Ectotherms Supervisor - Aquatics and Texas Native Species
Location
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Work type
Onsite
Employment
Full Time
Experience
3+ years
Compensation
Compensation not disclosed
Posted
4d ago
Summary and responsibilities
Role overview
Summary
This position supervises the aquatics and Texas native species within the Ectotherms Department at the Zoo. The role involves leading staff, maintaining animal welfare and facilities, coordinating operations, and ensuring optimal animal care and visitor experiences.
The Animal Collections Supervisor will oversee the Zoo’s aquatics and Texas native species within the Ectotherms Department, leading daily animal care, staff operations, facility maintenance, conservation activities, and visitor experiences. The position will work closely with supervisors, curators, veterinary and nutrition teams, and staff to ensure excellent animal welfare, safe operations, and compliance with Zoo policies and procedures. Responsibilities include coordinating weekly staff schedules and coverage, overseeing staff and building operations, maintaining building systems and equipment, managing supplies and inventories, ensuring exhibits and public areas are clean, functional, and safe, and conducting daily animal enclosure checks. The supervisor will monitor animal health, behavior, body condition, feeding, environmental parameters, water chemistry, UV lighting, life support systems, and other husbandry requirements. The role will ensure scheduled maintenance of aquatic life support systems, filters, and equipment and will maintain current SOPs and applicable standards for aquatic and terrestrial areas. The position will assist with quarantine protocols, medical treatments, health monitoring, breeding programs, seasonal hibernation, conservation and research projects, animal shipments, biosecurity, and other collection activities. The supervisor will train, mentor, schedule, and oversee staff and volunteers, monitor work quality and compliance, provide coaching and disciplinary support when needed, participate in hiring and evaluations, and promote a safe and collaborative work environment. The position may also conduct tours and interviews and provide supervisor coverage when other managers are absent.
Candidates must be at least 21 years old and have a high school diploma or equivalent, along with at least three years of progressively responsible zoo keeping experience; one year of supervisory experience is preferred. A bachelor’s degree in wildlife management, zoology, animal behavior, biology, ecology, psychology, or a related field is preferred, while specialized zoology training is desirable. A valid driver’s license and acceptable driving record are required. Dive certification, freshwater or saltwater life support system experience, and reptile and amphibian husbandry experience, including venomous species, are preferred. Experience with incubators, hand-rearing, or specialized taxa may also be beneficial. Candidates must be able to independently perform complex animal care and handling duties, understand and enforce policies and procedures, work with minimal supervision, make sound decisions, communicate effectively, maintain accurate records, prioritize tasks, and foster a cohesive team environment. The position requires frequent standing, walking, sitting, reaching, bending, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and handling equipment and animals, with frequent lifting or moving of up to 50 pounds and occasional lifting of up to 75 pounds with assistance. The role may require working weekends, holidays, irregular hours, special events, and outdoors in heat, cold, and inclement weather. Employees may be exposed to cleaning and water-treatment chemicals and may be required to use PPE, undergo tuberculosis and rabies testing, and meet additional safety requirements.
Updated 4d ago
Candidate fit
Skills and qualifications
Additional skills
Experience
3+ years
How this role is positioned
Role classification
Job domains
Industries
Employment
Full Time
Contract duration
Permanent
Hiring type
Direct
Global hiring
Location specific
Offer details
Compensation and benefits
Compensation
Compensation not disclosed
Benefits and perks
Location, schedule, and role shape
Work setup
Work conditions
Bandwidth profile
Context on the employer
Company snapshot
Company
Fort Worth Zoo
Team size
Growing team
Location
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
The Fort Worth Zoo is a facility dedicated to the care and exhibition of a diverse range of animal species, with a focus on conservation initiatives and providing unique visitor experiences.
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Ectotherms Supervisor - Aquatics and Texas Native Species
Fort Worth, Texas, United States • Full Time