CLINIC & INTAKE MANAGER
Department: Operations; Shelter Medicine
Supervises: Veterinary Technicians, Intake Technicians, Clinic Support Staff, Veterinary Volunteers, and Interns, excluding Veterinarians
Compensation: based on experience and qualifications
POSITION SUMMARY
The Clinic & Intake Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management and coordination of Companion Animal Alliance's veterinary clinic and intake medical operations. This is a highly hands-on supervisory position responsible for ensuring that animals receive timely veterinary attention, medical treatments and procedures are completed as scheduled, staff are properly directed and held accountable, and animals move efficiently through the shelter's medical and adoption pathways.
The Clinic & Intake Manager serves as the primary point of coordination between veterinary staff, intake, animal care, operations, veterinarians, and other CAA departments to ensure that medical needs are identified, prioritized, communicated, and completed.
The successful candidate must be comfortable working in a fast-paced shelter environment, making decisions throughout the day, redirecting staff when necessary, identifying problems before they become emergencies, and maintaining consistent follow-through.
This position is expected to be actively present in the clinic and intake areas throughout the day and is not primarily an administrative or desk position.
-
Manage the daily operation and workflow of the veterinary clinic and intake areas.
-
Conduct a daily review of animals in intake, clinic, isolation, and other medical holding areas to identify animals requiring veterinary attention.
-
Establish daily medical priorities based on urgency, length of stay, medical condition, surgery needs, adoption status, and veterinarian availability.
-
Ensure animals requiring veterinary examination are presented to a veterinarian as promptly as reasonably possible.
-
Monitor the medical workflow throughout the day and adjust staffing and priorities as conditions change.
-
Identify bottlenecks, delays, missed treatments, incomplete records, and other issues and take immediate corrective action.
-
Ensure animals do not remain in medical holding or intake unnecessarily due to incomplete processing, missed communication, scheduling issues, or staff inaction.
-
Maintain an organized and efficient flow of animals through examination, treatment, surgery, recovery, isolation, and adoption pathways.
-
Directly supervise veterinary technicians, assistants, and clinic support staff.
-
Assign daily responsibilities based on staffing levels, animal needs, appointments, surgeries, and operational priorities.
-
Remain visible and accessible to staff throughout the workday.
-
Monitor staff performance and ensure established policies, procedures, medical protocols, and safety standards are followed.
-
Address mistakes, missed responsibilities, communication failures, and policy violations promptly rather than allowing problems to continue.
-
Provide immediate coaching and direction when staff are not following established procedures.
-
Document recurring performance concerns and communicate significant issues to the appropriate manager.
-
Recognize strong performance and reinforce consistent, appropriate practices.
-
Ensure staff understand what is expected of them each day and who is responsible for each task.
-
Conduct or participate in staff training, onboarding, and competency development.
-
Assist with hiring, interviewing, onboarding, and training veterinary department employees.
-
Maintain an accurate daily list of animals requiring veterinary examinations, treatments, rechecks, procedures, surgeries, or other medical care.
-
Coordinate with veterinarians to ensure animals needing examination or treatment are appropriately prioritized and presented.
-
Monitor completion of veterinarian recommendations and ensure orders are communicated to the appropriate staff.
-
Ensure medications, treatments, rechecks, diagnostic testing, and follow-up care are completed and documented.
-
Monitor animals awaiting surgery and ensure required pre-operative and post-operative procedures are completed.
-
Identify animals requiring specialized or additional care and coordinate with the appropriate veterinary and operational staff.
-
Ensure medical concerns are escalated promptly when an animal's condition changes or when veterinary intervention is needed.
-
Work closely with Animal Care to ensure medically cleared animals move promptly into appropriate shelter pathways.
-
Manage scheduling and coordination of post-adoption medical appointments, including surgeries, sick appointments, rechecks, and other veterinary follow-up.
-
Ensure adopter requests and medical concerns are acknowledged and addressed in a timely manner.
-
Communicate clearly and professionally with adopters regarding appointments, medical instructions, follow-up care, and available services.
-
Maintain accurate appointment records and ensure scheduled appointments are communicated to all appropriate staff.
-
Follow up on missed, cancelled, or incomplete appointments.
-
Ensure post-adoption medical issues are appropriately escalated to veterinary staff when necessary.
-
Develop and maintain an organized system for tracking outstanding medical appointments and follow-up needs.
-
Ensure medical records are accurate, complete, and updated in a timely manner.
-
Monitor completion of veterinarian orders, treatments, procedures, and rechecks.
-
Review outstanding medical tasks daily and ensure they are assigned to specific staff members.
-
Follow up on incomplete or overdue medical tasks.
-
Ensure changes in an animal's medical condition or treatment plan are communicated to the appropriate departments.
-
Identify documentation errors and ensure they are corrected promptly.
-
Maintain appropriate inventory levels of medications, medical supplies, equipment, and clinic necessities.
-
Monitor expiration dates and proper storage of medications and supplies.
-
Ensure medical equipment is clean, functional, maintained, and available when needed.
-
Ensure the clinic and intake areas remain clean, organized, sanitary, and safe.
-
Report facility, equipment, or supply issues promptly and coordinate appropriate resolution.
-
Establish systems to prevent frequently used supplies from becoming unexpectedly depleted.
-
Serve as the primary day-to-day communication link between veterinary staff, veterinarians, intake, animal care, adoption, and other CAA departments regarding medical needs.
-
Communicate changes in medical priorities, staffing needs, animal status, and operational concerns promptly.
-
Participate in department and organizational meetings as required.
-
Ensure important information is communicated directly rather than relying solely on informal staff communication.
-
Promote a professional, respectful, and solution-oriented work environment.
-
Address communication breakdowns before they negatively affect department operations.
DECISION MAKING:
The Clinic & Intake Manager is expected to make day-to-day operational decisions necessary to maintain safe, efficient, and timely veterinary care.
This includes the ability to:
-
Assign and reassign staff responsibilities.
-
Establish daily workflow priorities.
-
Redirect staff when operational needs require it.
-
Require completion of assigned medical tasks.
-
Address staff performance and protocol violations.
-
Escalate significant performance or medical concerns to the appropriate manager or veterinarian.
-
Adjust workflow and staffing assignments based on changes in animal volume or medical needs.
The Clinic & Intake Manager is not responsible for making veterinary medical diagnoses or treatment decisions outside the scope of their training and authority. Medical decisions requiring a veterinarian must be referred to the appropriate veterinarian.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
-
Previous supervisory or management experience, preferably in a veterinary, shelter, animal care, or similar high-volume environment.
-
Strong understanding of veterinary clinic workflow and animal shelter operations.
-
Ability to prioritize multiple competing needs while maintaining attention to animal welfare and staff accountability.
-
Strong communication and organizational skills.
-
Ability to give clear direction and hold employees accountable.
-
Ability to remain calm and make decisions in a fast-paced environment.
-
Ability to identify operational problems and implement practical solutions.
-
Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with veterinarians and other departments.
-
Proficiency with computers and medical/shelter recordkeeping systems.
-
Ability to work a schedule that may include weekends, holidays, emergencies, or schedule changes as required by shelter operations.
-
Current Certified Euthanasia Technician or willing to attain.
The ideal candidate is a strong floor manager and problem solver, can work alongside staff while maintaining supervisory authority, communicates effectively, and can balance animal welfare, medical needs, staffing and operational demands. The primary responsibility of this position is to ensure that the clinic and intake operate in an organized, timely, accountable, and animal-centered manner every day.
Physical requirements:
The work is performed in the veterinary clinic, intake exam rooms, animal housing areas, and shelter surroundings. Typical position requires workers to walk or stand for long periods; lift and carry up to 50 pounds; climb stairs, bend, reach, hold, grasp and turn objects.
