Animal Health Director CARE

• four-day work week with three days off to recharge


• four weeks of paid vacation time to relax


• paid sick time to heal


• ten paid holidays to observe


• plus - one week of paid personal time to celebrate what and when you like


• Access to no-cost CE opportunities plus a CE allowance


• Terrific benefits package: medical, dental, and vision insurance, pre-tax dependent care, and health flexible spending accounts (FSAs), 401(k) plan with generous employer contributions beginning after one year of service, employer-paid life and long-term disability insurance and more (note that benefits are subject to change annually)


• Room to grow: the ASPCA has robust professional development programs to help you grow as a medical professional and a person.


• Support: we are one of the largest and most impactful animal welfare organizations in the world, so you will always have a strong team to lean on and cheer you on.

• Ensure CARE provides high quality individualized care, considering the medical and behavioral needs of our patients while maintaining overall population medicine using shelter best practices to a wide range of cruelty, neglect, and at-risk patients.


• Serve on a panel with medical, behavior, and operations leaders to review cases and make weekly pathway planning decisions, including humane euthanasia decisions, taking into consideration animals' physical and behavioral well-being, using organizationally aligned tools developed to assess quality of life and readiness for adoption.


• Perform humane euthanasia for animals deemed unsuitable for placement, working closely with the behavior and medical teams to ensure a compassionate, low-stress procedure.


• Perform medical intakes on all new NYPD and CE cases admitted to CARE and in collaboration with partner departments for animals admitted to veterinary partner hospitals, AAH, ARC, and Adoption Center as needed.


• Provide medical support for large scale NYPD and CE cases.


• Perform exams, diagnostic tests, and medical treatments with full utilization of Fear Free medical handling. Ensure all staff are practicing Fear Free handing.


• Develop skilled and efficient diagnosis and treatment plans following ARC/CARE/AAH medical parameters and guidelines.


• Provide medical care for outpatients of owned, fostered out and/or animals in transition to the Adoption Center and placement partners.


• Maintain thorough, high quality medical records, documenting all exam findings, test results, and treatments.


• Work with partner hospitals as needed, including referral for advanced care, and assessing medical stability of new cases at partner hospitals.


• Respond to after-hours medical concerns.


• Oversee and maintain the CARE animal census.

• Oversee the daily medical care and case flow of the animals housed in CARE.


• Lead the Daily CARE rounds meeting.


• Lead monthly CARE LVT meeting.


• Develop, disseminate, and keep current the CARE Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and ensure their implementation. Facility-specific SOPs are developed in conjunction with ARC, AAH, Adoption Center, BST to ensure best medical, sheltering, and behavioral practices.


• Model a standard of continued commitment to improve and expand upon all aspects of CARE including, medical, behavior, housing, safety, and animal flow.


• Set expectations and goals and provide consistent, high-quality feedback to direct reports, including regular 1:1s and quarterly feedback sessions to build strong relationships, provide clear direction, and encourage opportunities for development. Complete annual performance evaluations.


• Practice and espouse positive, people-centric management approaches that are in line with team and organizational core values.


• Recommend internal and external training opportunities as needed for direct reports in identified areas.


• Respond to concerns from direct reports and selected administrative staff, addressing them promptly and accordingly.


• Handle employee-relations issues with confidentiality and care, ensuring compliance with any applicable collective-bargaining agreements.


• Conduct corrective actions related to performance.


• Maintain proactive communication with the Senior Director as to any critical situations or issues.


• Support the Director of Veterinary Services in handling any adverse client or patient events appropriately and professionally.


• Model a standard of continual commitment to improvement in all aspects of CARE animal care and handling of dogs and cats.


• Serve as a champion in times of change management and proactively partner with the ARC and CARE Leadership team in identifying ways to improve people policies and medical protocols.


• Collaborate with the AAH Office Manager and Direct of Veterinary Services to ensure CARE has appropriate DVM coverage 7 days per week.


• In collaboration with the AAH management team, ensure the CARE veterinary team is scheduled for all required training, meetings, and lectures.

• Collaborate and support the work of partner departments, particularly the Humane Law Enforcement, Community Engagement, and the Adoption Center departments.


• Maintain strict confidentiality when dealing with criminal cases.


• Attend staff meetings, doctor meetings and other requested meetings.


• Provide medical information and represent CARE to the public and to media when requested.


• Provide a high level of customer service to external and internal clients.


• Create, model, and follow written and verbally communicated ASPCA and CARE Standard Operating Procedures.


• Assist with special projects, presentations and data collection as requested.


• Other duties as assigned.

• Has Commitment and dedication to improving the lives of animals


• Demonstrates Ownership and feels responsible for outcomes


• Believes in Team - that we are stronger together


• Seeks to Elevate others and reimagine what is possible


• Focuses on Impact, specifically making change for animals

• Ability to successfully work in a high-volume, fast-paced environment that combines individual patient and shelter medicine and effectively multi-task with a high degree of integrity and accountability and without loss of attention to detail.


• Ability to work well within a team and communicate effectively and courteously with all levels of staff.


• Maintain an open mind regarding changes and be willing to learn, implement, and teach new protocols.


• Deploy with BST, Community Engagement, Community Medicine, National Field Response or Rehabilitation Services at one time per year (locally and nationally).


• Able to lift and carry up to 50 pounds.


• Able to work standing for 8 or more hours and bend, crouch, kneel and move freely to perform responsibilities that include handling potentially dangerous animals in stressful conditions.


• Able to occasionally work in physically challenging conditions and able to wear appropriate protective gear, including a protective mask; job responsibilities may entail exposure to chemical and biological hazards, such as feces and blood, exposure to sharp objects, working in noisy environments and working in areas with uneven, wet, and slippery surfaces.


• The CARE Medical Supervisor may be requested and/or required to work additional hours, weekends, cover shifts and/or stay late.


• May be required to work or provide medical and/or staffing support for disasters/storm coverage.