Thrift Store Manager
APA! BACKGROUND: Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austin’s most dynamic and best-loved nonprofits. The organization is a national leader in the no-kill movement and is recognized as a thought leader in animal welfare. APA! locally rescues, treats, and adopts out approximately 10,000 homeless dogs and cats each year, providing a critical safety net for Austin’s most at-risk shelter pets and helping Austin remain a no-kill city, while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals. The organization is distinguished by the scrappiness of its grassroots, non-traditional, community-based approach to animal rescue.
APA! continues to innovate lifesaving best practices and shares its renowned lifesaving model through American Pets Alive!, APA!’s national division. In 2020, AmPA! launched the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) project, a collaborative movement of more than 10,000 animal welfare professionals working across nearly 1,900 organizations. HASS brings shelters and animal welfare professionals together to build community-focused animal services that better meet the needs of people and pets, keep human-animal families together, and prevent pets from unnecessarily entering shelters.
APA! THRIFT & HAYS COUNTY PETS ALIVE!: APA! Thrift began in May 2017 with its first location on Burnet Road and has since expanded across Central Texas, with additional stores on Oltorf, 51st Street, Round Rock, and Pflugerville. Our boutique-style thrift stores sell high-quality new and gently used items at affordable prices, with net proceeds directly supporting lifesaving animal welfare programs.
Now, that mission is expanding into Hays County. Hays County Pets Alive! is a locally led and operated initiative launched by Austin Pets Alive!, to save more lives and expand pet support services across Hays County. Our new Hays County thrift store will be part of this growing local presence, combining APA!’s successful thrift model with a community-focused mission to support pets and the people who love them.
The Thrift Store Manager will have the unique opportunity to help establish and lead this new location, build a strong local team and customer experience, and help turn community support and donated goods into resources that directly advance lifesaving work for pets across counties.
POSITION SUMMARY/OVERVIEW: The Thrift Store Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations over an individual APA! Thrift store and in leading the on-site volunteer and staff teams to maximize profits and impact. This is a full-time, exempt position, with an average of 40 hours per week. The Thrift Store Manager reports to the Director of Retail Operations.
The Thrift Store Manager leads and oversees the strategic direction, growth, and daily operations of APA!’s Thrift Store Program. This role ensures alignment with APA!’s broader mission to increase the live release rate across Texas, while building a sustainable, inclusive, and high-impact model for retail operations.
The Thrift Store Manager is responsible for managing daily workflows, supervising staff, and setting clear, mission-aligned goals. This includes creating structured plans, tracking progress toward outcomes, and ensuring accountability and follow-through on team priorities. The role uses data to guide decisions and helps keep the team focused on consistent, measurable impact. This is a leadership role rooted in empowerment, facilitation, and values-driven oversight.
Rather than working independently, the Thrift Store Manager sets the tone that APA! is a volunteer-powered organization—every staff member is expected to work collaboratively with volunteers and to help create meaningful opportunities for them to lead and contribute. This includes pairing with volunteers to complete day-to-day tasks, modeling strong partnership, and developing a culture of shared effort and team accountability.
This position requires a high level of responsiveness and Manager on Duty (MOD) availability. The work is often fast-paced and dynamic, with weekend or shift flexibility expected. While APA! strongly encourages work-life balance, during on-duty shifts, the [Job Title] is expected to be highly present, solutions-oriented, and ready to support the team with real-time problem-solving.
Every individual at APA! is responsible for working in collaboration with volunteers; making sure volunteers are recruited, trained and feel impactful through their efforts at APA!. A core part of this role is creating a welcoming and empowering experience for volunteers, including assisting with onboarding, training, and volunteer engagement as part of the day-to-day workflow.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Manage staff and volunteers by providing ongoing support through effective communication, clear expectations, and mentorship, as well as ensuring policies and procedures are being followed, revenue targets are being met, signage and all store aesthetics are per APA! and APA! Thrift brand standards, etc.
- Ensure staff and volunteers are receiving adequate and updated training so as to be the strongest possible assets for APA! Thrift
- Provide ongoing appreciation to staff and volunteers to keep engagement high
- Assist with creating, implementing, and updating policies and procedures as needed and ensure updates are disseminated and implemented by staff and volunteers
- Assist with sourcing and coordination of in-store events targeting local student populations, organizations and businesses with the goal of driving as many new customers to the store as possible
- Oversee compliance of staff with all established agency policies and procedures
- Work with Human Resources to facilitate staff recruitment, selection, and onboarding
- Maintain a neat, clean, and organized store environment at all times
- Responsible for the overall productivity results in the store
- Drive operational efficiencies to help minimize risk and protect the store’s assets
- Maintain safe working conditions for staff, volunteers, contractors, vendors, and customers
- Create and administer work schedules to ensure proper workforce coverage
- Provide regular reports to the Director of Retail Operations, which reviews and evaluates the activities and progress to date
- Collaborate across other APA! department leaders to optimize resources and initiatives
- Assist with marketing initiatives, including the building and maintaining of relationships with local businesses, ensuring APA! Thrift engages in maximum cross-promotion opportunities and receives maximum support from local businesses while ensuring that such initiatives are aligned with the APA! Marketing and Communications team
- Partner with Volunteer Managers to learn about the volunteer programs and manage volunteers interested in your department on an ongoing basis
- Foster and model a volunteer-powered culture across the team by ensuring that every staff member is partnered with volunteers on every shift, with the goal of empowering volunteers to lead and grow within the program.
- Serve as a facilitator and coach to staff and volunteers, ensuring the work is shared, not siloed, and that volunteers are supported in completing daily tasks.
- Ensure active recruitment, onboarding, and engagement of volunteers using volunteer engagement tools and resources
- Support retention by matching volunteers to appropriate tasks, offering guidance, and providing regular check-ins and staff mentorship.
- Identify strong volunteers for deeper roles and seek out customer to volunteer conversion opportunities.
- Recognize volunteer contributions through consistent appreciation and shoutouts.
- Provide clear expectations, hands-on training, and in-the-moment coaching to set volunteers up for success.
- Job duties may include some or all of the above, and other duties as assigned by manager
OTHER FUNCTIONS:
- Must demonstrate dependability, accountability, time management, use of reasoning, and good judgment skills
- Attend and participate in all required training sessions and meetings
- Maintain open and consistent communication with Program Manager or designee, supervisor, and other colleagues
- Partner with Volunteer Managers to learn about the volunteer programs and manage volunteers interested in your department on an ongoing basis
- Able to react to change productively and perform other related duties as assigned
- Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
- Able to work in a high-volume, fast-paced, high-stress environment
- All new store managers will be required to go through a 5 week training program that will take place at the Burnet location, or another location as designated by APA!
- In the event a store location is not available after the training program (due to new store lease negotiations, construction delays, or other new store openings issues you may be asked to work at another existing location to expand personal training and development as a Thrift Store Manager, until a permanent store can be assigned.
- During the training period, or interim temporary store assignment, participation in sales incentive programs may be permitted on a discretionary basis.
QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, & EXPECTATIONS:
- Love of animals that helps keep the mission close to heart and a commitment to the No Kill cause is essential!
- 3+ years of retail management experience preferred with a proven track record of success
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and prioritize workload to manage multiple projects with strict deadlines
- Must be a collaborative team player who can both nurture and develop staff and volunteers
- Proven leadership ability, as well as strength in building internal partnerships
- Strong personnel management and retail operations knowledge, including inventory control, loss prevention, retail systems, merchandising, customer service and store budget preparation
- Energetic, self-motivated self-starter, flexible and adaptable with a sense of humor
- Able to multitask and work independently within a small, hands-on work environment
- Computer proficiency in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint (G Suite is a plus)
- Willing and committed to working well with volunteers and staff in all roles
- Committed to embodying APA!’s Core Values: Innovation, Respect, Drive, Resourcefulness, and Inclusion and cultural values: Humble, Hungry, Smart
- Commitment to APA!'s customer experience expectations
- Passion for working well with staff, volunteers, and customers—helping all individuals feel successful, appreciated, and connected to APA!’s mission
- Strong commitment to volunteer engagement and support; dedicated to working well with volunteers across all roles
- Comfortable working cross-functionally and serving as a liaison between volunteers, customers, and team members
- Effective written and verbal communication skills; able to interpret rules, procedures, and instructional materials
- Self-starter with strong time management; able to work independently and collaboratively
- Excellent interpersonal skills; maintains a calm and professional presence in all situations
- Strong attention to detail and high standards for quality
- Adaptable to change and able to perform related duties as needed
- Dedicated to delivering an exceptional and inclusive customer experience
PHYSICAL JOB REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be able to routinely stack, lift and sort boxes and individual donations which may be up to or over 50 lbs.
- Must be able to access merchandise, tools and other necessary items in places that may be out of reach from a standing or sitting position. Some stores have stairs-only access to areas that will be required for this position to work in on a daily basis.
- Can be on the sales floor providing active service for an entire 8 or 10-hour shift
- If reasonable accommodations are requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job absent undue hardship to the organization.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
- Work is normally performed inside the Thrift Store; some outside work is required (events, accepting donations, etc)
- Rapid pace with exposure to potential hazards including animal waste, disinfectants, high levels of noise, animal bites and scratches and diseases that can be transmitted from animals to people
- Uses own transportation to travel and transport
- Occasional after-hours or weekend work may be required to support program needs
TIME COMMITMENT:
- This is a full-time, exempt position with an average of 40 hours per week.
- Shift and schedule flexibility is required, as weekly schedule is subject to change
- Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: This position reports directly to the Director of Retail Operations.
LOCATION(S):
- Store #1 - Burnet Thrift: 5801 Burnet Road Austin, TX 78756 (includes eCommerce department)
- Store #2 - Oltorf Thrift: 1409 West Oltorf Street Austin, TX 78704
- Store #3 - 51st Thrift: 5102 Clarkson Ave Austin, TX 78751
- Store #4 - Round Rock Thrift: 913 N IH-35, Round Rock, TX, 78664
- Store #5 - Pflugerville Thrift: 15803 Windermere Dr. Pflugerville, TX 78660
- Store #6 (Opening October 2026) - William Cannon Thrift: 500 W William Cannon Dr #434, Austin, TX 78745
- Store #7 (Opening November 2026) - San Marcos Thrift: 302 University Dr B, San Marcos, TX 78666
- Store #8 (Opening February 2027) - TLAC Thrift: 1156 W Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78703
- May travel to other locations as needed
BENEFITS: Austin Pets Alive! is proud to offer a competitive benefits package for full-time employees, including subsidized employer-sponsored medical coverage, subsidized and voluntary life insurance, voluntary dental, vision and short-term disability options, all effective the first day of employment. We also offer voluntary wellness and emergency sick plans, up to 2% match on 401(K) retirement plans, supplemental benefits, flexible spending accounts and additional life coverage. Full-time employees receive 10 paid holidays and accrue 10 days paid time off during the first year of employment, with an additional 5 days of PTO accrual upon completion of 12 months of employment. Employees will also receive professional development opportunities through APA!’s ongoing mission to advance our animal welfare professionals in our life saving work. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENTAustin Pets Alive! is an equal employment opportunity employer and we value having staff who come from communities that are most impacted by the issues we engage on. We especially encourage people of color, LGBTQ people, women, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities to apply. Austin Pets Alive! does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Austin Pets Alive! is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion, respect and integrity, community focus, and innovation. APA! is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the employment application process. To request an accommodation, please contact Talent Acquisition at [email protected] at least one week in advance of your interview.
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