The Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center (WHC), a program of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and its One Health Institute (OHI), is currently recruiting for an Associate Director of Network Management to help lead the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) and its readiness, research and response activities for oiled wildlife in California.
Full Job Description + Application
Job Summary
The Associate Director of Network Management is responsible for the active management of the relationships and agreements with the Oiled Wildlife Care Network’s (OWCN’s) network of more than 40 Member Organizations (including major zoological and aquarium facilities and wildlife rehabilitation organizations), ensuring a ready state of the Network for emergency responses through training, engagement, and evaluation activities and through communication and outreach efforts. This position leads the initial planning activities during emergency response activations and cross trains to fill other key leadership and support roles during responses. This role supervises training, evaluation, personnel coordination, and outreach activities and works under the direction of the OWCN Director and in close coordination with the Associate Director of Operations.
Essential Responsibilities
- Leadership & Administrative (40%)
- Network Support & Maintenance (40%)
- Other (20%)
Leadership & Administrative
- Contribute to strategic visioning of the overall program as a senior leadership member of the program.
- Represent OWCN to key stakeholders, including OWCN Member Organizations, California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response and other NGO and State and Federal agencies in formal and informal settings, and to the public as needed.
- Review and monitor budgets and expenditures for the network training, engagement, and communication portion of the program and ensure appropriate allocation of these resources.
- Supervise the daily activities of OWCN Management Team personnel assigned to Network Support (currently 2.0 FTE), as well as give work guidance to a shared communication personnel resource.
- Lead the planning and personnel activities of initial mobilization for oil spill activations, in close coordination with the Director and Associate Director of Operations. Specific duties will vary based on the response but include leading initial planning meetings and discussions to establish the most rapid and effective mobilization strategies.
- Respond to spills, filling any of the management and staff roles required by the response, including potentially higher-level leadership roles as necessary, and coordinate with outside stakeholders and member organizations. This includes working within the Incident Command System (ICS) to serve at a group supervisor level.
- Supervise operational activities and interface with a diverse group of individuals and agencies including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Coast Guard, US Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service, State Parks, local governments and law enforcement, the responsible party, wildlife organizations, and volunteers.
- Provide depth in coverage for the Director and Associate Director of Operations as needed, in preparedness and response times.
Network Support & Maintenance
- Work closely with UC Davis OWCN Management Team to monitor program progress, document lessons learned and recommend evidence-based shifts in strategy.
- Track program deliverables and activities and write narrative reports and other program documents.
- Oversee the OWCN volunteer and staff training and appreciation/retention program (including communication and outreach efforts and in person visits), as well as the management of OWCN Responder Database.
- Manage administrative aspects of the network, including routine communications, routine network updates, annual readiness reviews and maintenance of documents and agreements with network organizations.
- Manage multi-tier training program, including identifying needs from Network evaluation, and facilitate planning activities to fill training and engagement needs, including drills, specialized trainings, conferences and other modalities.
- Manage monitoring and evaluation activities of the readiness program for the Oiled Wildlife Care Network.
Other
- Lead OWCN readiness times communication and outreach efforts to the public and outside the network stakeholders.
- Take shifts (rotating through the team) on the 24-hour hotline to receive and act on calls for oil spill notifications.
- Support requests for mutual aid as needed from entities within and outside UC Davis and California.
- Represent OWCN on a national and international level as needed.
- Takes on other duties and projects as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree with 4 or more years of program management or administrative experience
- 4+ years of demonstrated supervisory experience s
- Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail
- Collaborative and team-oriented, detail-oriented and able to set priorities and meet timelines; capable of making decisions in a fast-paced and rapidly changing work environment
- Basic financial analysis and budgeting skills
- Demonstrated ability to navigate complex partnerships and stakeholder relationships with diplomacy, professionalism, and cultural awareness
- Ability to travel monthly around California for routine partner visits and to physically deploy with limited notice for emergency response activations
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working in emergency response management and familiarity with ICS principles
- Program management experience, ideally in an academic or state/federal government setting, with large grant-funded projects and demonstrated financial analysis and budgeting skills
- Program monitoring and evaluation skills
- Background in captive wildlife care (such as zoo, sanctuary, rehabilitation facility), or a deep understanding of the captive wildlife sector
Salary/Pay Range
$94,700 - $130,000/year
Contact
Victoria Hall - vichall@ucdavis.edu or +1 530 600 1010
Apply by November 5, 2025 11:59PM Pacific Time