Choosing where to grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it’s equally important you know that the place you choose to work at will support and guide you. With a diversity of passionate people, San Antonio Zoo is a place where you can collaborate with others securing a future for wildlife.
The Impact You’ll Make in this Role
- Aviculture Department Manager is responsible for training, supervising, observing, and evaluating subordinates.
- You will perform various supervisory tasks to ensure subordinates provide proper handling, care, and maintenance of animals/birds, exhibit areas, buildings, enclosures, shelters, and service areas.
- The Aviculture Department Manager is responsible for assuring proper medical treatments of zoo animals/birds following instructions of the Zoo Veterinarian and daily cleaning and maintenance of animal/bird enclosures and service areas.
- As an Aviculture Manager, you will have the opportunity to tap into your curiosity and collaborate with some of the most innovative and diverse people in San Antonio. Here, you will make an impact by:
- Ensure the daily cleaning, feeding, and care of zoo animals/birds.
- Maintain department records, including animal/bird records, employee records, daily reports, work orders, and purchase requests.
- Establish, direct, and enforce operating policies and procedures.
- Supervise the department animal/bird behavior enrichment and training program.
Upholds all company policies
- Consistently exhibit an attitude of service inside and outside the zoo, showing hospitality to all.
- Be fully committed to the mission of San Antonio Zoo to create awareness that inspires action to care for the wild world we steward and the animals we protect.
Staff Management and Development
- Coach, mentor, and develop staff, including overseeing new team members’ onboarding and providing career development planning and opportunities.
- Must establish and maintain effective working relations with fellow employees.
- Behavioral Observations
- Daily behavioral observation, animal training, and operant conditioning techniques to maintain current behaviors and build a new repertoire of inexperienced and native animals.
- Increase the behavioral repertoire of all assigned animals.
- Continually observe and evaluate animal behavior and conditions for animals in the department and report any appropriate manager problems.
Collaboration
- Assist veterinary staff in the treatment of the collection of animals.
- Assist in animal procedures including, but not limited to, translocations, veterinary practices, and crating.
- Assist in the design, construction, and maintenance of animal habitats and displays
- Effectively document and communicate issues or concerns to team members and management.
Creating Community
- Engage with the Zoo guests at exhibits, team members, volunteers, VIP programs and training demonstrations, and/or shows.
- Promote active guest engagement through interaction with guests during both formal and informal discussions, during events, and as otherwise assigned.
- Ability to handle and display program animals and present fun facts and biological and historical information about animals in a professional manner
Safety
- Ability to exercise sound judgment in analyzing animal behavior concerns or emergencies and to respond with the appropriate action
- Ability to work safely around delicate, wild, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous animals.
Your Skills and Expertise
- To set you up for success in this role from day one, the San Antonio Zoo recommends the following skills/qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in wildlife management zoology, biology, or combination of training and experience.
- Five years of experience with exotic animal/bird care in a zoo or similar environment.
- Five years of experience with brooder operations experience in a zoo or similar environment.
- Minimum one-year progressive zookeeping experience in an AZA-accredited facility or similar
- Brooder chick-rearing and brooder operations, experience in a zoo or similar environment
- Minimum of two years of responsible leadership experience in management or supervisory positions.
- Knowledge of Microsoft Suite and ability to learn other software platforms.
- Experience or education of animal/bird behavior and husbandry.
- Must be 18 years of age or older with a clean driving record for vehicle operation
- Valid Texas driver's license or obtain within three months of employment.
- Successful candidates must complete a pre-employment National Sex Offender Search, Criminal Background Check, and Drug Screen
- We enjoy year-round operation for all staff, must be available day, nights, weekends, holidays, and occasional special after-hour assignments.
- The San Antonio Zoo is an equal opportunity employer. San Antonio Zoo will not discriminate against any applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.
Perks
- We offer robust benefits including medical, dental, vision and 403B.
- As well as Zoo memberships and Zoo discounts throughout the park.
Salary
- $50,000/Annual
