Curator of Animal Care
Full time @Sea To Believe Aquariums Shortlist Email JobJob Detail
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Job ID 15461
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Career Level Manager
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Experience 8 Years +
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Industry Husbandry
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Qualifications Degree Bachelor
Job Description
Curator of Animal Care
Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve
Location: Houston, TX | Employment Type: Full-time | Compensation: $75,000–$85,000
Schedule: One weekend day required
About the Role
You own every animal in the building — a mixed collection of lemurs, African penguins, parrots, mixed aviaries, sloths, jellies, cavies, reptiles, a large fish and invertebrate collection, and more. Serving roughly 200,000 guests a year.
lReports to: Ownership
Direct reports: Assistant Curator, keeper staff
What You’ll Do
- Set husbandry standards and work hands-on alongside keeper staff to execute them
- Continually evolve species-specific diets and set nutrition benchmarks for the collection
- Own USDA/APHIS compliance and inspection readiness
- Serve as primary liaison to the attending veterinarian for preventive care, quarantine, and treatment
- Approve all acquisitions, dispositions, transfers and loans
- Design exhibits, habitat modifications, and enrichment
- Hire, train, schedule and evaluate keeper staff
- Maintain SOPs — husbandry, emergency, escape, dangerous animal, and USDA contingency plans
What You Need
- Bachelor’s in biology, zoology, animal science or a related field — or 8+ years of equivalent professional experience in lieu of degree
- Five or more years in professional animal care, with at least two supervising staff
- Direct working experience with USDA/APHIS regulations and inspection process
- Experience with a mixed collection — mammals, birds, reptiles and aquatics. Depth in one is fine; you must be competent across all four.
- Recordkeeping discipline — comfortable learning our internal and USDA/APHIS required recordkeeping systems.
- Animal training and operant conditioning experience
What Sets a Candidate Apart
- Marine and freshwater life support system knowledge
- Diet and nutrition formulation experience for a mixed collection
- Primate (lemur), camel, and giraffe husbandry/training experience
- AZA or ZAA institution background