About The Position
The estimated salary range for this position is:
$ 65,551 - $93,756
The Montgomery County
Office of Animal Services is responsible for providing animal related services to the citizens of Montgomery County, MD from its headquarters located in Derwood, MD.
The Office of Animal Services (OAS) is currently recruiting for a full-time
Lead Animal Services Officer (Lead ASO) who is passionate about animals and delivering a high standard of service to the community. The ideal candidate will have excellent oral and written communication skills and be detailed oriented. The candidate must have the ability to work independently and multi-task. The candidate must have the ability to always remain professional, especially when working with the public. The candidate must be knowledgeable of State and County laws and regulations pertaining to animal cruelty, animal neglect (including domestic animals, horses, and livestock), wildlife, and other animal related public safety or public nuisance issues.
To ensure a positive workplace and comply with Federal, State and County laws, the incumbent is responsible for completing various mandatory trainings within the first three to six months of hire.
Multilingual candidates are strongly desired but not required.
What You'll Be Doing
The
Lead ASO is responsible for providing guidance and support to Animal Services Officers in the field. The Lead ASO reports to and acts on behalf of the Field Services Supervisors and serves as primary contact for the Emergency Communication Center. The
Lead ASO administer directives and guides the actions of subordinates in enforcing State, Local Laws, and Ordinances for Montgomery County Office of Animal Services, by leading personnel and daily operations to ensure the fulfillment of Animal Care & Control services for Montgomery County, safeguarding life, health, property and liability for residents and stakeholders. The position provides training, guidance, resources and assists officers ensuring that the day-to-day operations operate effectively and efficiently and ensuring that all laws are appropriately applied in a safe, equitable and uniformed manner.
Responsibilities Include But Are Not Limited To
- Coordinate, plan, lead, and ensure efficient, cost effective and customer focused animal control in the assigned area.
- Respond to animal/livability complaints and investigate cases for compliance with animal control ordinance codes and other applicable Maryland State Statues of petty misdemeanor, misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor, and felony level violations.
- Coordinate and participate in executing and serving search warrants as required. Understand and utilize both proactive enforcement and community-based enforcement theories in the application of field services.
- Interview and interrogate victims, witnesses, and suspects.
- Prioritize and manage field response to calls impacting public safety such as animal bites or otherwise aggressive animals. Lead assumes command in the absence of a Field Supervisor and provide direction to ASOs. Provide services for emergency and exigent situations that require immediate response to prevent harm, which may include assisting other agencies.
- Prepare complete and accurate reports and other related legal documents and paperwork.
- Evaluate, train, assign and provide guidance to subordinates engaged in the enforcement of Animal Control laws and ordinances. Areas such as patrol, report writing, use of force, mediation, shelter policies and procedures, proper animal care techniques, and general investigation.
- Make recommendations on hiring, discipline, and commendation.
- Work with Field Supervisors to develop and revise department policies and procedures to optimize efficiencies, consistencies, and safety. Build effective teams for the delivery of animal care and control.
- Monitor and evaluate statistics by precinct and ward using the information to ensure effective deployment of resources for enforcement activities.
- Interpret laws, ordinances, and court decisions relating to enforcement activities.
- Act as a liaison with other Animal Control and Law Enforcement agencies and related organizations.
- Participate in emergency preparedness planning and assist with the development of emergency plans for field operations while coordinating with shelter operations.
- Perform other job-related duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
- Graduation from High School or High School Certificate of completion recognized in the State of Maryland, AND
- Coursework or training in animal health, animal behavior, and control.
Experience
- Four (4) years of paid experience enforcing animal care and control laws, including the
investigation of violations and court prosecution for animal control/regulatory agency.
One (1) year of the experience must have been at the level of Animal Services Officer III
for animal control/regulatory agency; AND
- One (1) year experience in leading and training others in accomplishing work assignments.
Equivalency
An equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge,
Skills, And Abilities.
License Requirement:
Possession and maintenance at all times of a valid Class "C" (or equivalent) driver’s license from the applicant's state of residence.
This position requires offsite work and weekend and/or evening hours.
Preferred Criteria, Interview Preferences
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION
The Office of Human Resources (OHR) reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position.
Montgomery County Government(MCG) is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should email OHR at OHR@montgomerycountymd.gov . Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.
MCG also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference .
All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant's responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria or interview preference status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on the Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for an interview.
This will establish an Eligible List that may be used to fill both current and future vacancies.
If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.
Montgomery County Ethics Law : Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code . Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.
