The North Carolina Zoo is looking for a dynamic, team-oriented leader that shares the Zoo's vision for a world famous elephant breeding program. This supervisory position involves the management of the African elephant breeding program for the North Carolina Zoo’s Watani Grassland Reserve exhibit. The program includes a state-of-the-art elephant barn, off-exhibit holding yards and two adjacent 3.5-acre natural habitat exhibits. The collection includes seven elephants, including two adult bulls. The incumbent will supervise a team of seven keepers and an occasional intern from a local community college’s zoo science program. The incumbent is expected to network with peers and other related facilities to stay abreast of the latest trends and methods, in order to constantly improve section programming.

 

The main focus of this job will be elephant management, including husbandry, training, natural breeding, artificial insemination, calf management, environmental enrichment and behavioral management. Under the direction of the Curator of Mammals and in conjunction with the Elephant Management Team, the incumbent will be responsible for developing, implementing, and communicating with others a comprehensive, written Positive Reinforcement Protected (Restricted) Contact elephant management system designed to meet program goals. (Protected Contact is a system for managing elephants that uses positive reinforcement training as the primary method to modify behavior. Directing the positioning and movement of the elephant is achieved through the use of targets. Keeper safety is achieved by elephant and keeper positioning relative to each other and to a barrier, which typically separates human and animal spaces.) 

 

Other duties also include:

Key communications link between work unit staff and Curator/Vets/other Sections for information exchange 
Direct management and supervision of work unit staff including hiring, scheduling, work plan development, employee evaluation, and staff training 
Resource management including preparing budget requests, tracking expenditures, ordering equipment and supplies 
Identifying facilities maintenance and repair issues  
Supervising the treatment of animals as directed 
Assisting keepers when needed with heavy lifting of hay, grain, manure, substrates, etc.; heavy duty cleaning and scrubbing is a routine occurrence. 
Systematic observation of animal health and behavior. Training and maintenance of husbandry behaviors, applying principles of operant conditioning, to gain cooperation of the elephants in their own care. 
Establishing procedures/guidelines for staff 
Development and implementation of behavioral enrichment programs to elicit species-typical behaviors in a captive environment. 
Thorough and accurate written records and computer spreadsheets. 
Leading team problem solving and decision making processes. 
Participates in and implements NC Zoowide programs, to include: behavioral management, enrichment and Environmental Management System (EMS) programs. 
Required to participate in the zoo's occupational health program due to potential exposure to zoonosis. 
Position has rotating schedule that involves working holidays and weekends and involves both indoor/outdoor work. 
Participates on the zoo’s weapons team 
Other duties as assigned
