Veterinary Practice Director

KC Pet Project

Job Description

Position: Veterinary Practice Director
Department: Veterinary
Reports to: Chief of Veterinary Medicine
Category: Full-time; Exempt
Supervises: Full and Part time Veterinary Technicians, Veterinary Assistants, Veterinary Animal Care Staff, Administrative Assistants, Externs, Volunteers
Compensation: $65,000 - $85,000
Schedule: 40+ hours per week with the ability to work some evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.

Position Summary
The Veterinary Practice Manager (VPM) is responsible for the daily operational leadership of KC Pet Project’s shelter veterinary clinic. This role ensures the clinic functions efficiently, safely, and compassionately in a high-volume, high-impact animal welfare environment serving thousands of animals annually.
The VPM partners closely with veterinary leadership to manage people, systems, and resources—removing operational and administrative barriers so veterinarians and medical teams can focus on lifesaving care. Success in this role requires strong leadership, adaptability, and a deep understanding of shelter medicine realities, including population management, disease control, and staff sustainability.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities
High-Volume Clinic Operations
• Oversee day-to-day operations of shelter veterinary clinic supporting exams, surgeries, treatments, population health, and emergency care
• Ensure efficient patient flow across departments while maintaining medical quality and animal welfare standards
• Develop, implement, and maintain clinic workflows and SOPs aligned with shelter medicine best practices and KC Pet Project protocols
• Monitor daily capacity and adjust staffing, scheduling, and workflows in response to shelter population needs
• Ensure compliance with Department of Agriculture, DEA, state veterinary regulations, and internal safety standards
People Leadership & Team Development
• Directly supervise veterinary support staff, including RVTs, veterinary assistants, and clinic support personnel
• Partner with the Chief of Veterinary Medicine on veterinarian scheduling, onboarding, and operational support
• Partner with the Chief of Veterinary Medicine on veterinary student externship program
• Lead hiring, onboarding, training, coaching, performance management, and corrective action processes
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, psychological safety, and mission alignment
• Proactively address burnout risks in a demanding shelter environment through staffing balance and workflow improvements
Scheduling & Workforce Planning
• Develop and manage clinic staffing schedules to support 7-day operations and fluctuating intake demands
• Ensure adequate coverage for surgeries, exams, treatments, emergencies, and special initiatives
• Support cross-training to improve flexibility and continuity of care
Financial, Inventory & Data Management
• Manage clinic inventory, purchasing, and vendor relationships to support cost-effective, uninterrupted operations
• Collaborate with veterinary and shelter leadership on clinic budgeting and expense tracking
• Monitor and report key performance indicators such as surgery volume, turnaround time, supply utilization, and staffing efficiency
• Support grant reporting, audits, and data collection related to medical operations
Cross-Department Collaboration
• Serve as a primary liaison between the Veterinary Clinic and Animal Care, Intake, Behavior, Foster, Adoption, and Facilities
• Support population management strategies that balance animal welfare, staff capacity, and organizational outcomes
• Participate in planning and execution of special projects, including disease outbreaks, emergency response, transport initiatives, and community spay/neuter efforts
Quality, Safety & Continuous Improvement
• Promote high standards of medical care, infection control, and workplace safety
• Identify operational gaps and implement sustainable improvements
• Support training in fear-free handling, shelter medicine protocols, and efficient high-volume workflows
• Champion continuous improvement while maintaining compassion for both animals and staff
Perform additional duties as assigned

Qualifications
Required
• Minimum of 3–5 years of veterinary clinic or shelter operations experience, including people management
• Demonstrated success leading teams in fast-paced, high-volume environments
• Strong understanding of veterinary clinic workflows and medical terminology
• Excellent organizational, communication, and conflict-resolution skills
• Proficiency with practice management systems, scheduling tools, and basic reporting
• Demonstrated ability to manage inventory and manage to a budget
• Ability to remain calm, decisive, and solution-focused in high-pressure situations
• Proficient in safely handling animals
Preferred
• Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT/LVT/CVT)
• Experience in shelter medicine, municipal shelters, or HQHVSN programs
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams within a nonprofit or public-facing organization

Physical Demands
• Frequent standing, walking, sitting, talking, hearing, stooping, bending, squatting, or kneeling.
• Ability to safely push, pull, and lift up to 50 pounds with assistance.
• Physical handling and restraint of domestic animals, small/medium farm animals, wildlife, and other animals that may need to be cared for by a municipal animal shelter.
• Ability to read computer screens, enter veterinary data into animal management systems, respond to email, and communicate via phone and internal direct messaging apps (Slack).

Work Environment:
• Daily interaction with shelter staff, Animal Services Officers, volunteers, fosters, adopters, and the public.
• Potential exposure to parasites and infectious diseases from animals.
• Requires clear and concise communications, active listening, report writing, policies, and correspondences, persuasive communication, negotiation skills, empathy, sensitivity, instructional language skills, and non-verbal communication. Bilingual abilities are preferred but not required.
• Requires basic arithmetic and algebra as it relates to financial math, pharmacology, conversion of units, and proportional reasoning.
• While performing the duties of this job, the VPM may be exposed to outside weather conditions, zoonotic disease, aggressive/feral animals, toxic or caustic chemicals, and situations with pet owners from all walks of life.
• Must be available to work irregular hours, weekends, and holidays as needed, as the shelter's veterinary clinic is open for business 363 days a year. May include providing support for after-hours emergency calls.

Work Conditions:
• Handle and restrain animals of various sizes, weights, and temperaments.
• Subject to animal bites or scratches.
• High noise level, both indoors and outdoors.
• Exposure to cleaning chemicals, anesthesia, pharmaceutical compounds, fumes, dust, animal dander, feces, blood, and other bodily fluids.
• Exposure to radiation during radiology procedures.
• Constant bending, stooping, standing, climbing stairs, and walking.
• Repetitive motions associated with medical and surgical care.
• Frequent lifting of animals and objects with reasonable accommodation.

Human Animal Support Services (HASS) Values:
Community Centered: Animal welfare solutions are rooted in the values and needs of each community.
Connection: We emphasize the interconnections of people, animals, and the environment.
Cultural Humility: We demonstrate an ongoing commitment to self-evaluation and self-critique, to address power imbalances and to developing mutually beneficial partnerships with communities we serve.
Justice and Equity: We consistently work to combat discrimination and inequity in animal services and to build programs and services that are accessible and welcoming to all.
Lifesaving: We believe every animal who enters the shelter should receive urgent, individualized treatment and care with a goal of a live outcome.
Relationships: We proactively work to build strong and lasting human-animal relationships in our communities and affirm our central role of protecting the bonds between people and animals.
Support: We ensure people working in animal services organizations have access to support, resources, and information to promote their physical and emotional well-being.

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions or qualifications associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise or to require that other or different tasks be performed when circumstances change, for example, emergencies, changes in personnel, workload, or technological breakdowns in department.