Veterinary Technician

Veterinary Technician

The City of Seattle is seeking a dedicated Veterinary Technician to join a team committed to providing compassionate and quality care to pets and low-cost spay and neuter surgeries to animals in need.

The Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) was founded in 1972 and has grown and expanded its programs and services to make it what it is today – a nationally recognized animal welfare organization. The shelter promotes public safety and animal welfare, protects animals from cruelty and neglect, runs animal sheltering and adoption programs to reunite lost animals with their owners, places animals in forever homes, and runs a spay and neuter clinic providing low-cost services serving more than 4,000 animals per year. In addition, SAS manages pet licenses and enforces Seattle's laws regarding animals.

FAS is often the public's first interaction with the City of Seattle, operating as a customer-focused front door that assists with everything from paying utilities or reporting a pothole to requesting public information or even adopting a new pet.

The 500-plus employees of FAS span across 10 divisions and work behind-the-scenes providing critical functions, like managing 120 City facilities—including police and fire stations—overseeing the City's neighborhood customer service centers and Customer Service Bureau and making sure minority-owned businesses can equitably compete for City contracts. No matter the need, FAS is here—at your service.

Job Responsibilities

• Prepares and administers pre-anesthetics, vaccines, microchips, and other drugs/medications to animals under the direction of the Veterinarian; administers and monitors intravenous, intramuscular and inhalation anesthetics; intubates animals for gas anesthesia.
• Restrains animals of varying sizes and temperaments when loading them into individual cages and when administering pre-anesthetics, vaccines, and other drugs/medications and during examinations.
• Cleans, disinfects, or sterilizes surgical supplies and equipment such as towels, wraps, drapes, instruments, clinic attire, and syringes.
• Prepares animals for surgery by shaving, scrubbing, and disinfecting the surgical site. Assists veterinarian during surgery by monitoring rate and depth of animal's respiration, heart rate and color of mucous membranes; administering antibiotics and vaccines as indicated; providing supplies and adjusting anesthetic levels. Monitors post-operative condition; alerts and assists veterinarian with emergencies.
• Admits and discharges animals and gives pre-and post-operative instructions.
• Clean, feeds, waters, and exercises animals; cleans animal cages. Washes clinic linens; loads washing and drying machines with cloths. Monitors supply inventory and orders supplies when needed.
• Operates and oversees the maintenance of the autoclave, anesthesia machines, oxygen generators, and other veterinary equipment.
• Assists the Shelter's veterinarian in examining, diagnosing, and treating various medical conditions related to animals in the Shelter's care.
• Performs collection of laboratory samples includes urine, blood, feces, and other bodily fluids; prepares samples for interpretation or processing; operates in-house laboratory equipment and performs routine equipment maintenance. Obtains digital radiographs using proper safety techniques and prepares images for evaluation.
• Performs dental prophylaxis and assists Veterinarian with veterinary dental procedures.
• Performs tonoscopy, tear tests, skin scrapings, fecal and urine microscopic evaluation, ear cleanings, nail trims, and other routine medical procedures under Veterinarian supervision. Assists with shelter animal intake as needed.
• Assists with foster and shelter animal medical appointments, medication and food refills, medical record keeping, controlled drug record keeping, and inventory. Performs occasional administrative duties commonly found in a clinic setting. Sells animal licenses.
• Administers medications and treatments to shelter animals and applies medical protocols under the direction of the Veterinarian; participates in daily shelter health rounds.
• Assists with animal cruelty investigations through animal examinations, documentation, on-scene observations and testifies in court as needed.
• Performs humane euthanasia under the direction of the Veterinarian.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must be Licensed as a Veterinary Technician with the State of Washington.

The most successful candidates will possess the following:

• Proficient with Microsoft Excel, Word, and Outlook and PetPoint.
• Familiarity with small animal medicine, procedures and techniques.

Work Environment/Physical Demands:

• This position requires full-time onsite work.
• The work involves frequent exposure to x-rays, hazardous chemicals, frightened or aggressive animals, feces, blood, and diseases.
• Ability to lift and carry 40 pounds.
• Ability to lift and carry over 40 pounds with mechanical and/or personnel assistance.

Additional Information

This position is classified as a Veterinary Technician. It is Civil Service represented, FLSA non-exempt and is eligible for overtime. The full range for this step-progression position is $34.42 - $39.97 per hour.

Applications are reviewed after the posting closes. You must submit the following items to be considered for this position no later than 4:00pm Pacific Time on the scheduled closed date.

1. Completed NEOGOV online application.
2. Cover letter describing how your skills and experience align with the stated job responsibilities and qualifications.
3. Current resume indicating relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and education.

Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the relevant information in the application. Cover letters and/or resumes are not accepted in lieu of a completed application. Applications and/or Supplemental Questionnaires that state "see my resume" or "see my personnel file" are considered incomplete and will not be accepted.

Background Check: Applicants must successfully pass a background check, which will be conducted in accordance with Seattle's Fair Chance Employment Ordinance, SMC 14.17. Applicants will be given a chance to explain or correct background information and provide verifiable information of good conduct and rehabilitation.

Pre-Employment Physical: Successful candidates will be required to pass a pre-employment physical.

Why work at the City of Seattle? The City of Seattle recognizes every City employee must play a role in ending institutional and structural racism. Our culture is the result of our behavior, our personal commitments, and the ways that we courageously share our perspectives and encourage others to do the same. To cultivate an antiracist culture, we seek employees who will engage in the Race and Social Justice Initiative by working to dismantle racist policies and procedures, unlearn the way things have always been done, and provide equitable processes and services.

The City of Seattle offers a comprehensive benefits package including vacation, holiday, and sick leave as well as medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents. More information about employee benefits is available on the City's website at:

Who May Apply: The City of Seattle values diverse perspectives and life experiences. Applicants will be considered regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, disability, religious or political affiliation, age, sexual orientation, medical condition, or pregnancy. The City of Seattle encourages people of all backgrounds to apply, including people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, veterans, and those with diverse life experiences. If you have questions regarding this bulletin or employment at Finance and Administrative Services, please send an email to View email address on click.appcast.io. FAS promotes diversity and inclusion in employment. If accommodations are needed during the selection process, please contact us.

Candidate Notification:

Many important notifications including interview or test invitations, result notices, and status updates will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application. It is important that you provide a valid email address. Please add View email address on click.appcast.io to your email address book and to the list of approved senders to prevent email notifications from being filtered as spam/junk/clutter mail. Candidates can also check for notifications by logging into governmentjobs.com and viewing their profile inbox, which saves a copy of all emailed notices. It is the applicant's responsibility to take the above steps to view correspondence.