Facilities Manager (Work Trade)

About us:

Magical Creatures is a nonprofit farm animal sanctuary located in Laupahoehoe on the beautiful Hamakua coast of Hawaii's Big Island. Our purpose is to prevent cruelty to animals by rescuing animals from situations that are abusive, dangerous, or neglectful, and to provide sanctuary for rescued animals. Due to the 2018 volcanic eruptions, our little sanctuary grew fast overnight! It is now home over 90 animals, including goats, sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, and cats. We have a mix of feral and domestic animals, babies to great big (600 lbs!) pigs. Each and every one loves attention and will be super excited to welcome you to the sanctuary!

Responsibilities:

• Ensure that the physical environment of the sanctuary is always well-tended to and aesthetically pleasing
• Ensure that habitats and pastures are well-maintained, safe for residents, and can effectively serve their designated purpose
• Responsible for the development and maintenance of all sanctuary physical infrastructure
• Respond to infrastructure/maintenance issues for existing onsite staff housing (shared yurt + tiny homes)
• Execute the build of tiny homes/cabins for future staff housing
• Adds facility-related tasks to volunteer project lists and oversees projects if applicable
• Track/maintain inventory of facilities/property-related supplies and tools
• Collaborate with external contractors/vendors when required (e.g. water or gravel vendors, architects, solar installers, etc.)

Qualifications:

• 21 years of age or older
• Minimum high school education or equivalent
• Basic computer competency
• Excellent communication and planning skills
• Project management experience
• Must be a team player and passionate about animal welfare
• 1-2 years of prior construction or property/facilities maintenance experience required
• 1-2 years of prior landscaping/gardening experience required
• Prior experience with solar electric systems and water catchment
• Must be comfortable working with/around farmed animals (previous experience preferred)
• Experience working with and leading volunteers and/or volunteer groups (1-2 years preferred)
• Previous animal sanctuary experience preferred

Supervises:

• Volunteer Gardener(s)
• Intern(s) assisting with facilities/property maintenance activities part time

Supervision:

• Direct supervision by the Director of Operations; indirect supervision by the Executive Director

Benefits:

• Onsite accommodation in a shared yurt, until private accommodation is built and available
• Gain experience in leadership, strategic decision-making, communication, organization, and animal care
• Create relationships with like-minded individuals through partnership in the sanctuary community
• Lots of quality time with our 90+ residents and 7+ onsite staff members
• Team appreciation events and activities throughout the year
• Flexible working hours

Commitment:

• One month contract at minimum, ideally three +
• 2 week trial and training period
• 25-30 hours/week, with 2 full days off each week (not necessarily weekends)

Our team:

We are a completely volunteer-run organization, and at this time there are no paid positions available. We sincerely appreciate the time our staff members and other volunteers generously donate to caring for the animals and supporting our cause, and hope that you feel well compensated by the love they will shower you with every day.

Accommodations:

Our Facilities Manager, Animal Health Manager, and three animal care interns live in a shared yurt on the property (although part of the Facilities Manager's responsibilities is to build additional private staff housing, so they will eventually have their own private accommodations). The yurt is a fully inclusive living space, with solar power, hot water shower, and outdoor kitchen. Staff use the WiFi connection at the main house/office, though cell phone service (including data) works well at the yurt. We are completely off-grid, so staff must be conservative with electricity and water usage.

Applicants must be appropriately licensed to drive a car in the U.S. If you do not have your own vehicle, we try to make the sanctuary van available for volunteers to grocery shop and explore the island one day per week. Staff are responsible for the personal use of the sanctuary vehicle so we ask for a donation of 25 cents/mile driven in order to cover vehicle maintenance and fuel costs.

We do not allow any smoking or excessive drinking, and no animal products onsite out of respect for our rescued cows, pigs, chickens, goats, etc. Food is not provided with this position, and will be one of your only expenses while staying with us. We do receive frequent food donations, but we don't always know what or how much, so those will be supplementary to what you buy at the grocery store each week.

Everyone lives and works together close to the main house (our home), and it is important that we find staff members with similar lifestyles to ours to ensure a good fit. We are quiet and respectful, and we enjoy working together during the days and having peaceful time on our own in the evenings once the work day is finished. We love getting to know our staff members and other volunteers and sharing this beautiful life together, but we are also looking for individuals who can be independent in their off hours. The property (and Big Island in general) is a peaceful place of stunning natural beauty, but very little nightlife or social activities, so applicants should be okay with a small network of people to connect with and of course quiet time with the animals.

We are in a rural area so applicants should be excited for the opportunity to totally immerse with the animals on our beautiful property. We think we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, on the Hamakua coast of Hawaii's Big Island. On days off, you can explore the lava fields, black and white sand beaches, swim with turtles and manta rays, go on breathtaking hikes with hiking groups in the area, or connect with our wonderful local volunteers to explore with.

Please note: We require all of our live-in staff members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (including boosters if eligible) before arrival at the sanctuary.