Adoption Counselor (Flexible Hours)

Summary

The Adoption Program at ACC has a goal that is simple and powerful: we are looking to help end animal homelessness in New York City by connecting people and pets for adoption. ACC employs an open adoption approach where we understand that there is no such thing as the “perfect home” and we welcome all clients as potential adopters. Using an “open adoptions” approach, the adoption process is conversation based and non-judgmental. Our focus is on matching pets with people and providing resources to continue assisting these new families post adoption. Adoption Counselors are the voice of the homeless pet population and work to promote their adoptions. They will need to provide superior customer service skills and must be willing and prepared to answer a wide variety of questions regarding animal husbandry.

Required Qualifications:

High School Diploma or GED required.
At least one year of customer service experience is required.
Strong computer literacy required.
The ability to handle different breeds and sizes of dogs.
Treating animals and people with respect and employing humane handling techniques whenever possible.
Must be able to lift a minimum of 50 lbs.

Benefits

Part-Time employees are not eligible for vacation time or personal leave.

Essential Job Functions:

Provide exemplary customer service to our adopters by effectively communicating and guiding them through the adoption process which includes helping them find a good match for their families and supplying them with the information and resources during counseling sessions to set them up for success.
Routinely socialize and interact with dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs.
Process adoption paperwork; ensuring that it is filed and organized accordingly to policy as well as process payments. This includes closing animal records, entering rabies/dog license information, processing payments and donations in our Shelterbuddy database.

Other Responsibilities:

Escort clients to view available animals for adoption to find out what they are looking for in a pet and explain kennel cards.
Review adoption applications, interview prospective adopters and make decisions on the outcome of adoptions.
Perform reference checks as needed.
Check and provide answers via email on a shared adoption account.
Occasionally attend offsite adoption events and participate in community outreach.
Answer phones and check voicemails in a timely fashion.
Provide follow-up post adoption to answer any questions or to address and work through common challenges.
Interact with and get to know available animals in order to provide information and to provide the best matches.
Handle and conduct interactions between animals and their potential adopters.
Prepare animals to leave the shelter by properly fitting dogs with collars and/or harnesses and placing cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs into carriers using low-stress techniques.
Conduct and write rabbit evaluations to promote their adoptions.
Write bios and take photos to help increase adaptability.
Photograph and keep track of positive adoption stories or “Happy Tails” to share with other members of the organization.
Clean and organize adoption areas.
Fear Free Shelter certification within 30 days of hire.
Complete other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Preferred Qualifications:

Prior experience with Microsoft Office Suite preferred.
Bilingual (Spanish) preferred.
Prior animal handling experience for dogs/cats/small animals preferred.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, often high-stress, ever changing environment.
Customer-driven and focused on providing a positive, upbeat experience for all clients.
High attention to detail, strong work ethic, and thrive working in a busy environment.
Work well independently but also function seamlessly as a member of a team.