Executive Director - ASCMV

About the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley (ASCMV)

The Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley (ASCMV) was established in 2008 through a joint powers agreement between the City of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County, NM. This partnership provides a shared structure for funding, operating, and maintaining the region’s municipal animal shelter and related services.

The ASCMV is overseen by a Board of Directors made up of representatives from both the Las Cruces City Council and the Doña Ana County Commission, as well as appointed public members and ex-officio representatives from city and county leadership. The City of Las Cruces serves as the fiscal agent, while the Executive Director leads day-to-day operations through a team of public employees.

As the only open-admission shelter serving both the City and County, ASCMV handles an exceptionally high volume of animals. However, it remains a progressive, community-focused organization committed to reuniting lost pets with their families and placing adoptable animals into loving homes.

ASCMV Mission

Our mission at the ASCMV is to provide safe shelter for all lost, mistreated, and abandoned animals of the Mesilla Valley and surrounding communities. The ASCMV utilizes all avenues available to it in placing each animal into a safe, loving, and permanent home whenever possible. We strive to meet the highest standards of humane animal care and husbandry, and to promote responsible pet ownership through public education and outreach.

The Position

The Executive Director of the ASCMV provides strategic leadership and day-to-day management of the region’s only open-admission municipal animal shelter. Reporting to the ASCMV Board, the Executive Director is responsible for setting and implementing shelter policies, overseeing staff and resources, and ensuring compliance with City, County, State, and Federal regulations.

This high-impact role leads the development and execution of long- and short-term plans, program goals, and performance metrics that improve animal care outcomes and operational efficiency. The Executive Director serves as the public face of the organization, working closely with community stakeholders, volunteers, elected officials, and partner agencies to promote collaboration, education, and responsible pet ownership across the region.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develops and implements ASCMV strategies and tactical goals to meet strategic plans and objectives; reviews and approves complex solutions for animal sheltering and care issues; reviews strategies and determines resource requirements and program goals and deliverables; determines scope and priorities of projects; develops programs and policies to support present and future needs.
• Provides leadership, direction, and guidance to operations; evaluates and analyzes issues, and recommends and implements solutions; identifies and monitors long and short range goals and objectives; manages shelter performance and productivity; directs the continuous improvement of the work products; assures the overall integrity of the support and functionality of the shelter services; develops, evaluates and manages overall budgets; maintains current and accurate financial and resource information on shelter operations.
• Manages and coordinates assigned staff; develops goals and priorities, assigns tasks and projects; develops staff skills and training plans; counsels, trains and coaches professional, administrative and technical staff; responds to complaints about employees, volunteers and facility procedures; assists customer service representatives when dealing with difficult situations and resolves problems of a unique and/or sensitive nature; responds to community concerns regarding animal issues;
  
  implements corrective actions and conducts performance evaluations; provides leadership, direction and guidance in program management, technical strategies and priorities; reviews and approves status reports prepared by Department personnel and directs schedule and plan modifications.
• Develops, implements and monitors department budget, approves budget expenditures; prepares and reviews operational…