The Job

The San Bernardino County Special Districts Department is recruiting for a Lead Animal Keeper at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo. This senior-level position works alongside Animal Keepers in the daily care and management of the Zoo’s animal collection while providing technical leadership and mentorship. The Lead Animal Keeper helps coordinate daily operations, ensuring animal welfare, exhibit presentation, guest experience, and safety standards are consistently maintained.

The ideal candidate demonstrates advanced knowledge of operant conditioning, positive reinforcement training, behavioral husbandry, and AZA animal welfare standards, and plays a key role in supporting compliance and maintaining the highest standards of animal wellness.

Key Responsibilities:

Work alongside staff in daily feeding, cleaning, enrichment, behavioral observation, and habitat maintenance.
Model and promote excellent customer service by professionally engaging guests and supporting interpretive messaging.
Apply advanced operant conditioning principles and assist in developing and implementing structured training plans.
Serve as a technical resource to animal care staff regarding behavior, enrichment, safety practices, and regulatory compliance.
Support onboarding and provide hands-on training to new employees.
Assist in coordinating daily assignments to ensure essential animal care functions are completed.
Maintain accurate records using institutional systems, including TRACKS and WRMD.
Ensure compliance with AZA standards, USDA regulations, and applicable state and federal requirements.
Maintain safe, secure, and visually appropriate exhibit areas.

For more details, refer to the Lead Animal Keeper job description.

ABOUT BIG BEAR ALPINE ZOO

The Big Bear Alpine Zoo is a rehabilitation facility offering injured, orphaned and imprinted wild animals a safe haven temporarily while they heal or permanently as they are unable to survive on their own. We are extremely proud that the vast majority of animals brought to us for rehabilitation are successfully released back into their native environment. Those that remain with us on exhibit are either too injured or have been imprinted by humans and cannot be released back into the wild to care for themselves.

The Big Bear Valley Recreation and Park District, a Special District of San Bernardino County, owns the zoo, the facilities and the animals. County employees are hired for animal care, grounds keepers, maintenance, education and administration. The zoo is located within the 3rd District of San Bernardino County. The Park District oversees the operation of the zoo, and the Curator oversees the day-to-day activities of the zoo. The zoo is located in the San Bernardino National Forest at an elevation of 7140 feet. For more information visit https://bigbearzoo.org/

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Pre-Employment Process: Prior to appointment, applicants must undergo a background check, which includes fingerprinting and a medical exam.

Availability: Must be able to work in the mountain area of Big Bear, CA and report to work in extreme weather conditions such as ice and snow. Please indicate availability for Big Bear on Agency Wide Question #2. Must be able to work evenings, weekends and holidays.

Travel: Travel within the County may be required. A valid California Driver License and proof of automobile liability insurance must be provided at time of hire and maintained throughout employment.

Working Conditions: Applicants must be able to work outdoors in varying mountain weather conditions, drive-in all-weather conditions, lift and/or carry heavy objects up to fifty (50) pounds, stoop, kneel, crouch, bend over, crawl, and perform other physical activities in the performance of job duties for this position.

Sponsorship: San Bernardino County is unable to consider to candidates who require Visa Sponsorship at this time or in the future. Candidates must be able to present their legal right to work in the United States at the time of employment.

Minimum Requirements

Candidates must meet the following requirements:

Experience: Five (5) years of experience in zoological animal care, wildlife rehabilitation, or closely related field, including experience with operant conditioning and behavioral husbandry practices.

-AND-

Education: Associate’s degree or higher in zoology, biology, animal science, or closely related field is desirable.

Desired Qualifications

The ideal candidate will possess:

Experience in an AZA-accredited institution.
Demonstrated experience mentoring or serving in a lead capacity.
Experience using TRACKS and WRMD record systems.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Outlook, Word, and Excel.

Selection Process

Application Procedure: Applications will be accepted until a sufficient number of qualified applications are received. To receive consideration for this excellent opportunity, please complete and submit the online employment application and supplemental application. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of the application and/or supplemental questionnaires.

There will be a competitive evaluation of qualifications based on the information provided in the Application and the Supplemental Questionnaire. You are encouraged to include detailed descriptions of your qualifying experience and skills, as only the most highly qualified applicants will be referred to the Department.

All communications regarding the selection process will be via email. Applicants are encouraged to check their e-mail frequently to learn additional information regarding this recruitment. Check your GovernmentJobs account for notifications. Update your firewalls to allow e-mails from San Bernardino County through governmentjobs.com. Update your Spam, Junk, and Bulk settings to ensure it will not spam/block/filter communications from email addresses with the following domain "@hr.sbcounty.gov". Finally, be sure to keep your personal information updated. Taking these steps now will help ensure you receive all communications regarding this recruitment.

To ensure timely and successful submission of your online application, please allow ample time to complete and submit your application before the posted filing deadline. Applicants will be automatically logged-out if they have not submitted the application and all required materials prior to the posted deadline. Once your application has been successfully submitted you will receive an onscreen confirmation and an email. We recommend that you save and/or print these for your records. Please note: if you do not receive an onscreen confirmation and an email acknowledging our receipt of your application, we have not received your application.

All communications regarding the selection process will be via email. Applicants are encouraged to check their e-mails frequently to obtain any correspondence associated with this recruitment. Please be sure the email provided on this application is always current; it is your responsibility to update your personal information. Update your Spam, Junk, Bulk and Firewall settings as needed to ensure that you receive all information pertaining to this recruitment.

EEO/ADA: San Bernardino County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant employer, dedicated to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all employees and applicants.

ADA Accommodation: If you have a disability and need accommodations during the testing process, please submit the Special Testing Accommodations Request Form within one week of a recruitment filing deadline.

Veterans’ Preference: Eligible veterans and their spouses or widows/widowers who are not current County employees may receive additional Veterans' Preference points. For details and instructions on how to request these points, please refer to the Veterans' Preference Policy.

For more important details, review the links below:

Guide to Completing a County Job Application

Applicant Information and the County Employment Process

San Bernardino County

Latest Jobs

Lead Animal Keeper