Manager of Wildlife Rehabilitation
MARS Wildlife Rescue Centre is a busy wildlife rehabilitation and education facility located in Merville on Vancouver Island, BC. MARS treats over 1100 animals annually, including raptors, songbirds, raccoons, and fawns.
Our mission statement is: to conserve and protect wildlife and its natural habitat through
wildlife rehabilitation and education.
The Manager of Wildlife Rehabilitation will work in the MARS Wildlife Hospital and provide support to the wildlife rehabilitation program, assisting with all aspects of animal care from rescue to release. They will join a dedicated team of volunteers, two full-time and 2 part-time rehabilitation staff. This position involves a 40-hour work week, which may include evenings, weekends, and holidays.
Reporting Relationship:
The Manager will report to the MARS Wildlife Rescue Centre Board of Directors (“the Board”).
Responsibilities:
- Lead and train a flexible team including staff, volunteer, and student wildlife rehabilitators to ensure proper rehabilitation of a variety of local wildlife at all stages of development including but not limited to; birds (nestlings, fledglings, adult), deer fawns, raccoon kits, other small mammals, amphibians and reptiles. This includes ensuring clean and safe housing, appropriate food and water, enrichment, examinations and medical treatment is provided to each animal in MARS’ care.
- Oversee and provide support to staff and admin with volunteer and work experience/volunteer recruitment, onboarding and scheduling.
- Directly manage and oversee all hospital staff. This includes hiring, performance management, submission of grant applications, and liaising with the Board Personnel Committee.
- Ensure effective development and functioning of the wildlife rehabilitation team (including staff, students and volunteers), through internal hands-on and group educational training, external training (as and when appropriate), constructive feedback, and monthly meetings.
- Ensure a positive, professional and safe working environment for team members.
- Oversee health and safety requirements within the hospital and rehabilitation areas of the property. This includes but not limited to ensuring safe handling, storage, and record keeping of medications and other hazardous materials.
- Maintain up-to-date provincial and federal licensing for the MARS hospital and ensure compliance with licensing requirements. This includes maintaining a record of wildlife rehabilitation protocols and seeing to their proper implementation and updates, as necessary. This also includes maintaining accurate record-keeping for each animal admitted to the hospital, pulling/interpreting statistics as required, ensuring notification of relevant authorities as required, and liaising with the Provincial permitting officer.
- Maintain currency in the field of wildlife rehabilitation and the prevention of conflicts between humans and wildlife by networking with other wildlife rehabilitation organizations and reviewing relevant literature. This includes liaising with local veterinarians, regional wildlife care centres, transportation providers and community organizations in support of the goals and objectives of MARS.
- Prepare an annual budget and ensure the MARS hospital operates within the allotted budget.
- Liaise with and provide updates to the Board. This includes preparing rehab reports and attending monthly board meetings, as well as preparing the annual rehab report for the Annual General Meeting and attending the AGM. This also includes communicating any items of note or concern to the board, responding to inquiries and instructions from the Board, and writing or contributing to proposals/financial assistance applications (such as WRNBC Facility Enhancement bursary) with support from the Board.
- Take part in educational fundraising and public relations activities. This includes responding to media inquiries, updating content on the MARS website, and supporting staff and volunteers in these activities. This also includes liaising with the MARS Ambassador Program/Education Manager.
Education, Skills and Experience:
The ideal candidate will have:
- A university or college degree in a related field or the equivalent experience
- A minimum of five years’ experience working with a licensed wildlife rehabilitation centre
- Experience managing staff and/or volunteers
- Familiarity with local wildlife identification, behavior, life cycle and diet
- Advanced skills in the rehabilitation of the wildlife species brought to MARS, including the ability to conduct physical examinations, and make assessments of long-term viability, nutritional needs, housing, and release requirements.
- Superficial medical care skills including but not limited to wound cleaning, bandaging and suturing, injections, medication selection and administration, and fracture immobilization.
- Familiarity with local wildlife parasites, diseases and treatments.
- Good written and oral communication, organization and management skills
- Proficient computer skills
- Must currently be legally entitled to work in Canada (proof required)
- Possess a valid BC Driver’s licence with good driving record
Please submit the following by email by October 1, 2025:
- A cover letter
- A resume
- Contact Information for three references (at least two former employers)
Send documents to : info@marswildliferescue.com
Subject Line: Attention Personnel Committee
