Manager, Animal Adoptions - Animal Welfare Shelter

Description

At Humane Colorado, we believe every animal and every person deserves care, dignity, and the opportunity to thrive together. In 2025, 13,920 animals found new homes or were reunited with their families through our adoption programs, each outcome made possible by thoughtful, compassionate work.

We are seeking a Manager of Animal Adoptions to lead operations at the Leslie A. Malone Center. This role guides a dedicated team of staff and volunteers, ensuring every adoption experience is welcoming, supportive, and grounded in empathy.

The Manager brings both heart and leadership, supporting people through meaningful moments, strengthening adoption practices, and fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and care. This is an opportunity to lead with purpose and help shape the future of humane, community-centered adoptions.

Purpose of Position: Directly lead, develop, oversee and evaluate the League’s Leslie A. Malone Center adoption programs to ensure an exceptional patron experience and effective process. Oversee and enhance the League’s pet supply retail activities. Create and innovate best practices and together with the team develop the future state of the adoptions and retail departments at the Malone Center.

Responsibilities

• Lead and direct the adoption functions, including pet supply retail store, to ensure the highest level of people care is delivered to League’s patrons, staff, volunteers, partners, donors, and vendors.
• Ensure patron experiences are always compassionate. Communicate with a diverse population in a consistently informative, confident, respectful and professional manner. Assist with escalated patron issues when required.
• Perform euthanasia and related tasks.
• Perform shelter opening and closing duties as needed.
• Work with and handle animal of varying species, size and temperament daily in a caring, safe and respectful manner.
• Adhere to all League safety, training, and handling and transportation protocols in order to ensure that the Shelter environment is safe for animals, the public, volunteers and other employees. Wear required personal protective clothing, identification and safety garments/equipment as defined by League policies and procedures.
• Collaborate with League team members to balance competing priorities, create organizational alignment, support strategic planning, execute upon organizational initiatives, and ensure alignment with core values, vision and mission.
• Participate in inter-departmental meetings and discussions to support and develop League initiatives.
• Design, develop and implement department standards, work processes, systems and procedures for accomplishing work. Develop SOPs and ensure they are updated, followed, and communicated with staff and volunteers. Monitor and evaluate program and process effectiveness, including statistical analysis and report creation, and implement improvements. Develop and fulfill realistic and ambitious departmental objectives and plans.
• Ensure the highest level of people care is delivered to League patrons, staff, volunteers, partners, donors, and vendors.
• Inform and monitor the departmental budgets. Manage utilization of department resources to maximize the value, control expenses and minimize waste.
• Manage daily operations by providing leadership and development to the staff. Foster achievement of a common vision within and across teams. Provide clear direction and priorities. Ensure that roles and responsibilities are understood and carried out.
• Motivate and mobilize staff to act. Remove obstacles, coordinate work efforts when necessary and empower staff members within department. Manage and ensure the proper utilization and integration of department volunteers.
• Represent the organization internally and externally with integrity, serving as an ambassador of the League’s mission and brand. Manage external partnerships and vendors to provide services as needed.
• Oversee daily financial transactions.
• Manages and develops an effective staff: providing effective communication, leadership, guidance and resources. Determines staff qualifications and competency: recruits, interviews, selects, hires, trains, orients, mentors, evaluates, coaches, counsels, disciplines, and rewards. Establishes and monitors staff safety and regulatory compliance.

People Care

People are the key to fulfilling our mission. Making internal and external patrons and their needs a primary focus is expected in all situations. This position interacts with and collaborates with employees at all levels of the organization. Communication occurs through face to face, telephone, and electronic interactions and may also include contact with the general public and League business partners. Communication and contact must be clear, understandable, cooperative, professional and respectful in all circumstances. Employees are expected to actively support a positive team environment, directly address conflict, and appropriately express concerns.

Competencies

Competencies are work behaviors and expectations necessary for successful job performance. They encompass knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and actions. Additional definitions for competencies may be obtained from Human

Resources

Organizational Key Competencies

• Integrity and Ethics
• Adapting to Change and Ambiguity
• Customer and Community Focus
• Emotional Intelligence
• Excellence

Leadership Key Competencies

• Project and Process Management
• Delivering Results
• Developing Direct Reports
• Building and Leading Effective Teams

Position Key Competencies

• Analytical thinking
• Conflict management
• Financial acumen & fiscal responsibility
• Innovation
• People development
• Project management
• Strategic thinking

Supervisory or Managerial Responsibility

• Adoptions and Retail team members
• Volunteers

Travel

• This position requires up to 5% travel in state
• This position may require travel to different work sites

Work Conditions and Physical Requirements

Performs work primarily in an office setting. Potentially prolonged periods of walking or standing. Potentially prolonged periods of sitting and repetitive motion. May work in an area with high noise level. Potentially subject to animal bites and scratches. Exposure to cleaning chemicals, fumes, dust, animal dander, and feces. Occasional lifting with reasonable accommodation. Will be required to work evenings, weekends and/or holidays as business operations demand.

Full Time Benefits – Please visit our website for a comprehensive list of all offered benefits.

Humane Colorado offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support your well-being, growth, and work-life balance.

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Flexible spending and health savings accounts
• Employer-paid life and short-term disability insurance
• Generous paid time off and paid holidays
• 401(k) with employer match
• Employee assistance program and wellness resources
• Professional development and learning opportunities
• Sabbatical leave eligibility
• Employee discounts and adoption benefits

Compensation: $62,322-$67,000 annually (starting pay commensurate with market, experience, and equity)

Posting will remain open until filled, with a minimum posting period of 5 days.

Requirements

Position Qualifications Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Ability to utilize effective problem solving/decision making skills
• Able to demonstrate exceptional discretion, judgment, impartiality and confidentiality when dealing with personnel issues, financial issues and proprietary information.
• Able to demonstrate high degree of independence, initiative and organization.
• Able to maintain a professional appearance and exercise sound judgment during all interactions with the public, staff and volunteers.
• Able to set goals, prioritize, delegate work and provide feedback to others to complete multiple tasks on or before deadline.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Strong organizational skills with high attention to detail
• Willing to learn new tasks and able to become proficient in a short period.

Required

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• At least 5 years of related work experience including leading the work of others and progressively complex project or program leadership responsibilities.
• At least 3 years’ experience providing customer service.

Desired

• Professional experience in an animal welfare organization/animal shelter
• Experience creating and managing budgets
• Experience leading and managing volunteers
• General knowledge of animal sheltering software, Chameleon preferred