Canine Welfare Neonatal Manager

Contact at organisation: Alima Connan, Guide Dogs for the Blind

Phone: 415-488-2318

Email: aconnan@guidedogs.com

Ensure excellence in our Puppy Center.

At Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB), our mission starts with the breeding and care of puppies who are on a journey to potentially become guide dogs for the blind or visually impaired. As Canine Welfare Neonatal Manager at our San Rafael campus, you will manage and develop a high-performing team that provides compassionate, high-quality care to our dogs and puppies while on our campus. You will oversee the operation of our Puppy Center, where puppies are born and housed until they leave for puppy raising homes. This includes whelping, neonatal care, animal husbandry, and the maintenance of biosecurity and infectious disease protocols. You will also oversee the operation of our boarding kennel, where adult dogs who are part of our breeding program stay when on campus. You will provide administrative support and leadership for the Canine Welfare Neonatal team, a team of approximately forty staff members, as well as a robust volunteer support system. We are seeking a manager whose greatest strength lies in developing people: building trust, offering coaching and perspective, and creating a culture of resilience, compassion, and accountability.

What you’ll do:

• Provide leadership, coaching, and supervision for the staff and volunteers providing the care, management, and socialization of dogs in the Puppy Center and kennel, including breeding program dogs, expectant or whelping broods, neonates, and puppies
• Delegate and oversee technical aspects of biosecurity, neonatal support, and animal care to the supervisory team
• Ensure appropriate staffing and supervision for a 24/7 operation that provides kennel cleaning, feeding and enrichment, breeding and whelping, and administering medications
• Manage hiring for the department, as well as coaching, training, and performance management
• Work with the team to recruit, onboard, train, develop, and support volunteers
• Oversee maintenance of kennel environment, including disease control protocols
• Develop strategies, policies, and procedures designed to improve the health and well-being of puppies
• Prepare and administer department budget, monitor expenses, and operate within approved parameters
• Provide on-call services, telephone consultations, and coverage when necessary
• Provide subject matter expertise for committees, meetings, and special functions

What you’ll love:

• Providing strong leadership and mentoring for your team and helping them achieve their goals and develop their careers
• Working collaboratively with other organizational departments to ensure the quality of care, health, and socialization of our dogs in support of a life-changing mission
• Playing a wide-ranging role that taps into many skillsets and offers plenty of variety
• Working on our beautiful campus in San Rafael, California, with extras like an onsite gym.

The qualifications you’ll need:

• 5+ years of people management and supervisory experience, with experience managing larger teams (5+ supervisors, 30+ individual contributors), demonstrating sound judgment, strong operational understanding, and the ability to lead, motivate, and develop teams
• Strong administrative and organizational skills, including planning, time and project management, multi-tasking, and problem-solving
• Experience with population management, infectious disease management, and familiarity with biosecurity protocols in a care-based or kennel-related setting is strongly preferred.
• Proficiency with Word, Outlook, databases, and Salesforce
• Ability to bend, stoop, kneel, and squat for up to two hours
• This full-time position entails day, possible night, and weekend shifts, as well as on-call work

Guide Dogs for the Blind
At Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB), we believe that everyone deserves to move through the world safely and confidently – to live the life they want to live. As the largest guide dog school in North America, we have graduated more than 16,000 guide dog teams from across the U.S. and Canada since our founding in 1942. GDB not only improves mobility for our clients, we further inclusion. Join our team of more than 300 employees and share your passion for our mission.

At Guide Dogs for the Blind, we respect, value, and appreciate all differences. We welcome all qualified candidates irrespective of your race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Individuals with disabilities, especially those who are blind or visually impaired, are encouraged to apply. If you have a disability and need assistance and/or accommodation with applying for a job, please feel free to contact Human Resources.

Pay Range $121,000 – $145,000 annually