Senior Aquarium Curator
- Career Category: Agriculture - Aquaculture
- Schedule:Full-time
- Salary: Negotiable
General Description
The Sr. Aquarium Curator is accountable for the complete operations of the aquarium and related facilities at the Angkor Wildlife & Aquarium project. This shall include overseeing the budgets, maintenance stock, general overall performance relating to AFS, water quality and fish health, new exhibit design, fish and species identification/acquisition, animal husbandry and all related fish and animal operations (excluding animals under the mammal department).
The individual is responsible for promoting close and harmonious relations with management, and consultants.
The requirements of the Sr. Aquarium Curator are as follows:
- Develop harmonious, motivated relationships resulting in a local team of aquarium staff.
- All duties related to department HR, staffing, SOPs and budgets.
- Maintaining a tidy and clean work space, including all back of house, exhibits, catwalks, and etc.
- Ensure the safety and well-being of all animal and fish collections.
- Maintain a safe site with no incidents or accidents.
Work Schedule
Working hours will vary and the position requires a fundamental respect for putting in the time required to do the job. 6-day work weeks are minimum and as per contract.
Note that the aquarium systems are designed to run continuously and the Curator's team must maintain 24-hour availability in case of emergencies. In case of planned or unplanned absence from the jobsite, the Curator must make suitable arrangements to cover the duty schedule during this time.
Fish deliveries will be required under various conditions, including flights landing at Phnom Penh airport and driving animals 7-8 hours to project site. Animals maybe required to be picked up at various locations throughout the country and the Curator shall be responsible for the coordination. Fundamental understanding of building, designing and operating transportation vessels for large fish is critical.
- Administrative Works
- Development of long-term and high-level goals for the aquarium management and husbandry works.
- Preparation, review, and publishing of all reports of water quality, fish health, and equipment maintenance and corrective, proactive response.
- Management of Aquarium Budget and Cashflow.
- Equipment and supplies management, including consumables and spare parts, and creation of required parts lists, procurement, storage, and tracking of stock.
- Interfacing with the front of house staff to coordinate visitor rules and regulations.
- Coordination with any other necessary staff members at the facility.
- Perform all duties in a safe and efficient manner.
- Rapid response and crisis resolution in case of emergencies.
- Aquarist Works
- Advanced knowledge of aquarium filtration systems and how to manipulate it.
- Maintaining of all aquariums including cleaning and feeding of all species.
- The above includes the cleaning of exhibitry/rockwork, acrylic, and sand at bottom of the tank.
- Acrylic must be cleaned and maintained strictly as per the acrylic care and maintenance procedures issued by the supplier.
- Ability to prepare fish food and perform water quality tests.
- Short and long-term maintenance activities of the filtration systems.
- Manipulation of the aquarium filtration system.
- Cleaning of the technical room facilities.
- Knowledge and organization of dive permitting and maintenance of the diver gear.
- COSHH (Care of Substances Hazardous to Health).
- Husbandry / Biology Works
- Preparation of feeding regimens.
- Tracking bioload and species collection.
- Tracking mortalities and necropsy to determine causes.
- Preparation and administration of medications and treatments.
- Willingness to work with larger animals, such as sharks and rays.
- Livestock procurement.
- Acclimation, quarantine, and introduction of species.
- Establishing humane treatment plans for all species.
- Determine and set lighting schedule for exhibits.
- Mechanical and Electrical Works
- Maintenance of pumps and other specialty mechanical equipment.
- Proactive checks of equipment and performance of regular upkeep and verifications as per equipment technical sheets and industry standards.
- Repair of materials and materials handling in case of need for equipment replacement.
- Maintenance of electrical network from specialty control panels to connection to specialty aquarium equipment, including specialty lighting.
- Proactive checks and cleaning of electrical systems and control panels as per equipment technical sheets and industry standards.
- Repair of electrical equipment with relevant departments onsite.
- Maintaining complete maintenance logs for equipment.
- Monitoring and notification with regards to deteriorating finishes, and suggesting possible means of repair.
- English - Fluent is required
- Must have experience at a senior level position within an aquarium facility of known size and location for 10 years as a minimum
- Maintain a proactive approach to the works, seeking to identify potential problems and resolve them before they happen. The focus is on preventative care and maintenance rather than reactive care and maintenance.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Must have specific experience with Mekong freshwater species and understand the requirements for feeding and care.
- Must be dive certified. Instructor level certification is not necessary but highly recommended. Local staff have little diving experience.
- Basic knowledge of computer programs required for the position, especially with regards to reporting and data management (MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint, Calculator, File storage and organization, etc.)
- Curator should be in good physical condition.
- Positive and "can-do" attitude.
- Able to work well with others and under pressure.
- Self-motivated and able to organize own tasks for the most effective use of time.
- Good organizational skills.
- Maintain a proper level of personal hygiene and appearance.
- Understand and adapt to complex and dynamic situations over a wide variety of conditions and unusual requirements.
