Career Opportunities at Dolphin Research Center

Medical Department Assistant  (Full-Time, Permanent)

Position Summary

The Medical Department and Habitat Assistant supports the Medical Department to provide quality care to marine mammals and birds at the Dolphin Research Center. Reporting directly to the Medical Director, this role assists the Assistant Medical Director, Senior Medical Technician, and the Habitat & Conservation Medical Technician in all aspects of the medical department to include maintaining laboratory organization and cleanliness, process water quality samples, maintaining animal habitat safety and cleanliness, inputting records, assisting with medical sampling and procedures, and more. This role encompasses approximately 50% office time and 50% working outside. 

This position requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, physical stamina, and a deep commitment to animal welfare, conservation, and the DRC's mission of education and research.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Habitat Maintenance Support

• Collaborate with the Habitat & Conservation Medical Technician in supporting water quality monitoring and biosecurity protocols to include sampling, recording, analyzing, reporting, and documenting water quality data. 
• Become trained on life support systems to assist with backwashing, pool draining/filling, equipment maintenance, etc.
• Help maintain clean and safe animal habitats to include pool cleaning, fence cleaning, scrubbing and more.
• Assist the Environmental Services Department with various habitat maintenance when applicable.

Animal Care & Medical Support

• Assist medical team with routine health assessments, physical exams, and medical procedures as directed.
• Prepare and maintain medical equipment, instruments, and treatment areas.
• Support diagnostic procedures, including assisting sample collection with the medical technicians (blood, urine, fecal, etc.) and laboratory processing.
• Prepare and ship out diagnostic samples to external laboratories.
• Prepare medications as directed by the veterinarian.
• Assist with emergency response and critical care situations - this might include promptly collecting and carrying needed supplies and equipment, drawing up medications as directed, and assisting with patient monitoring
• Assist with capture team and medical support for manatee rescue response.
• Other duties as assigned and requested by medical department staff.

Record Keeping & Compliance

• Ensure all diagnostic results, patient monitoring sheets, water quality results, etc. are uploadded accurately into the medical record for veterinarians to review.
• Maintain accurate animal promptly.
• Assist with inventory tracking and ordering of medical supplies.
• Ensure compliance with USDA, state, and organizational standards.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Animal Science, Marine Biology, or related field (or equivalent experience). 
• Strong orgainzational skills.
• Clear communication and ability to collaborate seamlessly with a team.
• Ability to maintain professionalism and descretion.
• Adaptability in fast paced, medical environments.
• Previous experience in veterinary, zoo, or aquarium setting.
• Ability to lift 50+ lbs and work outdoors in varying weather conditions.

Preferred:

• Experience working with marine mammals and/or avian species.
• Familiarity with aquatic animal health and water quality, and life support systems.
• Basic knowledge of laboratory procedures and diagnostic equipment.
• Dive certification.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to work in outdoor marine environments.
• Comfortable working in and around water and in heat.
• Capable of bending, lifting, and prolonged standing.

Work Schedule:

• Full-time position.
• Will be expected to work weekends and some holidays.

Benefits:

DRC currently offers medical benefits, life and disability insurance plan, a 401(k) retirement plan, flexible spending accounts, employee assistance program, paid holidays, vacation, sick, and overtime, as well as personal growth and training opportunities. Pay is based on experience.  DRC seeks to provide for the well-being of its employees and our wage combined with our generous benefits creates a competitive total package that is right for our environment. DRC is a 501(c)(3) qualifying employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. To see if you qualify for student loan forgiveness, please visit https://studentloans.gov/mydirectloan/pslfflow.action. DRC is a dog-friendly workplace!

Dolphin Research Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Gift Shop Staff (Part-Time, Permanent)

Gift Shop positions involve direct contact with our visitors and is another opportunity to ensure they leave Dolphin Research Center with a happy and positive experience.  

Requirements:

• Provide the highest quality of customer service to the guests by combining appropriate sales skills with an awarenes of customers and their needs.
• Suggest specific merchandise and offer product advice.
• Be familiar with all merchandise in the selling area.
• Maintain a professional attitude with sincerity and enthusiasm, demonstrating a commitment to the visitor as the most important person in the store.
• Possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills for assisting visitors of all countries and languages and anticipate their needs often based on limited knowledge of English.
• Maintains a calm demeanor under stress or stressful situations.
• Can deal with difficult people and situations.
• Possess problem solving skills.
• Maintains confidentiality regarding our research, animals, and staff.
• Neat in appearance, confident speaking voice, and works well both with others, or independently without instruction.
• Comfortable using computers.
• Ability to lift moderately sized boxes and goods, weighing up to 25 pounds.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule including weekends and holidays.

Dolphin Research Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer

MEMBERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT (Full-time, Permanent)

Position Summary

The Membership & Development Assistant supports the growth and stability of Dolphin Research Center. The ideal candidate for this position is a people person that is passionate about connecting with others to share our mission of conservation. This is a fundamental role in our nonprofit organization that is responsible for building relationships with the public, managing donations, support fundraising campaigns, and planning events to ensure we can continue to provide the best possible care to all the animals that call Dolphin Research Center home.

Major duties of this position in our Membership & Development department may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Maintain donor records with timely and accurate data entry.
• Process donations in the form of a check, cash, credit card, ACH, DAF, QCD, etc.
• Send formal acknowledgements following current IRS regulations and verbiage.
• Help donors daily in a professional manner in person, over email, or on the phone.
• Prepare mailing lists for renewals, special appeals, newsletters, compaigns, etc.
• Oversee waiver inventory for specialty programs and record contact information.
• Send out follow-up emails to specialty program guests to claim complimentary benefits.
• Engage with guests and give private tours around the facility to major donors as needed.
• Represent Dolphin Research Center at events and community outreach opportunities.
• Support campaigns related to membership and development efforts throughout the year.
• Assist in planning and coordination of fundraising events periodically each year.
  • Our largest fundraiser is known as Founders' Weekend and is held biennially
  • On the opposite years of Founders' Weekend, an online auction is held.

Qualifications:

• An eagerness to learn new topics.
• Experience with mass data entry.
• Friendly and outgoing personality.
• Interest in event planning and preparation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and an attention to detail.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel, as well as Google.
• Ability to manage multiple projects at once and meet deadlines.
• Self sufficient, with the ability to work with limited supervision.
• Commitment to the mission and values of Dolphin Research Center

Job Requirements:

• Primarily office-based work environment.
• Occasional evenings or weekends for special events.

Benefits:

In addition to seeing the dolphins, sea lions, seals, tortoises, and birds daily: DRC currently offers medical benefits, life and disability insurance plan, a 401(k) retirement plan, flexible spending accounts, employee assistance program, paid holidays, vacation, sick, and overtime, as well as personal growth and training opportunities. Pay is based on experience.  DRC seeks to provide for the well-being of its employees and our wage combined with our generous benefits creates a competitive total package that is right for our environment. DRC is a 501(c)(3) qualifying employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. To see if you qualify for student loan forgiveness, please visit https://studentloans.gov/mydirectloan/pslfflow.action. DRC is a dog-friendly workplace!

Dolphin Research Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer

SALARY & BENEFITS

The cost of living in the Keys tends to be high and salaries, for the most part, are not competitive with the national average. This is particularly true at DRC, which is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation. Starting salaries vary according to an applicant's educational background, experience, and particular job responsibilities. The starting annual salary for an entry-level employee at DRC averages $29,120. Many staff members find it necessary to supplement their income through other means.

DRC seeks to provide for the well being of its employees and our salary combined with our generous benefits creates a competitive total package that is right for our environment.

DRC offers an excellent benefits package including health insurance, a 401(k) plan, paid holidays, paid vacation, paid sick leave, gift shop discounts, work clothing, and complimentary Dolphin Encounters. However, the most important benefits are the extraordinary rewards employees encounter on a daily basis: feeling the elation when a dolphin demonstrates a new behavior for the first time, watching a child grin in excitement when she sees a dolphin burst out of the water into a flip, sitting quietly on a dock observing the fluid grace of dolphins, experiencing the sense of satisfaction when a student grasps a new concept, witnessing the magical moment when a learning-disabled child utters his first word. Moments such as these are the true rewards, the unique benefits of working at Dolphin Research Center.

Transparency in Coverage Rule Compliance

Under the Transparency in Coverage Rule, issued in 2020 by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Labor, and Department of the Treasury and enforced beginning 7/1/22, health insurance issuers must publish two separate machine readable files (MRFs) as follows:

• In Network: Negotiated rates for all covered items and services between the plan or issuer and in-network providers
• Out of Network: Allowed amount paid to, and billed charges from, out-of-network providers for all covered services within a 90-day period

These MRFs are available for you to read here.

HOW TO APPLY

Dolphin Research Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer

If you require assistance completing the application, please email drc-hr@dolphins.org.