Ranger & Domestic/Farm Animal Operations Manager

Do you love animals, the outdoors, and creating meaningful connections between people and wildlife?

We're looking for a hands-on, compassionate individual to join our team at The OPERA, leading the care, training, and wellbeing of our domestic and farm animals. This role is a unique opportunity to blend animal husbandry with education, tourism, and conservation, ensuring that our animals thrive while helping visitors connect more deeply with nature. You'll play a key role in maintaining best-practice welfare standards, developing enrichment and training programs, and supporting initiatives that bring our mission of conservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and education to life.

What You'll Be Doing

• Designing and leading training and enrichment programs that promote confident, well-socialised animals and positive guest interactions.
• Overseeing the daily care, husbandry, and wellbeing of The OPERA's domestic and farm animals to ensure best-practice welfare standards.
• Developing behaviour-based training methods that support both animal engagement and tourism-focused experiences.
• Coaching staff and volunteers in effective handling, training, and enrichment techniques to ensure consistency and animal safety.
• Working with leadership to expand and enhance our animal training programs, helping shape The OPERA as a model for ethical, experience-based education.

You'll Thrive in This Role If You Have

• A genuine love for animals and a deep respect for their care and wellbeing.
• Experience in domestic and/or farm animal husbandry, training, or enrichment.
• Strong attention to detail and understanding of animal welfare best practices.
• Excellent organisational, interpersonal, and communication skills.
• A practical, can-do attitude and the ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Comfort working outdoors and performing physical tasks in varied weather conditions.
• A proactive approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement.
• Reliable transport to and from the Otago Peninsula.

Bonus Points For

• Experience developing animal-assisted tourism or educational programs.
• Background in conservation, ecotourism, or environmental education.
• Confidence engaging with visitors and sharing animal stories in a professional setting.

This role is perfect for someone passionate about animal behaviour and welfare, eager to develop their skills in training and enrichment, and excited to help create meaningful connections between people and animals in a truly unique environment. Read on for full details…

About the company…

New Zealand Wildlife Alliance is the parent company of Monarch Wildlife Cruises & Tours, The OPERA – Otago Peninsula Eco Restoration Alliance, and Wingatui Glasshouses, the three of which operate as sister companies. Together with our charity, the Otago Shore & Land Trust, we are focused on conservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and education on the Otago Peninsula and beyond.

Our purpose as a team…

We value the opportunity to share the beauty of Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula with our guests and understand that it is only through their patronage that we can succeed. We believe in fostering a mentally and physically safe work environment which celebrates our commonalities, as well as our differences. We understand that it is only through our combined strengths and talents that we can achieve our common objectives of conservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and education. We pledge to help each other accomplish the most we can so that together we can achieve our goals and make a positive contribution to the world.

More About This Role

This position has both primary and secondary responsibilities. The primary focus is the management, training, and wellbeing of all domestic and farm animals owned by The OPERA. This is a hands-on leadership role that oversees day-to-day care, animal training and enrichment programs, and the integration of these animals into existing and future visitor experiences. The individual in this role will also collaborate with leadership to develop new guest interactions, coordinate staff and volunteer involvement, and ensure best-practice welfare standards are maintained across all operations.

On the ranger side of things, the individual in this role will support wider tour operations at The OPERA and, when needed, cross over to assist with tours or crew functions within Monarch Wildlife Cruises & Tours.

This is a highly collaborative, public-facing position requiring regular interaction with staff, volunteers, and guests of all ages and backgrounds. Some aspects of this role are physically demanding and involve outdoor work in varying weather conditions.

In the big picture, this is a dynamic, generalist position that helps bridge animal care, training, and guest engagement. Ideal candidates will be outgoing, nature-loving, positive, and uplifting individuals who are open to new experiences, adaptable to jumping in when/where needed, eager to make a difference and excited to be part of our mahi of conservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and education in action. Every job, big or small, is essential in helping preserve nature's song at The OPERA.

This position reports to the Head of Operations and works closely with leadership across animal care, facilities, and operations teams.

Domestic/Farm Animal Health, Wellbeing & Training duties...

• Manage the health, wellbeing, and husbandry of all domestic and farm animals owned by The OPERA, including a focus on facilities and living conditions for the animals.
• Develop and manage training and enrichment programs that ensure maximum socialisation of domestic and farm animals owned by The OPERA, with a priority on tourism focused interaction.
• Work with leadership to develop and implement short and long-term strategic plans for expansion of domestic and farm animals owned by The OPERA, including sourcing of animals.
• Oversee all budgets related to the domestic and farm animals owned by The OPERA with an absolute priority of managing domestic and farm animal operations within budget parameters.
• Maintain excellent care and breeding records for all domestic and farm animals owned by The OPERA.
• Develop and implement staff and volunteer training programs to assist in the execution of domestic and farm animal training and wellbeing.
• Work with the Head of Education to identify and develop curriculum that shares our domestic/farm animal initiatives with the community.
• Work with Head of Media Relations & Grants to identify and communicate social media worthy content to share our domestic/farm animal initiatives with stakeholders and the general public.
• Work with the Facilities, Fleet & Equipment Manager to coordinate the maintenance and upkeep of domestic/farm animal facilities, as well as identification of future facilities required for planned growth of domestic/farm animal initiatives.

Tour Operations duties...

• Work with leadership to identify, develop, and implement new guest experience opportunities that maximise the involvement of domestic and farm animals.
• Work with operations team to develop and manage opportunities for integration of domestic animals into current tour operations in meaningful ways.
• Serve as a tour guide when called upon to do so, providing guests visiting the property with exceptional customer experience.
• Assist in tour operations, including answering phones, booking tours, responding to emails, etc. when called upon to do so.
• Serve as crew and/or guide for Monarch Wildlife Tours when requested.
• Assist in the collection of customer experience feedback to allow us to receive constructive input on guest experiences.
• Relay wildlife sightings/occurrences using the appropriate communication channels.

General Operations duties...

• Join project teams to assist with property improvement as requested.
• Lead and/or participate in special initiatives when and as assigned.
• Consider ways in which your unique knowledge and/or talents could benefit the advancement of initiatives at The OPERA and when opportunities are identified, present your ideas to senior leadership for consideration.

Health, Safety & Wellbeing duties...

• Ensure you always adhere to safe practices and procedures.
• Ensure health, safety, and wellbeing training programs and oversight are developed and maintained for all areas where you have direct oversight.
• Ensure staff working within your area of influence adhere to health and safety policies and procedures.
• Immediately report any witnessed violations of safety practices and procedures.

Staff Engagement duties...

• Be on time and participatory in scheduled staff meetings, unless prior absence or tardiness has been arranged.
• Participate in occasional staff training sessions and/or staff development outings as requested.
• Alert predator control staff to any nuisance or problem animals.
• Serve as a member of staff committees and/or workgroups as requested.
• Participate in strategy sessions as requested.
• Wear the provided staff uniform during rostered hours and always maintain uniform in as neat a condition as possible.

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