Receptionist & Animal Care Attendant – HRM Animal Redemption Centre

A Receptionist and Animal Care Attendant is a key member of the Nova Scotia SPCA Shelter team, helping to create a positive experience for people while ensuring the health, comfort, and well-being of animals in our care.

This role combines exceptional and compassionate customer service with animal care, supporting both front‑of‑house operations and the daily needs of shelter animals. The successful candidate will help maintain a welcoming and sanitary environment for visitors, staff, volunteers, and animals.

We are seeking a reliable, enthusiastic, and compassionate individual who is available to work weekends. The ideal candidate is passionate about animal welfare, enjoys working with people, and thrives in a fast‑paced team environment. This position also offers the opportunity to respond to urgent animal by‑law‑related calls on behalf of the Halifax Regional Municipality for additional compensation. As such, the successful candidate must be flexible and willing to participate in a scheduled on‑call rotation that includes holidays and overnight shifts.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provides outstanding customer service with a friendly can‑do attitude.
• Guide prospective adopters through the adoption process, ensuring a positive, informative and welcoming experience.
• Educate adopters on animal care, behaviour, medical history and post‑adoption resources.
• Answers general inquiries by phone, email and in person and provides support and options in a variety of sensitive matters.
• Assists with the scheduling and coordination of appointments.
• Provide a wide range of administrative and clerical duties and work well with low supervision.
• Maintaining positive interactions with the public, staff and volunteers in a fast‑paced, sometimes hectic and noisy environment while remaining calm, focused resourceful and efficient is critical to this role.
• Responsible for all duties related to the care of animals (cleaning of the holding areas, assuring that animals receive food and water, bathing and basic grooming).
• Provides humane handling and restraining techniques.
• Observe animals for signs of illnesses or injuries and report symptoms to the appropriate personnel.
• Administers medications as prescribed.
• Maintain accurate records for animal inventory, health, medications, treatments, procedures, behaviour and adoption information.
• Performs continual maintenance duties that include repairs and upkeep. Cleans all equipment and work areas to maintain the highest standard of cleanliness and sanitation. Follows health and safety regulations and protocols.
• Completes other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each task satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and ability required.

• A Veterinary Assistant Diploma is considered an asset.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to interact professionally and empathically with a diverse range of people.
• Demonstrated ability to remain calm, organized and solution‑oriented in a fast‑paced environment.
• Demonstrates animal control knowledge, including proper restraining techniques.
• Knowledge of animal behaviours, and basic obedience training methods.
• Ability to identify species, breeds, age and sex of animals.
• Ability to identify signs of animal illnesses, diseases and injuries.
• Ability to identify different medications and methods of administration.
• Ability to perform sanitation procedures and general maintenance.
• Ability to perform the SPCA’s basic medical intake process and other duties as outlined in SPCA Manuals.
• Employee must demonstrate ability to work effectively with others (including co‑workers, customers,…