Under the direction of the Board of Directors of the Dallas Zoological Society and working closely with the executive team and key stakeholders, the Chief Executive Officer will implement the organisational vision to further the Zoo’s mission through programmes and outreach, and to ensure the organization is financially secure and able toserve all citizens of Dallas and North Texas. The CEO will sustain excellence at the highest levels, while further evolving and elevating a large, complex, expanding enterprise to greater levels of mission impact by continuing to advance the Dallas Zoo’s priorities, which include:

Organisational Culture and Leadership

• Nurturing a mission-driven culture that supports staff excellence, leadership, and passion, reaffirming the underlying values of the Zoo, inspiring staff, and creating the infrastructure necessary to achieve the organisation’s vision. This includes:
• Fostering and modeling a team-centered environment that honors individual contributions at all levels of the organization, reinforces a culture of care and connection, and supports staff training and leadership development;
• Facilitating proactive communications and collaboration between the Zoo’s divisions to ensure maximum impact;
• Utilising proactive and inclusive planning processes to enhance Zoo operations;
• Assuring the Zoo strategically invests in and implements appropriate technology to increase operational efficiency and efficacy.
• Energise, engage, and elicit buy-in from volunteer leaders across the organisation.
• Initiate, cultivate, and develop ongoing productive relationships that foster win-win outcomes. Unite different interest groups and entities to facilitate, advance, and enlarge the success of the organization in the local community, as well as its visibility and prominence.
• Provide continuing leadership for the Zoo’s commitment to a culture of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in its community life and across its offerings.
• Lead a highly capable executive team to assess operations, financials, and personnel to coordinate the efforts of a willing team of professionals and volunteers.
• Organise and streamline operations to achieve financial objectives while consistently balancing budgets.
• Put clear methods for accountability in place, ensuring that they are applied fairly at all levels.
• Assess the organisation under the surface to identify opportunities for change, improvement, and innovation.
• Provide direction for land and facilities management to include preventive/predictive maintenance and provisions for adequate funding to support, maintain, advance, and enhance the property and facilities infrastructure.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of physical security measures, park safety procedures, and plan and maintain appropriate insurance to manage risk for employees, volunteers, and patrons.

Conservation and Education

• Elevate and grow the conservation and education programsme, increasing engagement with partners and audiences and fortifying the connection between the Zoo’s conservation and formal/informal education efforts.
• Diversify and increase the Zoo’s resource base to bolster support for conservation objectives and grow the Zoo as a local and global leader in wildlife conservation.
• The CEO will understand the urgent need to inform guests about conservation and wildlife issues, supporting initiatives that highlight these topics as a fundamental part of the visitor experience.
• Expand the reach and depth of the Zoo’s formal educational programmes, focusing on four key audiences: early childhood, youth, families, and educators.

Sustainable Funding and Community Impact

• Utilise a strategic and long-term approach in developing business plans that leverage market intelligence to boost engagement with members and visitors. Collaborate with Zoo colleagues to facilitate growth in attendance and membership, exposure to new audiences, and to increase mind share and market share within the local and regional community and throughout the national and international marketplace.
• Lead the effort to raise private and public funding for the Dallas Zoo, planning, orchestrating, and implementing fundraising practices in conjunction with the Vice President of Advancement to render ongoing support and enhance the Zoo’s donor list. This includes spearheading the impending launch of a $100+ million capital campaign and inclusion in the 2024 City of Dallas general obligation bond referendum.
• Facilitate and nurture effective communications with private and public stakeholders such as elected officials and municipal administrators, foundations, current and prospective donors, the press, and conservation-relatedentities in the United States and worldwide.
• Expand the Zoo’s economic impact on surrounding neighborhoods and the City of Dallas, encouraging mission aligned partnerships and projects that allow the Dallas Zoo to serve and benefit the community.

Animal Welfare and Husbandry

• Ensure the delivery of exemplary animal care and welfare, managing the Zoo’s animal collection with the highest standards of staff operations.
• Assure continual improvement in the level of care by supporting opportunities to develop the team’s skill sets and for staff professional growth.
• Provide leadership to the Dallas Zoo to be a model of best practices in animal care and welfare, measuring the Zoo’s impact in these areas and remaining up to date on trends and issues in the zoological community.

Guest Experience

• In conjunction with executive team colleagues, plan, develop, and implement leading edge advancements in the quality of exhibits, collections, educational and entertainment initiatives, and events to continually energise and capture the attention and loyalty of longtime patrons and benefactors as well as increase the customer base to attract new supporters and enhance Zoo membership.
• Encourage innovation, guiding the team to plan and execute “best day ever” experiences and cultivating a guest-focused culture that continually seeks to enhance visitors’ experience at the Zoo and their connections to conservation.

Organisational Excellence

• Lead positive change in the zoo profession and community through organisational excellence in the governance and organisational structure; the communication of a clear and strong message about what conservation means and its importance to the Dallas Zoo; animal care and welfare, conservation, and educational programming that serves as a model for education in cultural attractions; environmentally sustainable operations; the master planning process, orienting all plans to increasing mission impact; and as a good neighbour and partner dedicated to supporting North Texas residents and visitors.