Medical Department Manager

Job Description

Job Description:\n\nThe Medical Department Manager provides leadership and operational oversight for the daily functions of IndyHumane’s shelter Medical Department. This position is responsible for staff management, workflow coordination, medical operations, training, quality assurance, resource management, and departmental performance while ensuring animals receive timely, compassionate, and appropriate medical care.\nThe Medical Department Manager directly supervises Medical Department staff and is responsible for establishing clear expectations, maintaining accountability, supporting employee development, coordinating staffing and schedules, and ensuring established medical protocols and veterinarian instructions are consistently followed.\nWorking closely with veterinarians, the Director of Medical Services, and other IndyHumane departments, the Medical Department Manager helps coordinate medical priorities with shelter operations and animal welfare needs. This position monitors departmental performance, medical documentation, staffing needs, inventory, compliance, and workflow and uses available information and data to identify opportunities for improvement.\nThis is a hands-on leadership position requiring strong people-management skills, sound judgment, medical knowledge, organization, accountability, and the ability to balance animal welfare, employee needs, and operational priorities in a fast-paced shelter environment.\nEssential Job Functions\nLeadership & Staff Management\n\n Directly supervise Veterinary Technicians, Veterinary Assistants, Medical Support Staff, Medical Shift Leads, and other assigned Medical Department employees.\n Participate in recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and training Medical Department employees.\n Establish clear performance expectations and ensure employees understand their responsibilities, departmental standards, and organizational policies.\n Provide regular coaching, feedback, recognition, and performance guidance.\n Conduct employee performance evaluations in accordance with organizational requirements.\n Address employee performance, conduct, attendance, and accountability concerns promptly and consistently in coordination with Human Resources when appropriate.\n Support and develop Medical Shift Leads and other employees with leadership responsibilities.\n Delegate responsibilities appropriately while maintaining accountability for departmental outcomes.\n Foster a professional, respectful, collaborative, and accountable work environment.\n Monitor employee attendance, timekeeping, scheduling, training compliance, and staffing needs.\n Identify staffing gaps and work with the Director of Medical Services and organizational leadership to develop appropriate solutions.\n Promote employee development, engagement, cross-training, and retention within the Medical Department.\n\nMedical Operations & Animal Care\n\n Oversee the day-to-day operations of the shelter Medical Department.\n Coordinate medical priorities and workflows based on animal population, patient needs, veterinarian direction, staffing, and organizational priorities.\n Ensure animals receive timely intake examinations, vaccinations, preventive care, medications, treatments, diagnostics, and follow-up care according to established protocols.\n Monitor medical holds, treatment plans, isolation and quarantine areas, and animals requiring ongoing medical attention.\n Ensure veterinarian instructions, treatment plans, and established medical protocols are consistently followed.\n Monitor the health and medical status of shelter animals and ensure concerns are appropriately escalated to a veterinarian or the Director of Medical Services.\n Assist with treatments, medical procedures, patient handling, surgery preparation, and other hands-on medical responsibilities within the employee's training and authorized scope as operationally necessary.\n Promote humane and low-stress animal handling practices.\n Ensure appropriate infection-control, sanitation, biosecurity, and isolation procedures are followed.\n Ensure medical documentation is accurate, complete, and entered within established timelines.\n\nScheduling & Workflow Management\n\n Develop and maintain Medical Department employee schedules in coordination with departmental leadership.\n Ensure appropriate staffing coverage based on animal population, medical needs, surgery schedules, operational demands, employee availability, and organizational priorities.\n Monitor daily workload and adjust staffing assignments and workflow as circumstances change.\n Redistribute responsibilities when necessary to maintain patient care and operational effectiveness.\n Coordinate coverage for employee absences, scheduled leave, and unexpected staffing shortages.\n Identify workflow inefficiencies and implement or recommend improvements.\n Establish clear daily priorities and ensure employees understand assignments and expectations.\n Coordinate workflow between shifts to maintain continuity of patient care and department operations.\n\nTraining & Staff Development\n\n Develop, maintain, and evaluate Medical Department training processes.\n Ensure new employees receive appropriate onboarding and position-specific training.\n Verify employees demonstrate appropriate competency before independently performing assigned medical duties.\n Provide ongoing coaching, technical training, and professional development.\n Monitor required organizational, safety, compliance, and departmental training.\n Ensure employees complete required training within established deadlines.\n Identify cross-training opportunities that strengthen departmental flexibility and coverage.\n Work with veterinarians and Medical Department leadership to identify areas where additional technical training is needed.\n Maintain appropriate documentation of departmental training and competency.\n\nMedical Records & Documentation\n\n Ensure accurate and timely documentation of medical examinations, treatments, medications, vaccinations, diagnostics, and other patient information.\n Monitor compliance with medical recordkeeping standards.\n Review medical records and documentation for accuracy, completeness, and adherence to established procedures.\n Address documentation deficiencies and provide employee coaching when necessary.\n Ensure appropriate use of ShelterLuv and other medical or shelter management systems.\n Maintain confidentiality and appropriate access to medical, employee, and organizational information.\n\nCommunication & Cross-Department Collaboration\n\n Maintain effective communication among Medical Department staff, veterinarians, the Director of Medical Services, and organizational leadership.\n Collaborate with Animal Care, Enrichment/Behavior, Adoptions, Foster, Customer Service, and other departments regarding animal medical needs and operational priorities.\n Communicate medical concerns, staffing issues, operational challenges, and resource needs clearly and promptly.\n Ensure relevant medical and operational information is appropriately communicated between shifts.\n Participate in Medical Department, leadership, and organizational meetings as assigned.\n Help resolve employee concerns and interpersonal conflicts professionally and promptly.\n Promote teamwork, respect, accountability, and effective communication within the department.\n Support cross-departmental problem-solving when medical and operational needs intersect.\n\nInventory & Department Resources\n\n Monitor medical supplies, medications, vaccines, equipment, and other departmental resources.\n Ensure supplies are appropriately stocked, labeled, stored, secured, and accessible to authorized employees.\n Monitor medication, vaccine, and supply expiration dates.\n Ensure medications and vaccines are maintained under appropriate storage conditions.\n Identify inventory needs and coordinate ordering or replenishment according to established procedures.\n Monitor departmental resource usage and identify opportunities to reduce waste and improve efficiency.\n Ensure medical equipment is maintained appropriately.\n Report equipment concerns and coordinate repairs or replacement as needed.\n Support responsible stewardship of IndyHumane resources.\n\nQuality Assurance & Compliance\n\n Monitor departmental compliance with medical protocols, SOPs, organizational policies, safety requirements, and veterinarian direction.\n Conduct routine reviews of medical operations, records, workflows, and departmental practices.\n Identify gaps in medical processes and work with veterinarians and the Director of Medical Services to develop corrective actions.\n Monitor compliance with infection-control, biosecurity, medication-handling, and animal-handling procedures.\n Support development, implementation, and maintenance of Medical Department SOPs and protocols.\n Maintain confidentiality and ensure employees follow applicable privacy and information-security requirements.\n Support compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and veterinary requirements.\n Report significant compliance, safety, animal welfare, or operational concerns promptly to appropriate leadership.\n Support continuous quality-improvement initiatives within the Medical Department.\n\nData & Performance Management\n\n Monitor departmental metrics related to animal health, medical services, staffing, workflow, and operational performance.\n Track progress toward departmental goals and identify areas requiring improvement.\n Analyze available information to identify trends, operational challenges, and opportunities for improvement.\n Use data to make recommendations regarding staffing, workflow, training, resource allocation, and medical operations.\n Prepare departmental reports and summaries as requested.\n Assist the Director of Medical Services with departmental planning, projects, and performance initiatives.\n Monitor implementation and effectiveness of process improvements.\n\nAdditional Responsibilities\n\n Participate in organizational initiatives, special projects, and events as assigned.\n Provide hands-on departmental support when staffing or operational needs require.\n Maintain current knowledge relevant to shelter medical operations and people management.\n Perform additional duties and special projects as assigned.\n\nRequired Qualifications\nEducation & Experience\n\n Professional experience as a Veterinary Technician, Veterinary Assistant, veterinary medical professional, shelter medicine professional, veterinary practice manager, or in a closely related role.\n Demonstrated knowledge of veterinary medical operations, animal handling, medication administration, and animal care practices.\n Previous supervisory, management, or significant team-leadership experience.\n Experience working in a fast-paced veterinary, shelter, animal welfare, or comparable medical environment preferred.\n Minimum of 2 years of experience managing, supervising, or leading veterinary medical staff, including veterinary technicians and/or veterinary assistants.\n Demonstrated experience with staff scheduling, coaching, performance management, training, and day-to-day team leadership.\n Veterinary technician experience and/or clinical veterinary experience preferred.\n Strong understanding of veterinary medical procedures and patient care.\n Excellent communication, organizational, problem-solving, and leadership skills.\n\nKnowledge, Skills & Abilities\n\n Strong people-management, coaching, and employee-development skills.\n Ability to establish expectations, delegate responsibilities, and maintain employee accountability.\n Working knowledge of veterinary medical procedures, animal handling, medication administration, infection control, and shelter medicine practices.\n Ability to recognize medical concerns requiring veterinarian review or escalation.\n Strong organizational, scheduling, and time-management skills.\n Ability to coordinate multiple competing priorities and adjust workflow based on changing operational needs.\n Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.\n Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities.\n Ability to exercise sound judgment and make appropriate operational decisions within established authority.\n Strong attention to detail and commitment to accurate recordkeeping.\n Ability to effectively manage and resolve employee concerns and workplace conflict.\n Ability to collaborate effectively with veterinarians, managers, employees, volunteers, and other departments.\n Ability to remain professional and effective during stressful, emotionally challenging, or emergency situations.\n Proficiency with computers, electronic communication, and medical or shelter management software.\n Ability to maintain confidentiality and appropriately handle sensitive employee, medical, and organizational information.\n Commitment to IndyHumane's mission and values.\n\nPreferred Qualifications\n\n Formal Veterinary Technician or Veterinary Assistant education or equivalent veterinary medical training.\n Previous management experience in a veterinary hospital, animal shelter, high-volume clinic, or animal welfare organization.\n Experience directly supervising veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants, or medical support employees.\n Experience with shelter medicine and high-volume animal populations.\n Experience with ShelterLuv or comparable shelter management software.\n Experience developing employee training programs and assessing technical competency.\n Experience managing medical inventory, medications, vaccines, and veterinary equipment.\n Experience developing or implementing medical SOPs and workflow improvements.\n Experience monitoring departmental metrics and using data to improve operations.\n\nPhysical Requirements\n\n Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds safely.\n Ability to stand and walk for extended periods.\n Ability to bend, squat, kneel, reach, and perform repetitive physical activities.\n Ability to safely handle and restrain dogs and cats of varying sizes, temperaments, behavior needs, and medical conditions.\n Ability to perform hands-on medical support responsibilities within training and authorized scope.\n Ability to move throughout medical, shelter, isolation, surgery, and animal housing areas.\n Ability to respond promptly to urgent animal-care or departmental situations.\n Ability to wear required personal protective equipment.\n\nWork Environment & Potential Exposures\nThis position operates primarily in a busy animal shelter medical environment and regularly interacts with animals, employees, volunteers, veterinarians, and other departments. The position may encounter stressful or emotionally challenging circumstances involving sick, injured, neglected, behaviorally challenging, or euthanized animals.\nPotential exposures may include:\n\n Animals of varying sizes, temperaments, and medical conditions.\n Animal bites, scratches, allergens, odors, and noise.\n Zoonotic and other infectious diseases.\n Blood, bodily fluids, animal waste, and biological materials.\n