Animal Care Manager

The Animal Care Manager oversees the Animal Care Team and daily workflow of the department, including scheduling, motivating, evaluating, coaching, and developing staff. This position is responsible for maintaining high standards of animal care while supporting an effective, collaborative, accountable, and positive working environment for staff and volunteers.

The Animal Care Manager develops and implements creative and innovative approaches to improve animal flow, animal care, behavior support, and departmental performance. This position identifies and addresses opportunities to improve the quality and capacity of animal care while maintaining practices that support the safety and well-being of both animals and people.

This role is accountable for departmental performance and key performance indicators (KPIs), using data to identify barriers, guide decision-making, and continuously improve outcomes. The Animal Care Manager ensures departmental priorities and teammate expectations remain aligned with organizational goals and the SPCA of Wake County’s core mission of saving animal lives.

The Animal Care Manager works collaboratively with supervisors, organizational leadership, and other departments to ensure consistent communication, effective processes, and alignment with the mission and core values of the SPCA of Wake County.

Our Core Values:

• 1
  - Hell, Yeah!
• 2
  - Be Kind
• 3
  - Do What You Say
• 4
  - Forward Focused
• 5
  - Loose & Wiggly
• 6
  - Drop the Mic

• Maintain and continuously improve high standards of animal care, welfare, sanitation, enrichment, and humane handling throughout the department
• Identify and address opportunities to improve animal welfare, animal flow, and the quality and capacity of care
• Maintain efficient animal flow through SPCA facilities while supporting quality animal care and positive outcomes
• Develop and implement processes that reduce unnecessary length of stay while maintaining a safe and comfortable environment for animals
• Ensure Animal Care teammates consistently implement appropriate low-stress and humane handling practices
• Partner with appropriate teams to ensure animals receive timely behavior support and modification plans and monitor implementation within Animal Care
• Maintain practices that support the health, safety, and well-being of animals, teammates, volunteers, and visitors
• Lead process improvement initiatives and identify opportunities to strengthen departmental workflows, consistency, quality, and operational effectiveness

• Own and actively manage departmental key performance indicators (KPIs), using data to evaluate performance, identify barriers, and drive improvements that maximize the Animal Care Team’s impact on the SPCA’s mission of saving animal lives
• Monitor animal flow, length of stay, capacity for care, and other relevant departmental metrics; identify trends and implement strategies to improve animal welfare, operational efficiency, and positive outcomes
• Establish clear departmental goals aligned with organizational targets and ensure teammates understand how individual and team performance contributes to achieving those goals
• Regularly review and communicate performance results with the Animal Care Team and organizational leadership, proactively identifying barriers and developing solutions when performance is below established targets
• Use data, frontline observations, teammate feedback, and organizational priorities to identify opportunities for continuous improvement
• Track the effectiveness of implemented changes and adjust strategies based on results and evolving operational needs

• Lead, motivate, evaluate, coach, and develop Animal Care teammates while maintaining clear expectations and accountability
• Work closely with Animal Care supervisors to ensure excellent team leadership, communication, workflow, and consistent execution of departmental expectations
• Develop staff training plans and provide ongoing coaching, feedback, recognition, and development opportunities
• Translate departmental KPIs and organizational goals into clear expectations for supervisors and teammates, reinforcing accountability for both individual performance and team outcomes
• Address employee performance concerns and implement appropriate coaching, corrective action, or performance improvement plans in partnership with Human Resources
• Promote…