Overnight Veterinary Technician

APA! BACKGROUND: Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austin’s most dynamic and best-loved nonprofits. The organization is the leader in 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 Austin’s 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 the scrappiness of its grassroots, non-traditional, community-based animal rescue work.

BRIEF POSITION SUMMARY/OVERVIEW:

The APA! Medical Clinic works on the cutting edge of shelter medicine, treating the most critical and vulnerable animals that other shelters and even some private clinics don't have the resources to help. Our veterinary technicians are crucial to the success of our lifesaving programs, providing hands-on care and treatment to the 10,000+ animals who come through our doors every year. This position is responsible for the late night/overnight treatment and care to all hospitalized animals under the care of the APA! medical clinic, as well as providing emergency on-call services to APA! fosters, adopters, and animal care teams. This position also helps monitor the TLAC campus for safety and emergency concerns, including extreme weather-related incidents. The overnight support technician is an independent role that will work closely with the veterinary staff, animal program teams, fosters, and adopters.

APA! is a volunteer-powered organization, so every staff member is expected to work alongside and support volunteers. The [Job Title] 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 or MOD coverage. 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.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Maintain proper care of all hospitalized animals during the overnight shift, including identifying, monitoring, and documenting symptoms of illness and changes, as well as providing scheduled treatments.
Comfortable working independently and has strong veterinary technician decision-making skills.
Request and administer all prescribed medications appropriately and within acceptable time frames, as directed by clinic protocols, veterinarians, and clinic leadership.
Place IV catheters and administer medications IV, SQ, PO, and IM
Follow medical protocols and have a deep understanding of common veterinary technician tasks, responsibilities, and terminology.
Understand the technician/veterinarian relationship, including professional communication.
Answer the clinic emergency phone line and provide instructions as needed to foster and adopters while maintaining excellent customer service.
Use and troubleshoot IV pumps and other veterinary equipment.
Triage and react accordingly to urgent, critical, and contagious animals.
Report declining patients and emergency needs to the veterinary staff immediately.
Able to humanely euthanize patients as directed by the veterinarian.
Dispense storm medications when storms occur overnight.
Provide Clinic Adoption and Foster Case Management Coordinators with updates as needed, including notification of potential new medical cases needing attention
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of all APA! medical protocols and procedures
Maintain a safe, clean, and sanitary work environment
Provide excellent customer service to all clients and stakeholders
Send a detailed EOD report at the end of your shift
Duties may differ slightly from this Job Description; all duties are outlined by the Clinic Manager Team, Veterinarian, or another individual designated by APA!
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
Help set volunteers up for success by clearly explaining tasks, providing hands-on guidance, and offering in-the-moment support
Job duties may include some or all of the above, and other duties as assigned by manager

OTHER FUNCTIONS:

Must demonstrate dependability, accountability, time management, use of reasoning, and good judgment skills
Attend and participate in all required training sessions and meetings
Maintain open and consistent communication with Program Manager or designee, supervisor, and other colleagues
Partner with Volunteer Managers to learn about the volunteer programs and support volunteers interested in your department on an ongoing basis
Able to react to change productively and perform other related duties as assigned
Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
Able to work in a high-volume, fast-paced, high-stress environment
Comfortable working autonomously when given goals and deadlines

PHYSICAL JOB REQUIREMENTS:

Must be able to routinely lift 40-50 pounds
Must be able to work alone around cats and dogs with varying temperaments, including those that are diseased, injured, and/or potentially fractious or aggressive
Must be comfortable working indoors and outdoors, around unpleasant smells, loud noises, and a variety of standard cleaning supplies and chemicals
Must be comfortable witnessing veterinary surgical procedures
If reasonable accommodations are requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job absent undue hardship to the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS:

1 year experience working as a veterinary technician, preferably in a customer-facing role
Proficiency in standard veterinary technician skills, including but not limited to proper handling and restraint techniques, blood draws and diagnostics, skin scrapes, TPR, SQ/IM/IV injections, and catheter placement
Must have a basic knowledge of common dog and cat illnesses, injuries, conditions, and diagnostics
Must be able to run basic medical tests for dogs and cats
Must be able to transcribe veterinarian notes
Ability to work independently and have strong decision-making abilities.
Current Valid Driver’s License desired for occasional transport needs

EXPECTATIONS:

Committed to embodying APA!’s Core Values: Innovation, Respect, Drive, Resourcefulness, and Inclusion and cultural values: Humble, Hungry, Smart
Commitment to APA!'s customer experience expectations
Passion for working well with staff, volunteers, and customers—helping all individuals feel successful, appreciated, and connected to APA!’s mission
Strong commitment to volunteer engagement and support; dedicated to working well with volunteers across all roles
Comfortable working cross-functionally and serving as a liaison between volunteers, customers, and team members
Effective written and verbal communication skills; able to interpret rules, procedures, and instructional materials
Self-starter with strong time management; able to work independently and collaboratively
Excellent interpersonal skills; maintains a calm and professional presence in all situations
Strong attention to detail and high standards for quality
Adaptable to change and able to perform related duties as needed
Dedicated to delivering an exceptional and inclusive customer experience

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Uses own transportation to travel and transport
Exposure to unpleasant odors and noises.
Exposure to bites, scratches and animal waste
Possible exposure to contagious diseases
Rapid pace with exposure to potential hazards including animal waste, disinfectants, and high levels of noise
Potential for animal bites and scratches and diseases that can be transmitted from animals to people
Occasional after-hours or weekend work may be required to support program needs

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: This position reports to the Medical Clinic Team Manager, or another individual designated by APA!.

LOCATION(S):

Hwy 290 Medical Clinic - 4942 W Hwy 290 Austin, TX 78735
May travel to offsite locations as needed

TIME COMMITMENT:

This is a full-time hourly position requiring a minimum of 40 hours per week, with primarily overnight (7pm-5am) shifts; may include on-call time as needed. This position pays a shift differential when working overnight hours.
Shift and schedule flexibility is required, as weekly schedule is subject to change
Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed

BENEFITS:

Austin Pets Alive! is proud to offer a competitive benefits package for full-time employees, including subsidized employer-sponsored medical coverage, subsidized and voluntary life insurance, voluntary dental, vision and short-term disability options, all effective the first day of employment. We also offer voluntary wellness and emergency sick plans, up to 2% match on 401(K) retirement plan, supplemental benefits, flexible spending accounts and additional life coverage. Full-time employees receive 10 paid holidays and accrue 10 days paid time off during the first year of employment, with an additional 5 days of PTO accrual upon completion of 12 months of employment. Employees will also receive professional development opportunities through APA!’s ongoing mission to advance our animal welfare professionals in our life saving work.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT

Austin Pets Alive! is an equal employment opportunity employer and we value having staff who come from communities that are most impacted by the issues we engage on. We especially encourage people of color, LGBTQ people, women, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities to apply.

Austin Pets Alive! does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Austin Pets Alive! is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion, respect and integrity, community focus, and innovation.

APA! is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the employment application process. To request an accommodation, please contact Talent Acquisition at [email protected] at least one week in advance of your interview.