Animal Care Worker

Overview

APA! Background:
Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austins most dynamic nonprofits. The organization leads the No Kill movement nationally and is considered a national thought leader in animal welfare. APA! locally rescues, treats, and adopts out 10,000 homeless dogs and cats each year, providing the safety net for Austins most at-risk shelter pets, which helps Austin to be a No Kill city, while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals.

The organization is distinguished by its large volunteer workforce and the scrappiness of its grassroots and its non-traditional, community-based animal rescue work.

Care workers at Austin Pets Alive! are essential frontline shelter professionals who ensure consistent, compassionate, and responsive care for the animals in our program. This role provides direct care while also contributing to APA!s mission through teamwork, adaptability, and strong volunteer engagement.

While Care workers are grounded in daily routines like feeding, cleaning, and enrichment, they are also cross-functional collaborators. They are expected to step in and assist with other essential shelter functions such as intake, placement, medical, and customer service as needed to support the flow of operations, especially during staff shortages, surges in activity, or emergencies. This support may involve short-term reassignment, coordination across teams, or contributing to shared goals beyond their assigned zone.

The Care worker plays a key role in advancing the goals of APA!’s Care Team. This position contributes directly to APA!’s mission to increase the live release rate across Texas by supporting a sustainable, inclusive, and high-impact model for shelter operations.

The Care worker is responsible for managing daily responsibilities, maintaining clear priorities, and delivering consistent, high-quality work that aligns with APA!’s values and goals. This includes staying organized, using data or feedback to inform decisions, and following through on key tasks and responsibilities with minimal oversight. This is a hands-on, mission-driven role focused on results, reliability, and teamwork.

APA! is volunteer-powered; every staff member is expected to work alongside and support volunteers. The Care worker collaborates closely with volunteers to complete day-to-day tasks, helps create a positive and inclusive environment, and actively contributes to a culture of shared effort and mutual respect.

This position may involve shift flexibility, weekend hours, and responsiveness during times of high need.

Every individual at APA! is responsible for working in collaboration with volunteers; making sure volunteers are recruited, trained, and feel impactful through their efforts at APA!. A core part of this role is creating a welcoming and empowering experience for volunteers, including assisting with onboarding, training, and volunteer engagement as part of the day-to-day workflow.

Levels I, II, and III for Care workers are distinguished by competencies and experience. More information pertaining to various skills and levels are available in the 'Care worker Levels and Competencies' document upon request.

Care workers may be assigned primarily to kennel technician duties at the outset of their employment, until the team has capacity to provide training for more advanced responsibilities.

• Actively contribute to a volunteer-powered culture by partnering with volunteers during every shift and helping create an inclusive, welcoming environment
• Work alongside volunteers to complete daily tasks, ensuring the work is shared and collaborative, not siloed
• Support the recruitment and onboarding process by welcoming new volunteers and helping them get oriented to the program
• Help retain volunteers by offering encouragement, guidance, and feedback during shared work
• Recommend strong volunteers for deeper involvement or specialized roles to your supervisor or volunteer manager
• Contribute to a positive culture by recognizing volunteer contributions through appreciation, gratitude, and shoutouts