, and will be required to provide services during emergency situations.

Compensation and benefits

This is a full-time position with excellent benefits and opportunities for professional growth and development. The position involves working on weekends and holidays. Starting salary is $33,960.91 annually. This position is exempt for overtime. Employees are required to contribute 7% (pre-tax) to the retirement fund through payroll deduction

Application instructions

To be considered, you must submit all of the following 3 documents: resume, cover letter, and completed application. Applications are available for download at http://cityoflufkin.com/hr/jobs.htm. Mail these 3 documents to Human Resources Department at Lufkin City Hall, 300 E. Shepherd Suite 226, Lufkin, TX 75901. Please include your email address if you have one to facilitate correspondence. Candidates must be able to be present for on site interviews.