The Opportunity

The Arizona Animal Welfare League (AAWL) is seeking an empathetic, highly adaptable and collaborative leader to serve as our Director of Community Engagement. They will be responsible for managing new and existing community programs in four key areas: Volunteers, Events, Shelter Intervention & Diversion, and Access to Veterinary Care.  The Director will lead and support a growing seven-person team including the Volunteer & Events Manager, Access to Vet Care Manager, Adoption Support Manager, Adoption Support Specialist, and Events Coordinator.

The Director oversees the partnership with the Arizona Pet Project (AZPP) and supervises the contracted part-time social worker supporting diversion and safety-net services. And works collaboratively with all internal departments—including Medical, Intake, Adoptions, Behavior, Marketing, and Operations—to ensure community programs are strategically aligned, responsive to shelter needs, and integrated with organizational priorities.

The Director of Community Engagement operationalizes AAWL’s core values (collaboration, integrity, empathy, and innovation) and advances a positive, inclusive workplace culture by incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles into all aspects of our community-facing work. This position carries a strategic and systems-level lens, ensuring programs are designed, implemented, evaluated, and adapted to meet community needs and long-term organizational goals.

The Director of Community Engagement reports to the VP of Operations and is a key member of AAWL’s Operations Team, linking community resources to shelter operations to ensure pets and the people who love them are supported from intake to adoptions and beyond.

This is a full-time position based in our shelter located near the Phoenix airport on 40^th Street and Washington.  

About AAWL

AAWL has served the Phoenix community for more than 50 years as Arizona’s oldest and largest no-kill shelter. While our roots are in animal rescue and adoption, we have evolved into a community-centered organization dedicated to keeping pets and families together. Our programs provide affordable veterinary care, pet resources for families in need, and lifesaving rescue and adoption services for thousands of dogs and cats each year.

With an annual budget of $7.7 million and a team of over 100 employees, AAWL is a growing, mission-driven nonprofit shaping the future of animal welfare in Arizona. Learn more about our current strategic priorities here.

Key areas of responsibility include:

Leadership and Program Design/Implementation

• Apply a strategic, data-informed lens to all program design, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities, long-term sustainability, and AAWL’s strategic plan.
• Strengthen cross-departmental collaboration with Medical, Intake, Adoptions, and Behavior to ensure community programs reflect real-time shelter needs, reduce barriers to vet care, and improve outcomes for pets and families.
• Oversee the Shelter Diversion Program’s strategy, workflows, metrics, and evaluation to improve diversion outcomes and expand safety-net support for pet owners.
• Hire, mentor, lead, and support, and 7-person team, including goal setting, performance evaluation and training and development. 
• Work closely with the President/CEO and Finance Manager to develop the annual budget for the Community Programs Department.
• Oversee the execution of educational and/or community-focused events, including AAWL’s Walk to Save Animals, to ensure they align with AAWL’s strategic plan.   
• Oversee the management of AAWL’s affinity groups, including The P4 Committee, to ensure they align with AAWL’s strategic plan.  
• Work with the development department to develop new grant proposals that support our programmatic needs, track grant expenses and deliverables, and participate in the interim/final reports to grantors.
• Represent AAWL in community meetings, including staffing Community of Practice meetings related to our Access to Vet Care Project, and speaking on behalf of AAWL.
  
  

Recruiting Volunteers  

• Supervise Volunteer & Events Manager and oversee the volunteer recruitment, training, and development efforts to help address organizational needs.

• Embrace conflict by setting positive examples of how to interact and communicate with staff, volunteers, and community members to help create a harmonious shelter environment where we empower staff, volunteers to turn conflict into something positive. 
• Work collaboratively with all departments to identify organizational gaps that volunteers can fill and help develop new volunteer programs that integrate volunteers into all aspects of operations.
• Develop new volunteer recruitment strategies that help us accomplish our long-term goals, including recruiting younger volunteers (ages 16-18) to create a pipeline for future AAWL veterinarians, veterinary technicians, or animal welfare leaders.

   

  Shelter Intervention & Diversion

• Oversee the Shelter Diversion Program, ensuring the delivery of comprehensive case management, crisis support, and wrap-around resources that help pet owners keep pets at home whenever safely possible.
• Manage and strengthen AAWL’s partnership with the Arizona Pet Project (AZPP), including supervision of the contracted part-time social worker who provides direct diversion and safety-net support to pet owners.
• Develop and refine diversion protocols that integrate behavior, medical, and social-service support, ensuring that internal workflows across Intake, Adoptions, Behavior, and Medical teams are collaborative and effective.
• Establish strategic goals and tracking systems that measure the reach and effectiveness of diversion services and inform program development.
• Identify, build, and cultivate meaningful relationships with partner organizations, including local middle and high schools, serving community members who live in targeted zip codes near the AAWL shelter to inform students and community members about pet ownership.  
• Identify opportunities for staff to participate in events to raise awareness about AAWL programs and services.
• Engage in strategic activities that measurably increase engagement with pet owners (living in communities near the shelter) to build meaningful relationships with community members, raise awareness of AAWL services and provide shelter intervention and case management support to help keep pets with their families.

Providing Affordable, Accessible Vet Care

• Work collaboratively with our Access to Vet Care Manager to execute grant deliverables to eliminate barriers to veterinary care for Latino owners living near the shelter.
• Work collaboratively with the Medical Director, Shelter Medicine team, and Access to Vet Care Manager to ensure families we serve in the community receive coordinated medical support when needed, and that community care, diversion, and medical access programs function as a unified system.
• Work with AAWL leadership team to develop a plan for training staff and volunteers on how to deliver medical services with cultural competency and humility.        

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years nonprofit or related experience, 3+ years in leadership
  
• Strong relationship-building and program development skills
• Strategic thinker with experience managing budgets and grants
• Excellent communication skills (English & Spanish required)
• Passion for animal welfare and community impact
  
  

Benefits

• 100% employer-paid medical and life insurance
• Dental, vision, and supplemental options
• Generous PTO, sick leave, and holidays
• Professional development support
• PSLF-eligible employer

To Apply
Send your cover letter, resume, and three references to anavidad@aawl.org with subject line: Director of Community Engagement. by April 19th No phone calls or walk-ins. AAWL is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity, equity, and inclusion.