Wild Encounters Supervisor

Cincinnati Zoo
United States, Ohio, Cincinnati
3400 Vine Street (Show on map)
May 07, 2025
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (CZBG) is a leader in animal care, wildlife conservation, sustainability, education, and community engagement. Our Mission is to create adventure, convey knowledge, conserve nature, and serve our community. We accomplish this by inspiring every visitor with wildlife every day by providing opportunities to be close enough to care. We are passionate about our commitment to Animal Excellence and succeed at this by pursuing our Core Values of: Collaborative Relationship; Positivity & Energy; Accountability, Mutual Trust & Respect; Progressive Thinking; Pride, Passion & a Sense of Ownership. Successful candidates will demonstrate the following leadership attributes: You Model the example for others to follow; You Inspire others to work towards an exciting future and shared vision; You Challenge yourself and others to look for innovative ways to improve the organization; You Foster collaboration and trust and build spirited teams; You Recognize contributions and celebrate accomplishments. Summary: This position advances Cincinnati Zoo's mission and values by directly supporting the Zoo's Wild Encounters program team members and operations. This program focuses on the zoos vision of inspiring visitors with wildlife every single day and promoting the best visitor experience. The Wild Encounters team is made up of around 40 part time seasonal team members and volunteers. The team is responsible for facilitating animal encounter areas such as giraffe feeding, Roo Valley kangaroo encounter, Butterfly aviary at World Of The Insect, and more. Team members will lead educational wildlife chats in front of habitat spaces, sharing information about our animals and their specific stories, biology and roles they play in their wild homes. Wild Encounters team members are trained to work with select individuals of the Cincinnati Zoo ambassador animal collection, executing our mission of connecting our visitors to wildlife on- grounds at Zoo events. Handlers are trained to work with a variety of reptiles, insects and mammals. Each program area focuses on wildlife education messaging to our visitors, and deepening our reach to the Cincinnati community and beyond. The supervisor team is made up of four supervisors, a team coordinator, and this role reports to the manager of Wild Encounters. Schedule & Pay Rate: Team member's schedule will have two consecutive off days, averaging 29-30 hours per week annually, and is a seasonal paid position at $15.50/Hour. This position averages 35-40 hours from March-October, 26-30 hours during Festival of Lights (November-January), and reduced hours from January-February. Essential Functions Team Support: Maintains intimate knowledge of daily operations, routines, and ambassador animal handling. Supervises team performance and accountability through regular involvement with day to day operations, training and roll call. Ask for feedback from team members, and check in often, sharing feedback in a timely and organized way - leading by example is a key component to success here. The supervisor is present and available to all team members daily and will support the team to foster a positive, productive, supportive, and innovative atmosphere. Identifies and addresses team health and culture, in tandem with team manager and co- supervisors. Supports goals of individual staff and coaches professional development accordingly. Works proactively to communicate and problem-solve with team members, cross-department zoo staff, and volunteers through in-person meetings, emails, and phone calls. Assists with the training of part-time staff, volunteers, and interns to learn team operations and animal handling. Creates and adjusts daily schedules in accordance with programmatic needs. Program Operation Support: Sets priorities for the team that are in alignment with animal welfare and visitor experience as a top priority in all aspects of what we do Supports giraffe feeding, Roo Valley, goat yard, butterfly aviary, animal events that arise, Behind-The-Scenes tours, and other animal experiences as needed Challenges status quo to develop the best visitor experience possible in the park and continues to coach team members on best communication and interpretation practices. Make sure all team members have someone to check in with at their proper roll call times Clearly communicates job expectations and addresses tardiness, absence, conflicts, or any other staffing issues that may arise. Communicates with team members in a timely manner, shares information with manager in a timely manner. Ensure chemicals, keys, and zoo property are stored and accounted for each day. Animal ambassador support: Monitors the Ambassador Animal scheduling for onsite and offsite programs. Monitors and reviews animal usage. With direction from the team manager, will support animal appearances on and off Zoo property when events arise. Develops a working relationship with ambassador animals with animal welfare and animal excellence at top of mind, as well as creating and supporting the best visitor experience possible. Additional Responsibilities: Evaluates program status and progress, provides reports and makes recommendations about ways to improve and maintain our program and operations. Supports a variety of guest experience, corporate event, and onsite and offsite educational programs, including media and special events. Represents CZBG to the community in a professional and positive manner. CZBG Core Values: Demonstrate our Zoo's core values in your leadership. Hold team members accountable for demonstrating how we act and behave as CZBG employees.