Animal Assisted Happiness Smile Farm Director

AAH Smile Farm Director

Job Description January 2026

Up to 30 Hours per week, $35/hr, Part Time AAH Employee

About Us

Founded in 2009, our mission is to enrich the lives of youth with needs through barnyard animal interactions at our Smile Farm and mobile visits, creating moments of joy and happiness throughout our AAH community. Uniquely situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, we provide barnyard buddies so children and their family members can 'experience the smiles only animals can bring'. Our vision is a "Million Smiles". We are 100% funded by donations and grants and largely operate with our large network of volunteers.

www.animalassistedhappiness.org

AAH Director Role

You will be a key member of the leadership team.

You will be a key ambassador of AAH and representing AAH’s core values to the public.

You will strive to ensure our clients, volunteers and public visitors have an exceptional experience when visiting the AAH Smile Farm and interacting with our Barnyard Buddies.

You will deliver on our mission to enrich the lives of youth with needs through barnyard animal interactions at our Smile Farm and mobile visits, creating moments of joy and happiness throughout our AAH Community by:

Leading our AAH Program Team, Animal Care Manager & Facilities/Maintenance team (up to 15 hours per week) & Providing AAH Visits (up to 15 hours per week)

1)    Coordinate with AAH Programs Director to ensure we have AAH Team members along with ‘right’ Barnyard Buddies for each visit.

2)    Help to find, screen, hire and onboard AAH Team members as needs arise.

3)    Ensure visit reports are completed after each visit.

4)    Ensure photos are taken as appropriate and delivered to the Social Media Manager.

5)    Contribute to Programs planning and improvements.

6)    Partner with AAH Programs Director to schedule visits to the AAH Smile Farm and ensure we have AAH team members available.

7)    Partner with AAH Programs Director for Mobile Barnyard Visits, including right animals, AAH Team members and follow up through visit reports.

8)    Partner with AAH Programs Director to design, improve and execute the Vocational Education program.

9)    Partner with AAH Volunteer Coordinator to ensure we have appropriate and enough volunteer coverage for visits as well as farm chores.

1)    Animal Health – The health of all animals by checking in with caretakers and/or putting eyes on all animals several times a week; schedule veterinary care (routine and emergency) and maintain animal records. Confer with AAH President when you think an animal needs to be retired and/or moved from the AAH Smile Farm. Work with our Veterinarians as needed.  Note: Specifics per species are in the AAH Farm Manual which will be your responsibility to keep updated.

2)    Animal Housing – Ensure all cages/housing are safe and secure and confer with AAH Vice President for new housing suggestions/needs.

3)    Feed and animal supplies – Maintain a standard ordering list, order once per month for delivery from Granado and substitute as necessary.

4)    Caretakers – Identify, ‘hire’ and train morning and afternoon Caretakers 7 days per week including those that lead Farm Chores.  Ensure AAH Caretakers are on the AAH Calendar and be point of contact when Caretakers aren’t available to make changes to calendar. 

5)    Maintain Animal records for all Barnyard Buddies -- engage other AAH team members for periodic animal assessments - at a minimum quarterly and document in the Animal Care Assessment binder. 

6)    Determine what type of animals and how many we need in order to fulfill our mission and visits.

7)    Ensure we have a safe animal onboarding/quarantine practice for new animals joining the farm that keeps all our animals safe.

1)    General AAH Smile Farm maintenance and oversight. (Our philosophy is as much as possible to offer projects to our AAH Volunteers.) Ensure the Farm is up to our Sunnyvale lease standards – fly control, smell control, general appearance.

2)    Partner with “garden team” to ensure the farm is neat and presentable for visits as well as the public.

3)    Responsible for onsite ADA compliant toilet and wash station along with Purell Stations.

4)    Garbage Management and Smart Station usage.

5)    Manage the maintenance of our two vehicles & two trailers.

6)    Be the liaison with Baylands Park Management.

7)    Ensure farm supplies, such as paper towels, soap, laundry detergent, garbage bags, etc. are properly stocked.

8)    Work with AAH Vice President for Eagle Scout projects to improve the farm.

Requirements

●      Passion for our mission.

●      Ability to be onsite at the AAH Smile Farm 5 days per week (not full time)

●      Personable with great verbal communication skills.

●      Efficient organizer and juggler of multiple projects.

●      Prior non-profit leadership experience preferred.