Chief of Operations for Dog Rescue

Chief of Operations

Job Industry: Charity / Social Services / Non- Profit Organization

Position Name: Chief of Operations

Job Location: Spokane, Washington, United States

Job Type: Full Time

Office Setting: Remote with On Location Duties

Remote: Yes

Compensation: $48,000 firm with growth opportunities

Hours Per Week: 32-40

The Role

This person will be responsible for leading the Operations Branch of PHR, responsible for managing the pipeline of our program dogs. This pipeline begins with choosing dogs at risk of euthanasia in Texas all the way through their adoption in Washington.

You will be leading a large team of 200+ volunteers, broken down into five departments: Fosters, Adoptions, Admissions, Medical and Transport.  

Though we are working hard to build out our volunteer teams, you will be expected to backfill any open roles. Working in those roles will be required and encouraged to learn the inner workings of your Branch. You will be responsible for training new volunteers that are passed to you from Onboarding.

Our goal is to systemize and automate as many processes as possible. As you build and maintain successful volunteer teams, you will create SOPs and long term foundational documents for the Rescue as we scale.

You will be the 'right hand man' of the CEO and will work together daily to ensure smooth and growing operations. This role is currently 90% hands on logistics and operations and 10% vision and goals, but the right person will grow the role by training and leading their teams and transition the role from mostly hands on to mostly strategy and leadership.

Admissions begins with building and maintaining relationships with Texas shelter partners, working to 'tag' their most at risk for euthanasia dogs. The COO coordinates with our transport partners to transport the dogs into Washington state, following all state laws and overseeing logistics.

As we do not have a kennel or building, the COO will have a foster family plan, with backups, in place for all incoming dogs. The COO will coordinate the arrival of the transport with the Intake team and immediate transfer to their Foster Families.

While the dogs are in our foster program, the COO will supervise the Medical Pack and ensure that all dogs are receiving appropriate preventative care, screening, and spay/neuter surgeries. 

Our COO oversees the adoption program, consisting of our Matchmakers and their assistants. You will ensure our high standards are kept for our proven adoption process. This includes overseeing our long distance transport to adopters in the adjoining states of Idaho, Montana and Oregon: Puppy Delivery Express.

This job is based from home and remote but requires several 'on location' duties. A remote day will consist of mostly computer work, communicating on our online work platform and leading your teams of volunteers.

Other days will require in person duties, examples include, but are not limited to: transports arriving from Texas, spay/neuter surgery days and events. These will off office hours (evenings and weekends), office hours can be adjusted to accommodate.

What Winning Looks Like

• 1-2 Texas Transports/Intakes a month (20-40 dogs)

• All dogs placed in appropriate foster homes, no double placements, with extra spots

• A Foster team that is happy, humming and building community with each other

• Medical Team feels supported and inventory is fully stocked and ready for the next emergency

• Vaccines, heartworm and dewormer scheduled, administered and up to date

• Spay/Neuter surgeries scheduled and planned out in advance

• Daily (M-F) engagement with your volunteers remotely

• Minimum of one proactive out of the office day a week - traveling to see fosters, trainers, vets or other vendors

• Attendance at all events, intakes and transports

• Minimum of 15 adoptions per month

Skills Needed to Succeed

Soft Skills

The Operations Branch is staffed only with volunteers and your ability to lead, encourage and motivate a large volunteer team will determine your success in this role.

Though this job centers around saving dogs, we can't do anything without our people. The dog part of this job is easy, just like any job, it's the 'people part' that is hard. 

You must have exceptional interpersonal and people skills, exceptional written and verbal communication skills, and conflict resolution skills.

You must have emotional discipline in this role. It is extremely difficult to look at a list of dogs who are going to die and choose the ones to save. You must be a decisive person and someone who can stick to a decision based on principles and not waffle when those principles are tested.

Hard Skills

Logistics and communication is the name of the game. There are a ton of moving pieces and variables in dog rescue. You must be equally good with details as with the overall puzzle. Problem solving and critical thinking are an everyday part of this role.

You must be extremely comfortable with technology, using several different platforms and CRMs. Data and accurate record keeping is a high priority.

Continuing education is extremely valued at Path of Hope and you will be expected to participate in reading, watching or learning new information frequently. Process improvement is always high on our list. We don't do things just 'because we've always done it that way'. 

Unique Company Culture and Mission

Our Mission

At Path of Hope Rescue we save pregnant dogs and puppies from high kill shelters in the Southern United States.

Our Spokane, Washington based Rescue strives to decrease the euthanasia rate of high risk dogs in the southern United States by transporting pregnant dogs and puppies to the Pacific Northwest to find adoptive homes. We do not have a kennel or building location and are 100% foster based. We currently have two paid employees, the CEO and this role and rely heavily on volunteers and fosters as we work to build out our paid staff roles.

Our Vision
Eliminating euthanasia of dogs in the South by decreasing the amount of dogs breeding unchecked and becoming the number one 'dog destination' in Spokane by capitalizing on Spokane's love of Rescue Dogs.

Core Values:

Transparency - sharing the good with the bad

Community - dog loving people who treat each other well

Integrity - doing what you say you will do

Golden Rule - treating others how you would want to be treated

Our Company Culture

We are American Patriots who love dogs, freedom and Jesus.

No NGO status here, we don't take a single penny from the government. We are 100% funded by small donors and our adoption program, with a few small private grants here and there. We built this organization from the ground up in 2018 with $87, literally.

We are built tough and believe that hard work pays off. We're about rolling up our sleeves and taking responsibility for our own actions. We don't do drama. There are no victims here and the system isn't out to get you, the only thing standing in your way is you and your attitude. We reward merit, not DEI or pronouns. We don't bend to the cultural rot out there.

At the core of who we are, we love dogs. At PHR you will find people who recognize your dog before they recognize you. Where it's normal for your dog to have his own Instagram and people expect to be invited to your dog's birthday party. We are focused on building a strong, positive community, one dog and one person at a time.

We know dogs are family and should be treated that way. And we are driven by a shared passion to make sure every dog who isn't being loved, finds their way to a family. We care for each other and have created a community of people who love making a difference in this world.

Compensation

Currently, this role is compensated at $48,000 annual salary. We do not offer benefits at this time. The right person for this role, who increases our adoption rate while holding true to our standards and Core Values will quickly be eligible for increased salary.

We aren't talking about a 3% cost of living raise at your annual review, we aren't corporate America. We need the help now, and if you are good at what you do, you will quickly create the extra revenue to increase your salary. In other words, your raise will be effective when you are. Our goal is to increase our C Suite salaries to $100,000+ with profit sharing as an incentive. 

And although we know our salary is below market currently, we do not subscribe to the philosophy that you should be underpaid just because you work in a Non Profit. Show me what you can do, and your income will reflect your skills.

Position is open May 18th, 2026 and closes June 1, 2026