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Regional hiringpublishedExternal employer
PPetco
Petco•Pet Retail

Animal Care Specialist

Location

Bonney Lake, Washington, United States

Work type

Onsite

Employment

Full Time

Experience

1+ years

Compensation

$17 - $25 per hour

Posted

3h ago

Summary and responsibilities

Role overview

Summary

As an Animal Care Specialist at Petco, you will be the primary expert and advocate for the health, welfare, and proper care of companion animals and aquatic life, ensuring exceptional animal care and habitat maintenance. You will also support sales, merchandising, and inventory execution while delivering outstanding customer experience through deep animal-care knowledge and operational discipline.

As a Companion Animal Specialist, you are the primary expert and advocate for the health, welfare, and proper care of companion animals and aquatic life within the Pet Care Center. The role combines animal care, habitat maintenance, customer education, sales support, merchandising, and inventory management.

The Companion Animal Specialist ensures the health, safety, and proper care of all animals and aquatic life according to established standards, policies, and procedures. Responsibilities include completing hourly animal health checks, wellness documentation, maintenance logs, incident reports, and other required records. The specialist also ensures appropriate handling and documentation of relinquished and adoption animals and serves as the primary resource for animal care education for customers and team members.

The role involves maintaining clean, safe, professional, and well-presented animal habitats and aquatic areas. Duties include cleaning habitats and tanks, sweeping and mopping floors, dusting, facing merchandise, and ensuring that all scheduled animal care and maintenance tasks are completed. The specialist must follow all animal welfare, safety, loss prevention, regulatory, and operational requirements.

The Companion Animal Specialist works closely with the sales team to provide knowledgeable, compassionate, and solution-focused customer service. The position supports customer interactions using the company’s selling model, evaluates customer needs, processes register transactions, and escalates concerns to the Leader on Duty when appropriate. The specialist also promotes teamwork, inclusion, and collaboration while mentoring and educating team members on animal care standards and best practices.

The role supports department sales, margin, and shrink goals by ensuring merchandise is stocked, priced, and displayed according to company standards. The specialist assists with ordering live animals, supplies, and related merchandise, analyzes inventory information, identifies opportunities to improve in-stock levels and reduce shrink, and participates in animal and aquatic inventory counts. Additional responsibilities may include opening and closing procedures, Omni-channel initiatives, and special projects supporting Pet Care Center operations.

Success in this role means animals remain healthy, safe, and properly cared for, customers trust the team’s expertise, habitats remain clean and compliant, and inventory and merchandising support business performance while minimizing shrink. The specialist also helps ensure team members have the knowledge and support needed to maintain high animal-care standards.

Candidates should have at least one year of experience working with or caring for companion animals and aquatic life, along with strong knowledge of animal care, husbandry, and maintenance practices. The ideal candidate can educate others, communicate effectively, provide excellent customer service, and demonstrate an aptitude for sales. Basic business, mathematics, inventory management, organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills are required. A high school diploma or GED is preferred. Completion and ongoing maintenance of the Petco Animal Care Certification Program is required.

The position is based in a Pet Care Center retail environment and requires frequent interaction with customers on the sales floor. Employees must be able to stand and walk for extended periods and frequently bend, kneel, reach, and lift. The role requires the ability to safely lift and move merchandise, supplies, or animals weighing up to 50 pounds. Employees may be exposed to animal dander, odors, noises, and cleaning chemicals and must be comfortable working around animals. Flexible availability is required to support operating hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Updated 3h ago

Candidate fit

Skills and qualifications

Additional skills

Animal care • 1+ yrs
Husbandry • 1+ yrs
Maintenance practices • 1+ yrs
Customer service • 1+ yrs
Communication • 1+ yrs
Selling behaviors • 1+ yrs
Inventory management • 1+ yrs
Organizational skills • 1+ yrs

Experience

1+ years

Certifications

Petco Animal Care Certification Program • Required

How this role is positioned

Role classification

Job domains

Operations

Industries

Wildlife & Conservation
Retail

Employment

Full Time

Contract duration

Permanent

Hiring type

Direct

Global hiring

Location specific

Offer details

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

$17 - $25 per hour

VisibilityShared on listing
CurrencyUSD
PeriodHourly

Benefits and perks

Company Laptop

Location, schedule, and role shape

Work setup

Work conditions

Primary locationBonney Lake, Washington, United States
Work typeOnsite
Global hiringNo

Bandwidth profile

peopleMedium • 7/10
physicalMedium • 7/10
cognitiveMedium • 7/10
executionHigh • 8/10
creativityLow • 4/10
uncertaintyMedium • 5/10
communicationHigh • 8/10

Context on the employer

Company snapshot

Company

Petco

Team size

Growing team

Location

Bonney Lake, Washington, United States

Petco is a company dedicated to improving the lives of pets and pet parents for over 60 years. They operate more than 1,500 Petco stores, 250+ Vetco Total Care hospitals, preventive care clinics, and distribution centers across the U.S., Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Through Petco Love, they support animal welfare groups and have facilitated approximately 7 million animal adoptions.

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Animal Care Specialist

Bonney Lake, Washington, United States • Full Time