Feline Program Manager

Status: Full-time, salaried | Approximately 40 hours/week

Reports to: Wichita Shelter Director | 1–2 direct reports initially

Compensation: Competitive salary based on experienceWHO WE AREAlways & Furever is a different kind of animal shelter. We believe rescue is about more than keeping an animal alive. Our goal is to give every animal safety, dignity, love, enrichment, medical care, and the opportunity to thrive. Our Wichita feline population may range from approximately 3 to 40 cats and kittens, including healthy social cats, bottle babies, fearful cats learning to trust, ringworm kittens, and animals requiring intensive medical or behavioral monitoring.

THE ROLE: The Feline Program Manager owns the daily care, health, behavior, enrichment, and lifesaving pathways of every cat and kitten in the Wichita program. This is a hands-on servant leadership role. You will lead people and systems, but you will also clean, feed, medicate, vaccinate, handle cats, monitor vulnerable kittens, and step into whatever the animals and team need that day. You will work closely with the Wichita Shelter Director, foster coordinators, medical team, and organizational leadership.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES: Animal Care, Health & Behavior

Population Management, Foster & Adoption: Know the status and next step for every cat, including animals in the shelter, foster care, on medical hold, or awaiting adoption, and collaborate with medical, foster, adoption, marketing, and leadership teams to identify and remove barriers to placement. Coordinate closely with foster coordinators to identify animals needing foster placement, support foster families, communicate medical and behavioral needs, and track progress, return dates, and adoption readiness. Actively identify opportunities to improve quality of life, reduce unnecessary length of stay, and move cats and kittens toward appropriate foster, adoption, or other lifesaving outcomes. Lead and actively participate in social media and adoption-promotion efforts, ensuring regular, authentic photos, videos, and stories highlight individual cats, their personalities and progress, medical journeys, foster and volunteer involvement, and adoption opportunities. Ensure direct reports understand that animal visibility, storytelling, and adoption promotion are core responsibilities of feline care.

Staff, Volunteer & Program Leadership: Lead, train, schedule, coach, and develop direct reports; establish clear performance expectations; provide timely feedback; and address performance or conduct concerns in partnership with the Wichita Shelter Director. Ensure staff consistently follow established animal-care, medical, sanitation, documentation, social media, safety, and operational expectations. Build, train, engage, and retain a strong volunteer network. Volunteers should be welcomed, appreciated, well trained, and empowered to meaningfully support cleaning, care, enrichment, socialization, transport, events, and other appropriate program needs. Participate in required staff, manager, and organizational meetings and communicate relevant information, priorities, decisions, and follow-up expectations to direct reports. Maintain accurate animal, medical, and operational records and ensure required documentation is completed consistently and promptly. Monitor inventory of medications, vaccines, PPE, food, litter, and other animal-care and program supplies, addressing or communicating needs before they become emergencies. Model dependable attendance, professionalism, accountability, flexibility, teamwork, and adherence to organizational policies, safety practices, and established procedures. Provide hands-on and cross-functional support in other areas of shelter operations as needed, particularly when animal welfare, medical needs, staffing, or daily operations require additional assistance. Perform other duties as assigned in support of shelter operations and the mission of Always & Furever Midwest Animal Sanctuary. WHO WILL SUCCEED HERESomeone who loves cats but also loves building people, systems, and community. You notice small changes before they become big problems, stay calm when rescue gets messy, communicate early, and do not wait for someone else to solve a problem. You are comfortable moving between medical care, cleaning, staff coaching, volunteer engagement, foster coordination, population management, and storytelling in the same day. You believe leadership means serving alongside the team, and no title makes anyone too important to scoop a litter box. We are growth focused and invest in training and development. We want leaders who are curious, coachable, accountable, collaborative, and excited to grow their skills as A&F grows.

Required: Veterinary technician-level knowledge and hands-on clinical experience, including demonstrated ability to recognize signs of illness or injury, administer medications and vaccines, implement established treatment plans, maintain accurate medical records, and follow infectious-disease prevention and isolation protocols. Strong feline handling and observational skills, including comfort working with cats and kittens of varying ages, temperaments, behavioral needs, and medical conditions. Strong organizational, communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. Ability to prioritize effectively, take initiative, work independently when appropriate, and collaborate as part of a team. Ability and willingness to lead by example and participate directly in animal care, cleaning, sanitation, and other hands-on shelter responsibilities. Comfort using and learning shelter-management, communication, and other technology required for the position.

Preferred: CVT, RVT, LVT, or equivalent veterinary technician credential. Candidates currently pursuing credentialing are encouraged to apply. Shelter, rescue, veterinary, or high-volume feline experience. Previous leadership, supervisory, or team-development experience. Experience with kittens and neonatal care, infectious disease, ringworm, isolation and quarantine protocols, foster programs, and/or volunteer management. SCHEDULE, PHYSICAL & ENVIRONMENTAL EXPECTATIONSThis is a full-time salaried position averaging approximately 40 hours per week. Animal care does not always fit neatly into Monday through Friday, so some weekends, evenings, holidays, and schedule adjustments may be required based on animal and program needs. The role requires the ability to stand and walk for extended periods; bend, kneel, reach, and perform repetitive animal-care and cleaning tasks; safely lift and carry animals, food, litter, carriers, supplies, and equipment; and safely handle cats and kittens of varying ages, temperaments, behavioral needs, and medical conditions. The shelter environment includes routine exposure to animal hair, litter, cleaning and disinfecting products, odors, noise, animal waste, bodily fluids, scratches, bites, parasites, zoonotic disease, and animals with known or unknown medical histories. Employees are expected to consistently follow established sanitation, infection-control, animal-handling, safety, and personal protective equipment protocols and promptly report suspected exposures or safety concerns.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS: Competitive salary based on experience.401(k) with employer matching. Paid time off (PTO).Paid holidays. Investment in training, professional development, and continued growth. A mission-driven, highly engaging environment with opportunities to grow as the Wichita program and Always & Furever grow. HOW WE DEFINE SUCCESSSuccess is not simply having clean cat rooms at the end of the day. It means cats are physically and emotionally thriving, medical concerns are caught early, treatments happen correctly and on time, disease transmission is minimized, lifesaving pathways keep moving, fosters are supported, volunteers want to keep coming back, staff are growing, records are accurate, and our community knows the stories of the animals we are asking them to help. Know your cats. Love your cats. Notice when something changes. Build the people around you who can help them. Tell their stories. Every day, ask what we can do to make their lives better.