Lifesaving & Care Specialist (Kitten Care) - Mission Hills, CA

The Best Friends Los Angeles Kitten Care Center is seeking hardworking and compassionate individuals to join our dedicated team of kitten wranglers. Our Lifesaving & Care Specialists provide care to neonatal kittens awaiting adoption, facilitate foster placement of eligible kittens, and provide support to foster parents and volunteers. This position is perfect for friendly, motivated, and self-starting individuals who thrive in a bustling work environment.  

If you’re ready to start making a difference in the lives of homeless pets, apply today!

Best Friends recently received a 2022 Top Workplaces USA award from Energage.  Visit the Best Friends Animal Society page on the Energage Top Workplaces award winners’ site here to learn more. Not only do we take pride on cultivating a welcoming and supportive community and culture for our employees, but we also offer competitive benefits that make it easy to see why we were granted such an awesome award! Take a look for yourself! We offer competitive pay, medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, short and long-term disability, dependent care reimbursement, pet sitting reimbursement when traveling for work, flexible spending account, health savings account, generous paid time off, paid holidays, auto insurance discount, and legal and identify theft coverage.  For added wellbeing support, we offer Pawternity Leave for employees to have time to care for their personal pets, mental health support, and an employee assistance program. We also offer a generous 401k savings plan. Do you want to love where you work? Look no further and apply online today!  

Location: Mission Hills, CA

Hiring Range:  This position will start at $20.90 per hour.

Position Summary: Lifesaving & Care Specialists are responsible for the daily functions, and growth of lifesaving programs including adoption, foster care, transfer/transport, as well as providing basic animal care for animals in our program locations. Specialists act with urgency to accomplish important tasks and play a direct role in achieving Best Friends Animal Society’s no-kill mission and organizational success. Specialists may receive intensive assignments in a particular program, based on organizational needs. Senior specialists have an increased level of responsibility or skills, and the ability to make on- the-spot decisions to accomplish tasks.

We value attitude over aptitude, and we treat Kindness as a discipline because it is paramount in our culture along with our other Guiding Principles. Culture is how we talk to and treat ourselves and one another, it’s how we generate and respond to change, it’s how we plan and make decisions, it’s how we do what we do.

• Demonstrate kindness and the Golden Rule in our everyday actions by practicing inclusion and respect for every person for the value they bring to the table. Be a role model for the spirit of authenticity, kindness and positive influence with each other, our visitors, and volunteers as well as to the animals every day. This includes listening, being present, being supportive of others and demonstrating compassion and curiosity in conflict.
• Promote and facilitate pet adoptions, providing superior customer service, new pet parent counselling, and post-adoption support throughout; coordinate and conduct transport program operations including but not limited to animal selection, travel logistics, records management, supply management, and vehicle management; support, empower and enable volunteers and foster parents with the goal of utilizing volunteers to expand Best Friends lifesaving capacity.
• Deliver superior customer service, assist adopters, fosters and transfer partners by gathering information to match them with appropriate animals; develop general knowledge of the animals in the Best Friends’ care, and in our partner shelters’ care, when necessary, to best match both animal and client needs.
• Work directly with and support volunteers on all aspects and protocols of lifesaving care and outcome programs, including but not limited to program protocols, cleaning protocols, specific animal behavior and care, animal handling, transportation requirements and procedures, data entry, and communications.
• Work collaboratively with Best Friends’ team members in all areas of operations to achieve lifesaving goals; follow Best Friends policies, procedures, and task lists for daily lifesaving outcome assignments, including accurate and timely communications, work completion, data entry, and recordkeeping.
• Maintain a safe workplace, value, and model safe work practices, adhering to organizational safety practices and rules, and communicate to leadership about unsafe practices and conditions.

• Bilingual or multi-lingual skills preferred but not required.
• Customer-centric, non-judgmental approach to engaging with adopters, partners, visitors, volunteers, and colleagues; familiarity and comfort with a conversational adoption process.
• Ability to work with, leash, kennel, walk, and handle cats and dogs, including those with health and/or behavior conditions/concerns; basic ability to identify and speak to medical and behavioral characteristics of dogs and cats.
• Strong interpersonal skills, a team player, personable, professional, and able to get along with people from different backgrounds, as well as the ability to handle sensitive and confidential situations.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with well-developed organization skills to juggle multiple competing tasks and demands.
• Resourceful, get-it-done attitude; initiative to assist in any area or process; problem solving, seeking answers independently and enthusiastically; flexibility to persist until goals are achieved.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office products; familiarity with shelter software/animal management software, or desire to learn.

• Must be able to:
  1. Routinely lift 40 pounds and perform daily strenuous activity including, but not limited to lifting, carrying, reaching, stooping, squatting, cleaning, and bending.
  2. Perform repetitive tasks for extended periods of time including typing, sitting, walking, arm, and hand motion.
  3. Work indoors and outdoors in a variety of weather conditions including extreme heat and cold.
• Exposure to dogs, cats and other animals of all sizes, temperaments, and medical status.
• Valid driver’s license, meeting Best Friends Animal Society’s driver qualification standards; ability to travel, including overnight stays, when needed.
• Daily hours and days of the week may vary according to the needs of the department schedule; position includes weekends, nights, and holiday work.

After applicants accept an offer of employment in writing, they will be asked to provide Covid-19 vaccination status information pursuant to any applicable policies in place at the time of hiring.  

Thank you for your interest in pursuing a career at Best Friends Animal Society.  Best Friends Animal Society is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, domestic partner status.