Location: Laguna Beach, California
Position: Full-time, exempt, health benefits, 401K, paid vacation, evening and weekend work required as
job duties demand, some holiday coverage, on-call responsibilities, occasional national and international travel required
Reports to: Vice President of Conservation Medicine and Science
Pay range: $80,000-$105,000 (depending on experience, education, and skills)
The Director of Rescue and Cetacean Conservation leads Pacific Marine Mammal Center’s Rescue and
Response team and will help develop PMMC’s new Cetacean Conservation Program. The primary
responsibilities include facilitating marine mammal rescues, on-water responses, whale disentanglement efforts, pinniped remote sedation operations, drone support, and necropsies under the guidance of the Vice President of Conservation Medicine and Science.
The position ensures the rescue, research, and veterinary teams maintain operational readiness through the oversight of personnel (staff, volunteers, interns, students, and visitors), facilities, equipment, vehicles, boats, and donor response fleet. The Director of Rescue and Cetacean Conservation will be a primary responder to stranded marine mammals, manage the rescue hotline and respond to all types of marine mammal strandings, associated follow-up, data collection, data entry (inhouse database and NOAA/NMFS MMHRSP database), carcass recovery, and preparedness with an emphasis on safety.
The candidate will also help lead the development of our growing Cetacean Conservation Program. Thi
new initiative plans to expand our cetacean health and disentanglement efforts to include managementdriven research and population monitoring particularly around post-Unusual Mortality Event monitoring, entanglement prevention, and vessel collision avoidance. Primary areas of interest include non-invasive health assessments, veterinary interventions (special rescue operations, remote sedation, medication delivery, etc.), cetacean photo ID, and development of novel techniques (photogrammetry, thermography, eDNA, infectious disease, HABs monitoring, etc.).
We want to hear what skills and ideas you can bring to our team to advance these objectives.
Please include in your cover letter ways you think your unique skill set could benefit our team and contribute to our mission of advancing marine mammal rescue and cetacean conservation off Orange County’s coastline and beyond.
Roles and Responsibilities
• Oversee Rescue and Response Department respondes to live/dead pinnipeds and cetaceans
• Manage staff and volunteers in Rescue and Response Department
• Coordinate maintenance of rescue gear, boat, drones, and trucks
• Participate in daily rounds with Veterinary Staff and Animal Care Staff
• Facilitate necropsies under direction of VP Conservation Medicine and Science
• Rescue and Response Department grant and budget management
• Record data in TRACKS® and NOAA/NMFS MMHSRP national database
• Community engagement and outreach, and maintaining and growing relationships with city,
county, and state municipalities
Desired Skills/Qualifications: With a goal of growing our marine mammal rescue operations, whale
disentanglement team, and cetacean conservation program we are looking for a variety of skill sets.
Please include in your submitted cover letter any experience with the below or other areas that make you a great fit for our team.
• Marine mammal experience in rescue, special rescue operations, necropsy, fieldwork,
rehabilitation, or managed care settings
• Boating skills and on-water safety
• Cetacean behavioral and life history knowledge
• Photography skills and cetacean photo ID experience (dolphin and whale photo ID, FinBase,
FinFinder)
• ArcGIS, satellite tag deployment, remote sedation, statistics
• Experience driving boats around cetaceans in rescue and/or photo-ID capacity
• Drone piloting and field applications such as photogrammetry, thermography, and documentation
purposes
• NMFS/NOAA Large Whale Entanglement Response Team participant (Level 2 or higher desired,
but not required)
• Experience with the Incident Command System, oil spill response, natural disaster management
• Understanding of NOAA guidelines and requirements regarding marine mammal protection act
and rehabilitative care
• Social Science experience and collaborative relationship building with fishers, industry, and
governmental agencies
• Previous training/exposure to Conservations Standards Framework and Miradi software; other
conservation psychology-related experience
• Great verbal communication, excellent interpersonal skills, and detail oriented
• Employees assigned to this position must possess and maintain a valid and current motor vehicle
operator’s license, have an acceptable driving record, and possess the ability to drive a variety of
vehicles.
To apply, please include the below materials (PDF saved with the applicant’s name):
• Cover Letter (including available start date)
• Curriculum Vitae
• List Three Professional References
All materials should be submitted via email (applications will be reviewed as they are received):
• To: ademing@pacificmmc.org
• Subject: Director of Rescue and Cetacean Conservation
Blue-jobs provides a solution to the need of a job search platform specialised in the marine sciences and sustainable blue economy sectors.