Senior Director, Shelter Operations – Illinois – #9581

Senior Director, Shelter Operations – Illinois – #9581

A large high shelter operation in Illinois is seeking a dynamic senior leader to drive lifesaving operations as Senior Director, Shelter Operations. In this critical role, you will oversee the rescue, care, and adoption of thousands of animals annually while helping sustain our 97%+ save rate.

As a cross-functional, matrixed leader, you will own the end-to-end flow of animals from intake through adoption and post-adoption support. With a relentless focus on, operational efficiency, and reducing length of stay, you will ensure every animal receives an individualized, proactive pathway to a loving home. You will lead intake, foster, behavior, animal care, and facilities teams while partnering closely with veterinary leadership to eliminate barriers, optimize capacity, and deliver best-in-class animal welfare outcomes.

Job Responsibilities

Animal Throughput & Population Management

• Own overall operational performance for animal flow from intake through adoption and post-adoption needs.
• Align intake with diverse population goals, adoptions and available capacity in both shelter and foster environments; utilize lean management tools (e.g., Kanban) for proactive population planning.
• Prioritize lifesaving at Animal Care & Control and other local sources as capacity allows. Identify and eliminate operational bottlenecks, develop efficient workflows, and foster open communication across teams to support timely movement from intake to adoption.
• Ensure every animal has a tailored plan integrating medical treatment, behavioral support, foster care, and placement strategies.
• Partner closely with veterinary leadership to align medical care timelines with operational capacity and lifesaving priorities.
• Ensure treatment plans, recovery timelines, and behavioral interventions support timely movement toward adoption or placement.
• Drive continuous improvement by evolving operations to industry-leading standards for animal care, throughput and lifesaving.
• Implement 5S practices and routinely benchmark to ensure shelter is at the forefront of industry best practices.

Team Leadership & Operations

• Provide hands-on, and highly detailed oversight of daily Medical Center workflows and cross-departmental collaboration.
• Partner with executive leadership in resource planning; lead hiring, onboarding and development for all Shelter Population teams.
• Optimize the operating model for efficiency, productivity, technology/systems integration, and budget management.
• Cultivate a positive, mission-driven culture,, ensuring staff members consistently acknowledge, effectively direct, and build strong relationships with volunteers and the public.
• Integrate volunteers into all operations to scale lifesaving.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Leadership

• Partner across departments to create synergy and deliver outstanding customer experiences for adopters, volunteers and the community..
• Collaborate with communications team on innovative marketing and promotional strategies designed to increase awareness of key programs and advance shelter’s mission.
• Participate in large-scale company events and share leadership responsibilities as needed.

Facilities, Safety & Compliance

• Maintain the highest standards of safety, cleanliness, and professional appearance across all facilities. Partner with internal departments to achieve desired results.
• Ensure full compliance with all regulatory requirements, including OSHA, Cook County Department of Animal Control and the Illinois Department of Agriculture  and safety at all times.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 8+ years of leadership experience in animal welfare, shelter operations, or other high-volume companion animal care environments.
• 5 years’ experience with animal behavior and/or veterinary medicine preferred.
• Experience using lean management tools preferred.
• Exceptional collaboration skills and ability to positively influence others to achieve results.
• Expertise in process design, resource, and labor modeling to support business planning.
• Experience successfully leading a team of people – salaried, hourly and volunteers.
• Demonstrated and successful project management skills and excellent organizational skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills. Ability to communicate effectively with all levels of management, key partners, special friends and public.
• Frequent weekend workdays (self-scheduled) as the shelter is a 7-day-per-week operation and requires management presence.