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PPetco
Petco•Pet Retail

Animal Care Specialist

Location

Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States

Work type

Onsite

Employment

Full Time

Experience

1-3 years

Compensation

$13 - $22 per hour

Posted

1h ago

Summary and responsibilities

Role overview

Summary

As a Companion Animal Specialist at Petco, you will be the primary expert for the health, welfare, and proper care of companion animals and aquatic life within the Pet Care Center. This role involves ensuring exceptional animal care, habitat maintenance, and supporting sales and merchandising, while delivering outstanding customer experience through deep animal-care knowledge and operational discipline.

Job Title: Companion Animal Specialist

Company: Petco

Job Summary:

The Companion Animal Specialist is responsible for ensuring the health, safety, and proper care of companion animals and aquatic life within Petco's Pet Care Center. The role combines animal husbandry, customer education, habitat maintenance, sales support, merchandising, and inventory management to deliver excellent animal welfare and customer experiences.

Key Responsibilities:

- Provide daily care for companion animals and aquatic life, including health checks, habitat and tank cleaning, wellness documentation, maintenance logs, and incident reporting.

- Ensure proper handling and documentation of adoption and relinquished animals while following animal welfare, safety, regulatory, and loss prevention standards.

- Educate customers and team members on animal care, husbandry, habitat maintenance, and best practices.

- Deliver knowledgeable customer service, support sales activities, process transactions, and escalate customer concerns when necessary.

- Maintain clean, safe, organized, and visually appealing animal habitats, aquatic areas, and merchandise displays.

- Support department sales, margin, and shrink goals through effective merchandising, stocking, pricing, and inventory management.

- Coordinate orders for live animals, supplies, and related merchandise while monitoring inventory levels and participating in physical inventory counts.

- Assist with opening and closing procedures, store operations, and special projects as assigned.

- Promote teamwork, inclusion, and collaboration while ensuring compliance with Petco policies and procedures.

Required Qualifications:

- At least one year of experience working with or caring for companion animals and aquatic life.

- Strong knowledge of animal care, husbandry, habitat maintenance, and animal welfare practices.

- Excellent communication, interpersonal, organizational, and customer service skills.

- Ability to educate others, support sales activities, and work effectively in a team.

- Basic business, mathematics, and inventory management skills.

- High school diploma or GED preferred.

- Completion and ongoing maintenance of Petco's Animal Care Certification Program required.

Work Environment and Physical Requirements:

This position operates in a retail Pet Care Center and requires frequent standing, walking, bending, kneeling, reaching, and lifting up to 50 pounds. Employees must be comfortable working around animals, animal dander, odors, noise, and cleaning chemicals. Flexible availability is required, including evenings, weekends, and holidays. Reasonable accommodations may be available for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Benefits and Career Growth:

Petco offers purpose-driven work, an inclusive team environment, professional development opportunities, and potential career advancement. Total Rewards may include health and financial benefits, 401(k), incentives, and paid time off, subject to applicable eligibility requirements.

Updated 1h ago

Candidate fit

Skills and qualifications

Additional skills

Animal Care • 1+ yrs
Husbandry • 1+ yrs
Inventory Management • 1+ yrs
Customer Service • 1+ yrs
Communication • 1+ yrs
Organizational Skills • 1+ yrs
Selling Behaviors • 1+ yrs
Education/Mentoring • 1+ yrs

Experience

1-3 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

$13 - $22 per hour

VisibilityShared on listing
CurrencyUSD
PeriodHourly

Benefits and perks

Paid Time Off (PTO)

Location, schedule, and role shape

Work setup

Work conditions

Primary locationVirginia Beach, Virginia, United States
Work typeOnsite
Global hiringNo

Bandwidth profile

peopleHigh • 8/10
physicalMedium • 7/10
cognitiveMedium • 6/10
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

Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States

Petco has been helping pets live their best lives for over 60 years, providing everything from meals and toys to expert support. With over 29,000 partners, Petco nurtures the pet-human bond in more than 1,500 stores across the U.S., Mexico, and Puerto Rico, 250+ Vetco Total Care hospitals, hundreds of preventive care clinics, and eight distribution centers. Through Petco Love, founded in 1999, they support animal welfare groups and have helped find homes for approximately 7 million animals.

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Animal Care Specialist

Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States • Full Time