Animal Services Foster Coordinator

Job Description:

Animal Services Foster Coordinator

Description

Description

THE POSITION

Under the general supervision of the Animal Care Manager, the Foster Care Coordinator provides a vital role in advancing Ventura County Animal Services (VCAS) lifesaving mission. This position is responsible for recruiting, coordinating, and supporting foster caregivers while ensuring clear communication and collaboration with the kennel supervisors, veterinary staff, and other animal pathway coordinators. The Foster Care Coordinator maintains detailed tracking of foster animals, provides guidance to foster families, and works proactively to ensure animals receive the care they need until adoption or return to the shelter.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
The ideal candidate for the Foster Care Coordinator position is a highly organized and compassionate individual with a background in animal care, volunteer coordination, or foster program management. They should have some knowledge of animal behavior, medical needs, and sheltering best practices, along with excellent communication and interpersonal skills to engage with foster caregivers, volunteers, and staff professionally and empathetically. Strong organizational abilities are essential, and experience in scheduling, maintaining accurate records, and managing multiple cases simultaneously is ideal. Proficiency in shelter management software, email, and social media for communication and record-keeping is highly desirable. Bilingual skills in English and Spanish are preferred.

PAYROLL TITLE: Technical Specialist IV-PH

DEPARTMENT/AGENCY: Animal Services Agency

EDUCATIONAL/BILINGUAL INCENTIVE: Incumbents may be eligible for an educational incentive of 2.5%, 3.5%, or 5% based on completion of an Associate's, Bachelor's, or Master's degree that is not required for the classification. Incumbents may also be eligible for bilingual incentive depending upon operational need and certification of skill.

Technical Specialist IV-PH is represented by the Services Employee International Union (SEIU) and is eligible for overtime compensation.

The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary and Fixed-term), Intermittent, and Extra Help vacancies for this position only. There is currently one (1) Regular vacancy.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
OPENING DATE: 3/10/2025
CLOSING DATE: 3/24/2025

Examples Of Duties

Duties may include but are not limited to the following:

• Maintains consistent contact and communication with foster participants including addressing medical, behavioral or procedural questions from foster participants throughout the day by phone, email, text message, and/or the foster volunteer Facebook page; maintains the resources webpage to assist foster volunteers;
• Provides foster volunteers with supplies and medications for animals as needed; ensures volunteers are adhering to policies;
• Conducts training onsite to introduce foster volunteers to potential foster animals (animal handling) as well as administrative tasks and policies as part of the foster program; provides training for more advanced foster tasks such as bottle feeding, administering medications (orally or through subcutaneous injections), handling and training behaviorally challenging animals;
• Performs administrative duties including data entry/updating volunteer program software and shelter software; updates program policies, procedures, manuals, and other materials as needed;
• Conducts outreach for the foster care program which includes contacting foster volunteers to find temporary placement for animals in need;
• Creates social media posts to market foster animals for adoption as well as recruit additional foster volunteers;
• Orders and purchases foster program supplies such as food and training equipment;
• Coordinates with shelter staff and or outside veterinary offices for emergency and routine foster medical needs; also coordinates with shelter staff to urgently place animals in need of foster (at times after business hours);
• Creates and updates training materials (manuals, waivers, training videos, and other resources) for the foster volunteer program;
• Acts as liaison between foster volunteers and adopters; conducts “meet and greet” adoption sessions and processes applications;
• Schedules onsite volunteers for foster related volunteer duties; maintains and updates veterinary appointment scheduling and foster training scheduling program; and
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Typical Qualifications

These are entrance requirements to the exam process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.

EDUCATION, TRAINING, and EXPERIENCE:
Any combination of education and/or experience which would provide the knowledge, skills and abilities that can be obtained by:

Any combination of education, training or experience equivalent to two (2) years of program development and implementation.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must have experience working with shelter animals of all types and sizes.
• Must possess and maintain a valid California driver license.
  • Note to out-of-state applicants: If you currently possess a valid driver license from your state of residence, you meet this requirement and, if selected for the position, you will be afforded approximately 30 days from date of hire to obtain and, thereafter, maintain a valid California driver license.
• Intermediate skill/proficiency in Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Must be willing and able to work in a facility where euthanasia is performed.
• Must be willing and able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays.
• This position will work primarily out of our Camarillo shelter location but must be available to work from our Simi Valley shelter and throughout the County.
• Must be proficient with the Department's shelter software program and foster management program within the first six (6) months of hire
• Incumbents may be required to wear a uniform during work hours
• Must be able to stand for long periods of time, bend, stoop, reach, and lift/carry animals and equipment weighing up to 50 lbs.

DESIRED

• Bilingual in English and Spanish
• Experience working with animal foster care, program development or coordination, and training of volunteers/staff.
• Experience using Crystal reports.
• Experience using social media platforms: Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES:
Considerable knowledge of: animal shelter foster care principles and theories; animal shelter program goals and directives; techniques, procedures, and methods for accurately gathering, synthesizing, evaluating or conveying information; principles and techniques of foster coordination including training, recruiting, and education foster families; basic animal health (gastrointestinal, neonatal, geriatric, orthopedic, etc.).

Thorough knowledge of: modern office methods and practices; record maintenance systems; letter writing, report compilation and public contact techniques; social media platforms and etiquette to include: Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Skill in: exceptional customer service and dealing with difficult customers/foster families; de-escalation techniques; organization and time management; problem solving and utilizing good judgment.

Ability to: follow complex oral and written instructions; demonstrate effective communication skills verbally and written; cultivate community relationships and maintain confidential information; work in a facility where euthanasia is performed; remain calm yet assertive in stressful situations; suspend personal judgment when dealing with customers; and lift and move up to 50 pounds.

Working Conditions:

Position may involve moderate to heavy public contact depending on assignment; indoor and outdoor elements; frequent exposure to various types of animals of varying sizes; exposure to odors or airborne particles including animal fur and toxic chemicals; and working in loud noise levels.

Recruitment Process

FINAL FILING DATE: Applications must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources no later than 5:00 PM on Monday March 24th, 2025.

To apply on-line, please refer to our web site at www.ventura.org/jobs . If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 654-5129 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.

Note to Applicants: It is essential that you complete all sections of your application and supplemental questionnaire thoroughly and accurately to demonstrate your qualifications. A resume and/or other related documents may be attached to supplement the information in your application and supplemental questionnaire; however, it/they may not be submitted in lieu of the application.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE - qualifying: All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire may result in the application being removed from consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION - qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine whether or not the stated requirements are met. Those individuals meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue through the screening and selection process.TRAINING & EXPERIENCE EVALUATION: A Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E) is a structured evaluation of the job application materials submitted by an applicant, including the written responses to the supplemental questionnaire. The T&E is NOT a determination of whether the applicant meets the stated requirements; rather, the T&E is one method for determining who is the better qualified among those who have shown that they meet the stated requirements. In a T&E, applications are either scored or rank ordered according to criteria that most closely meet the business needs of the department. Applicants are typically scored/ranked in relation to one another; consequently, when the pool of applicants is exceptionally strong, many qualified applicants may receive a sore or rank which is moderate or even low resulting in them not being advanced in the process.

In a typical T&E, your training and experience are evaluated in relation to the background, experience, and factors identified for successful job performance during a job analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that your application materials clearly show your relevant background and specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is also highly recommended that the supplemental questions within the application are completed with care and diligence. Responses such as "See Resume" or "Refer to Resume" are not acceptable and may disqualify an applicant from further evaluation.

ORAL EXAM - 100%: A job-related oral examination may be conducted to evaluate and compare participating candidates' knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to those factors which job analysis has determined to be essential for successful performance of the job. Candidates must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.

NOTE: If there are three (3) or fewer qualified applicants, an oral examination will not be conducted. Instead, a score of seventy percent (70%) will be assigned to each application, and each applicant will be placed on the eligible list.

Applicants successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A thorough pre-employment, post offer background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information, and driving record may be required for this position.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITYThe County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

For further information about this recruitment, please contact Brett Ramirez by e-mail at Brett.Ramirez@ventura.org .

YOUR BENEFITS AS A COUNTY OF VENTURA EMPLOYEE

Service Employees International Union (LOCAL 721)

(SEIU)

To learn more about Benefits, Retirement, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), see links below.

• Benefits website or you may call (805) 654-2570.
• Retirement FAQ's
• Memorandum of Agreement

Union Codes: UPA, UPC, UPE, UPH, UPI, UPJ, UPT, UWS

Closing Date/Time: 3/24/2025 5:00 PM Pacific

Salary:

$48,938.00 - $68,501.78 Annually