Facility

Happy Hollow Park & Zoo

Closing Date

Description

The Department is currently recruiting to fill multiple full-time benefited vacancies for Zookeeper positions at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, including one Senior Zookeeper vacancy and two full-time Zookeeper vacancies at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo. The Department is seeking highly motivated, personable individuals with strong leadership skills and innovative ideas to become part of a dynamic team of employees with a strong commitment to providing excellent service to our diverse community.

About Senior Zookeeper: Under the general direction of the Zoo Manager and Zoo Curator, the position is responsible for the supervision, training, scheduling, and assignment of Zookeepers, Trainees, and Volunteers in safely providing a high standard of care for animals in the Happy Hollow Park & Zoo animal collection. The position will assist the Zoo Manager r and Zoo Curator in record keeping and maintenance, establishing and updating procedures, recruitments, public interaction, and daily operations. Also, the position will assist in Public Relations, Education, and program and customer service delivery. The ideal candidate will possess excellent communication skills and must have the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff at all levels. Familiarity with a wide variety of taxa including birds, carnivores, hoof stock, primates and reptiles as well as a background in animal training and enrichment are preferred.

About Zookeeper Full Time: The position performs work involving the care and feeding of zoo, domestic farm, and/or non-domestic animals and maintenance of cages, enclosures, grounds and service areas; working with animals under all types of climatic conditions to prepare them for presentations, capture and restraint, basic husbandry, and behavioral enrichment. In addition, responding to general questions from the public regarding non-domestic and/or domestic animals.

Education and Pre-requisites

SENIOR ZOOKEEPER:

Education: Completion of high school diploma or equivalent General Educational Development (G.E.D.) Certificate, or California Proficiency Certificate.

Experience: Three (3) years (equivalent to 6,240 hours) of experience in the care of zoo animals, including one (1) year (equivalent to 2,080 hours) as a Zookeeper at a zoo facility.

Acceptable Substitutions: Coursework from an accredited college or university in zoology, biology, or closely related field can be substituted for two (2) years of the required experience on a year-for year basis. One (1) year of coursework is equivalent to 30 semester units/45 quarter units. [Note – there is no substitution for the 1 year or 2,080 hours as a Zookeeper at a zoo facility.]

ZOOKEEPER:

Education: Completion of high school diploma or equivalent General Educational Development (G.E.D.) Certificate, or California Proficiency Certificate.

Experience: One (1) year (equivalent to 2,080 hours) of experience in the care of non-domestic animals.

Acceptable Substitutions: College coursework in zoology, biology, or related field can substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis. One (1) year of coursework is equivalent to 30 semester units/45 quarter units.

BOTH:

Licenses: Possession of a valid California Driver’s License may be required.

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent, or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application. State law requires all employees working with youth to provide medical verification of negative tuberculosis test results within the last year.

Compensation and benefits

The actual salary shall be determined by the final candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Minimum Salary: 44,054.40
Maximum Salary: 69,625.92

To learn more about city benefits: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments/human-resources/benefits

Application instructions

For further information about the position(s) and application instructions: https://sanjoseca.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobdetail.ftl?job=2201276&tz=GMT-07%3A00&tzname=America%2FLos_Angeles