REPORTS TO: Director Shelter Operations
FLSA STATUS: Exempt
LOCATION: Cincinnati, OH- Colerain and Dane Shelters
ON-SITE REQUIREMENTS: 80% On Site
Join the young, ambitious, pioneering leadership team at Cincinnati Animal CARE in this
rapidly-growing, nationally-recognized animal services organization serving one of the Midwest’s most
vibrant cities in Ohio’s third largest county of 825,000 residents.
Cincinnati Animal CARE Humane Society
Cincinnati Animal Care (CAC) is a progressive, no-kill animal services organization. CAC assumed
operations of the Hamilton County Animal Shelter and Dog Warden operations on August 1st, 2020.
We have maintained a combined dog and cat 95% Live Release Rate ever since. Our mission is to
meet the immediate needs of animals in our community through individualized care, lifesaving
solutions, and temporary shelter en route to a safe, compatible home. Nearly 8,000 animals arrive at
our shelter every year and we have nearly 500 animals in care at any given time. The animals are
housed in two facilities in the Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati. We believe that lifesaving is a
community ethic and are committed to an exceptional level of animal services, implementing a
collaborative, holistic approach to animal sheltering and Dog Warden operations.
We value our talented team of nearly 90 compassionate, open-minded and resilient staff and hundreds
of volunteers and fosters who help us strive toward our vision of a community where all animals are
valued, protected and have a safe place to call home.
Organizational Highlights
Cincinnati Animal CARE offers a robust array of programming that supports animals and people in
our community. In 2022, our Dog Wardens responded to over 10,000 calls from the public and won
multiple cruelty case convictions. Our medical team hospitalized over 1,000 animals in need of
emergency or critical medical treatment. 450 families were assisted through our community support
program offering boarding, veterinary assistance, training assistance, or spay/neuter. Nearly 1,000
stray animals were reunited with their families, 5,700 animals were placed into foster care, and
more than 5,000 animals were adopted into new ones. We are able to achieve unprecedented
results and deliver a robust offering of new services to our community despite working out of an
outdated, 60-year-old facility. Hamilton County has been a great partner and the county has
committed to building a new facility that we expect to be built and operational in the next few years.
About Cincinnati
Cincinnati has lots to offer for anyone looking to relocate here, being recognized as the
highest-ranked and best city to live in Ohio, according to a recent list released by U.S. News and
World Report. In May 2023, Cincinnati was ranked 50th overall in the “150 Best Places to Live in
the U.S”. The city is nestled along the banks of the Ohio River, and the entire metropolitan area
spans portions of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Positive rankings are based on the diverse economy,
plenty of jobs, affordability, strong school districts and nationally recognized colleges and
universities, fun recreational options and excellent family-friendly neighborhoods. Whether you want
hip uptown living, suburban neighborhoods or rural living, we have it all within reach of our shelter in
Northside, a hotbed of creativity and a popular destination for entertainment and nightlife. Just five
miles northwest of downtown Cincinnati, Northside is known for its fun, eclectic and diverse vibe. To
learn more about Cincinnati and our home in Northside, visit www.visitcincy.com and
www.welcometonorthside.com
Position Summary
This critical leadership position is a pivotal opportunity for a results-driven, intellectually-curious,
growth-minded leader. We are looking for a seasoned professional to become part of a vibrant team
and lead the Dog and Cat Programs with strategic thinking and executional excellence – one who has
the internal discipline to work effectively within the freedom and autonomy of a start-up entity to
achieve extraordinary results. The successful candidate is a bold visionary who can rise above the
day-to-day demands of the job to take a holistic approach to program development, using data to
make decisions, forecast trends, anticipate challenges and execute a strategic response. This person
has deep animal care knowledge, strong leadership skills, and a successful track record of project
development and management. The ideal candidate is unsatisfied with the status quo and actively
seeks and accepts feedback and opportunities for improvement.
The Animal Care Associate Director will lead the Dog Care Manager and team, Cat Care Manager and
team, Behavior & Training Manager and team, comprised of approximately 40 staff, and interface with
the community as a leader of CAC. We have high expectations and are committed to hiring a
performance-minded individual who has a track record of growing and developing people, and
producing remarkable results. This successful candidate demonstrates critical thinking skills through
the disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, analyzing, synthesizing, and
evaluating information gathered or generated from observation, experience, reflection as a guide to
belief and action.
Ours is a fast-paced, stressful, high-stakes industry. The successful candidate will thrive in an
environment of uncertainty and ambiguity, rising to the challenges inherent in a start-up entity. This
is a unique opportunity for an entrepreneurial-minded self-starter to make a significant impact and
build a legacy through innovative program development in a professionally supportive,
intellectually-stimulating environment.
Primary Responsibilities
The Animal Care Associate Director will be responsible for setting the short- and long-term strategy
and identifying key performance measures of the collective Animal Care program. This person must
be able to “build the plane while flying it”. Program oversight will include the logistics related to
animal population, standards of care, length of stay, lifesaving and public safety. Key responsibilities
include:
● Develop, prioritize and align strategic initiatives with executive leadership
● Create a strategy for delivering exceptional on-site care that supports the physical and mental
health of each animal and expedites their outcome
● Critical contributor to the pathway planning and outcome decisions for all animals, including
foundational and courageous leadership in lifesaving meetings
● Analyze data and turn insights from data into action to drive better results
● Define key performance measures and metrics for animal care and behavior & training
● Form and leverage strong internal and external relationships to facilitate a community approach
to lifesaving; effectively collaborate up, down and across the organization to executional
excellence and operational efficiency
● Ownership of department staff development – hiring, training, performance management,
retention and career pathways
● Enable program managers through coaching, development and resourcing
● Ability to make tough decisions and gain consensus through decisiveness, transparency,
humility and respectful communications
● Contribute to the development of a financial budget for department and manage to budget
Required Mastery and Skills:
● Mastery of animal housing, care, and enrichment to enable animals to thrive
● Understanding of the 4 quadrants of learning and the LIMA behavior intervention approach
● Experienced cross-functional project manager and business planner who uses KPIs, forecasting
and budgeting to deliver and execute a robust action-oriented plan that is aligned with
organizational goals and objectives
● Anticipates and identifies problems, and proactively seeks solutions in the absence of perfect
data; practices excellent and creative problem-solving skills
● Practices dynamic, holistic and critical thinking that consistently delivers exceptional results
while maintaining alignment on timelines and targets
● Demonstrates decisive decision-making
● Highly-effective communicator up, down, across and outside the organization
● Strong leadership skills to support organizational transition in times of uncertainty
● Ability to engage, empower, enable, energize and lead others within department and
cross-functionally
● Effective cross-functional collaborator who works cooperatively with other leaders to find new
and better approaches
● Experience successfully working for either a start-up or high-growth organization is a real plus
Professional Attributes:
● Unwavering composure, integrity, and professional maturity
● Passionate for animal care and welfare
● Authentic leader and partner – ability to lead by forming productive cross-functional teams,
showing respect for what the team has accomplished while bringing break-through thinking and
solutions to improve the performance of the business
● Superior inspirational qualities – one who creates an atmosphere where people work together
enthusiastically and cooperatively to produce outstanding results; one who attracts top talent
from outside the organization while developing strong teams within
● Operates with a sense of urgency driven by a recognition that we are in a lifesaving business
● Innovative mindset- inspired and unafraid to bring something new to this space
● Results-oriented – ability to drive results to plan with full accountability
● Nimble – demonstrates learning agility, proactively shifting efforts as trends and business
variables change
● Growth-minded – self-reflective, humble and open; seeks, welcomes and incorporates,
professional feedback with an authentic commitment to improve and grow
● Inquisitive- has a history of seeking out best practices and successfully assimilating them into
their organization
● Embodies unwavering commitment to CAC’s values and positive workplace culture
Qualifications/Educational Background:
● 5+ years of animal shelter or animal care experience.
● 5+ years of leadership experience managing a variance of teams, including entry level and
management
● Bachelor’s Degree preferred
Schedule and Availability:
● This is a 40+ hour, exempt position
● Must have availability after-hours and on off-days for emergencies, consultation, and
advisement to managers and Executive Leadership Team as needed
Salary and Benefits:
● Range $70,000-$80,000 dependent on experience and skill-level
● Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 403b, PTO, EAP, Professional Development