Veterinarian of marine animals  – Aquarium Support Services

Woods Hole Science Aquarium, NOAA/WHOI, Falmouth, MA

This part-time role (30–40 hours per month) provides veterinary oversight for marine animal health and wellness across facilities for the North East Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)

Join @Orchard in supporting the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s (NEFSC) public outreach and ocean literacy efforts through expert marine animal care at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium. The aquarium hosts approximately 140 native marine species and welcomes over 80,000 visitors annually, including thousands of schoolchildren. It also plays a critical role in marine wildlife rehabilitation and education.

As the Veterinarian of Marine Animals, you’ll provide medical care, health monitoring, and treatment guidance to support the well-being of the aquarium’s marine species. This part-time role (30–40 hours per month) includes routine examinations, emergency consultations, medical recordkeeping, and veterinary oversight across NEFSC’s fish holding facilities. You’ll collaborate closely with aquarium staff to improve protocols and ensure that health issues are identified and addressed promptly.

This opportunity is ideal for a licensed veterinarian with experience in aquatic animal care, a collaborative mindset, and the flexibility to provide both in-person and telemedicine support. If you're passionate about marine wildlife health and want to contribute your expertise to a high-impact public education and research facility, we’d love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing regular and occasional emergency veterinary consultation

• Conducting routine physical examination of animals in the collection, diagnosing illnesses and injuries in animals in the collection

• Prescribing and administering medicines, medical tests, and treatments ** (see note)

• Monitoring, evaluating, and maintaining animal health. ** (see note)

• Working closely with the staff, instructing, monitoring, and documenting animal health and care

• Establishing and/or improving NESC protocols for standard health monitoring, recordkeeping, and animal care in the aquarium to ensure that health problems are found quickly and reported

• Ensuring safe and effective operation of the X-ray unit

• Working occasional overtime in emergency events, and a flexible schedule 

• Occasional travel within the region 

• Providing tele-veterinary advice to other NEFSC fish holding facilities as needed and prescribing appropriate treatments and medicines for fish and invertebrate care. 

• Visiting other NEFSC facilities that house fish once per year for a walk-through and providing advice on fish health, fish captivity, and biosecurity practices.

• Providing advice on fish holding practices, biosecurity, and fish health and feeding as needed to other NEFSC fish holding facilities.

Required Experience and Qualifications:

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or equivalent degree, i.e., Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD), obtained at a school or college of veterinary medicine accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA).

• Veterinary technician credential plus a minimum of five (5) years’ experience working with wild animals, directly related to the requirements.

• Must be a licensed veterinarian certified to practice and write prescriptions in Massachusetts

• Must have a telemedicine license to practice in other states as required.

• Experienced in caring for fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, and sea turtles

• Experienced in medical records systems consistent with AZA guidelines

• Comfortable working with aquarium staff, interns, and volunteers

• Comfortable working with the public closely

• The Contractor shall provide qualified individuals with sufficient education, training, and experience to adequately maintain the quality standards at an acceptable level that is consistent with the requirements standards cited in this task.

• The Contractor, through innovation, training, or other means, shall perform the required services to meet the quality and performance standards to achieve desired results.

• Ability to provide routine and emergency calls, both in person and remotely

• Knowledge, skill, and ability to provide regular and occasional emergency veterinary consultation

• Ability to work closely with the staff, instructing, monitoring, and documenting animal health and care.

• Knowledge, skill, and ability to establish and improve protocols as needed for standard health monitoring, recordkeeping, and animal care to ensure that health problems are found quickly and reported

• Qualification to write prescriptions, order medical and lab tests

• Qualification and ability to drive a government vehicle

• Ability to work occasional overtime in conjunction with emergency events

• Ability to travel within the region as required to support animal care and collection development

• Local availability

Essential Conditions of Employment

• Location: Work shall be conducted at the NEFSC Facility.  Work occurs in a cool, wet environment where surfaces may be slippery, uneven, and/or unsteady.  If work is required to be performed at another location, other than a NOAA Facility, it will be on a limited basis and in coordination with the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and Project Lead.

• Hours:  This is not a Part-Time task, 30-40 hours a month.

Established in 2010, @Orchard LLC has an exceptional reputation, providing staffing solutions to time-sensitive, talent scarcity issues to deliver better talent management ROI.  Our specialty lies in the critical area of program talent acquisition and resource management, not in one narrow skillset, but across many areas of technical and functional delivery. To learn more about our other exciting opportunities, visit our Jobs Page at www.atOrchard.com.