Job Description
A COVER LETTER would really help us get to know you well beyond your resume, and why you are interested in this particular position, so applicants must send .
Position Summary:
The Operations Manager is responsible for supervising daily operations at West Place Animal Sanctuary, primarily managing all tasks associated with the volunteer program, feed/supply/medical ordering, inventories and organization, providing support to the animal care manager, and community outreach. The Operations Manager plays a key role in ensuring that the organization’s standards of excellence are met. Please note that this position includes not just desk work, but two days per week of animal care management and requires moving, among other things. Full training will be provided.
Responsibilities:
Volunteer Management:
- Maintain and grow volunteer base through outreach to individuals, community-based organizations and groups, colleges/universities, and corporations as needed.
- Work closely to assure that volunteers are retained through proper training.
- Maintain process to review applications, check references and interview potential individual volunteers/interns, assess interests/skills of volunteers/interns and match with appropriate activities.
- Onboard all new volunteers/interns, collecting correct documentation.
- Track completion of assigned volunteer training.
- Maintain weekly volunteer/intern scheduling.
- Communicate with volunteers/interns to assure attendance during holidays, bad weather, etc.
- Maintain volunteer/intern database.
- Provide accurate and timely volunteer/intern data.
- Engage with existing volunteers/interns daily and provide feedback and additional guidance as needed.
- Maintain volunteer/intern recognition program and collaborate with leaders of other departments as needed, and plan and execute volunteer/intern appreciation and training activities.
- Monitor and manage electronic messaging communications to/from volunteers, through the internal application.
Intern Program Management:
- Recruit high school, college, and graduate level interns.
- Respond to internship requests; assess interests/skills of interns and match with appropriate staff or projects.
- Manage orientation process for new interns.
- Engage in ongoing feedback and complete school evaluations as required in conjunction with the animal care manager.
- Update training information as necessary.
- Communicate trainings, fun facts or educational questions to interns as part of their learning process.
Animal Care Management: (Mondays and Tuesdays and when the ACM is on PTO and unavailable.)
- Acting as animal care manager two days per week (training provided).
- Oversee and manage volunteers performing feeding, cleaning and maintenance of resident living areas.
- Oversee cleaning, maintenance, and proper storage of sanctuary equipment.
- Assist with the check-in of new animals and inspection.
- Overseeing cleanliness, maintenance and daily care of kennel, office and gift shop building.
- Daily health checks on all animals.
- Providing supplements, medications, injections, etc. daily.
- Inform Animal Care Manager of any health issues with the animals.
Property and building management oversight:
- Learn and Understand the roles that our Greenthumbs and Handypeople perform so that you can maintain and delegate a list of things to do for those volunteers each day.
- Assist in overseeing that all buildings are maintained, cleaned, repaired as necessary, delegating to Volunteer Handypeople, and Animal Care manager as needed.
- Monitor electric and heat usage in all buildings and be responsible for conserving.
- Manage the day-to-day working of organization,
Administration:
- Training the part-time admin to perform your job duties during your days off or PTO days, to a high level of professionalism. We currently have a trained admin who will be training the operations manager.
- Responsible for all inventories, staying stocked on all supplies, food, medicine, tools, etc.
- Responding correctly and promptly to emails.
- Managing our main phone number and voicemails with knowledge and professionalism.
- Assisting the public in answering incoming questions.
- Update SOP’s, manuals, training tools, and resources related to volunteers, animal care and operations.
- Assist other employees, visitors, donors, and volunteers in a cheerful and respectful manner as a representative of West Place Animal Sanctuary.
- Prepare all current and necessary updates to the Operations Training Manual and the Animal Care Training Manual.
- Responsible for maintaining our databases, including feed, medical supplies, inventory, volunteers.
- Maintain monthly calendar for shots, deworming, hoof care, etc. in conjunction with the Animal Care Manager.
- Assist Director level staff with administrative tasks as needed.
Events and Community Outreach:
- Act as a Tour Guide for three Visitor Weekends each year, and for private tours.
- Booking private tours, and giving tours as well as understanding the gift shop and the systems to check out our guests.
- Booking group volunteering, plan out projects (training provided) and manage the groups.
- Booking small weddings on property (training provided).
- Assisting in content for building our Virtual Tour platform.
- Booking Corporate Retreats (training provided).
- Gather social media content for Communications Director.
Please read this entire job post before applying as we are only seeking serious inquiries :
- We are a non-profit (very different from a for-profit business).
- We are open 365 days a year.
- Experience IS required.
- Emergent calls and emails come in every day, even on the holidays and the operations manager needs to assist the public in a timely manner. This will mean taking the work phone home with you. There are only very rarely late-night emergencies but they do happen. Other staff handles the work phone on this position's days off.
- If your scheduled work days fall on a holiday, you are scheduled to work unless you use a PTO day for the holiday (we have volunteers and staff every single day of the year since our farm animal rescues do not know it is a holiday).
- Please note that this position is full time and also requires weekends, both days and is not able to be negotiated. Please do not apply if you are not okay with weekend work.
- We need a candidate who is reliable and shows up for work every day. If you call out, your job must still be done and will have to be turned over to another staff person who already has a full-time job, and they will end up working several more hours in order to cover for you, so the rest of the staff must be able to rely on your attendance.
- You must be willing to talk on the phone.
- We are not at a point where we currently offer health insurance or a 401k-type plan but we are working toward adding this in 2026 so there will be a period of time before these are able to be offered.
- If you are offered the position and need to leave your role with us, we request one-month's notice and training training of your successor.
Other Skills and Physical Requirements:
- Organization, organization, organization.
- Need to be able to run and oversee the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-year, as the right candidate in this position could be the future successor to the executive director.
- Extreme Cleanliness of office and workspace.
- Enthusiasm and outgoing, helpful personality.
- Volunteer Management experience prefered.
- Customer Service experience.
- Operational Management experience.
- Very Strong communication skills.
- Critical Thinking skills.
- Mindfulness.
- Very strong time management skills.
- Ability to multi-task on a daily basis.
- Database management.
- Proficiency using Word, Excel, Internet, GSuite for non-profits, certain programs and apps such as Discord and AirTable preferred.
- Commitment to a team approach of working with staff members, volunteers and guests.
- Strong listening, speaking and writing skills.
- Able to manage in-person requests and phone/emails.
- Must be able to be around/handle large animals when necessary.
- Ability to stand for long periods of time (tours, inventories).
- Ability to lift up to 30 lbs., a plus.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $40,000.00 to start per year based on experience regarding all the above. Yearly reviews and increases, and potential to move up within the organization. Up to $42,500 to start with fundraising or income generating experience and a proven track record.
Benefits:
- 50% Employee discount in our gift shop.
- Paid time off - 10 days PTO.
Schedule:
- 8 hour shift (8.5 with .5 hour lunch break, and other necessary breaks).
- Day shift (9-5:30). Historically we have closed at 5 p.m. during parts of the winter (although not guaranteed).
- Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday (off Wednesday and Thursday). This is not negotiable.
- Holidays necessary if they fall on the above workdays (PTO can be used for holidays as long as your animal care manager and admin are working and have enough coverage). We usually close early on major holidays.
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Tiverton, RI 02878: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required).
Experience:
- Operations Management: experience required.
- Public Relations: experience preferred.
- Farm Animal Care: 1 year or more preferred or willingness to learn.
- Administration: experience required.
- Repair experience preferred so you understand how to manage handypeople.
- Landscape experience preferred so you can understand how to manage greenthumbs.
Work Location: In person
Job Tags
Full time, Internship, Work at office, Work from home, Relocation, Shift work, Night shift, Weekend work, Sunday, Day shift, Saturday, 2 days per week, Monday to Friday,