This position is responsible for administering the day-to-day dive program for the Aquarium under the direction of the General Curator and in coordination with the Dive Control Board. The General Curator retains final authority over Life Sciences operations, animal care direction, personnel decisions, and institutional dive program approvals.The Dive Safety Officer is responsible for supporting a safe, compliant, and well-documented dive program. Primary responsibilities include conducting required dive training and diver checkouts; evaluating and documenting diver proficiency; writing, maintaining, and updating dive-related SOPs; maintaining dive records; coordinating annual emergency dive drills; and ensuring life-support diving equipment is inspected, maintained, serviced, and documented in accordance with manufacturer, regulatory, facility, and industry standards.This position supports animal care and habitat maintenance through safe dive operations and works closely with the General Curator, Animal Care Managers, Life Sciences staff, and the Dive Control Board to maintain compliance with applicable AZA standards, OSHA regulations, facility policies, and current industry-accepted dive practices.
Experience, Skills, & Qualifications - Two years + in an assisted animal husbandry position required.
- One year + in a similar management role required.
- PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) or equivalent required.
- Instructor level First Aid, Emergency O2 and AED certification required.
- Strong technical skills related to dive equipment required.
- Working proficiency with basic hand and power tools is preferred.
- Dive program leadership in an aquarium preferred.
- Experience in the care of flora and fauna in a public aquarium setting preferred.
- Experience working with relevant authorities and accrediting associations preferred.
- Competency with Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Experience managing large teams preferred.
- Exceptional leadership skills and proven experience.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Strong listening, presentation and decision-making skills.
- Creative problem solver who thrives when presented with a challenge.
- Energetic and eager to tackle new projects and ideas.
Abilities The individual must possess the following abilities to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, using some or a combination of the abilities.
- Requires walking/ standing for long periods of time, bending and crouching, climbing, working in small/tight spaces, and lifting up to 50 lbs.
- Ability to read, listen and communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing.
- Ability to access and accurately input information using a moderately complex computer system.
- Hearing and visual ability to observe and detect signs of emergency situations.
- Requires the ability to perform the physical, visual and hearing requirements in the working conditions above.
Other- Upon employment all team members are required to comply with the standards, rules and regulations, which may be established by the Company and updated from time-to-time. Team members who violate property rules or have irregular attendance will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
- The leisure business functions seven days a week. Due to the seasonal nature of the industry, team members may be required to work varying schedules, weekends, holidays and overtime to reflect the business needs of the property. Team members may also be required to attend group and/or department meetings in addition to the work shift as necessary.
- This job description is not an exclusive or exhaustive list of all job functions that a team member in this position may be asked to perform.