Lead a team making happy happen for pets and their people!
About Animates
At Animates, we’re passionate about helping pet parents give their pets the happiest, healthiest lives possible.
Animates is New Zealand’s largest pet care specialist, with 48 retail stores, 34 grooming salons and 15 vet clinics working together across communities to support the wellbeing of pets. Every day our teams empower pet parents with trusted advice, quality products and expert services so they can make informed decisions for the animals they love.
The Opportunity
This is your opportunity to lead our successful Botany Downs store, guiding a team of passionate pet care specialists while delivering strong commercial results. You’ll champion exceptional customer experiences that reflect the care, knowledge and expertise Animates is known for.
Your store will also be a destination for local pet parents, creating strong community connections through initiatives such as pet adoption events, in-store activities and fundraising that supports local pet charities.
This is a full-time position working Tuesday to Saturday (40 hours per week).
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, coach and develop a high‑performing team
- Drive strong sales performance and achieve store targets
- Take ownership of store operations, merchandising and P&L performance
- Deliver an exceptional experience for every pet parent
- Build strong relationships with the local community
- Lead local marketing initiatives, events and adoption days
About You
- Experience managing a retail store or leading a large retail team
- Strong leadership and coaching capability
- A track record of delivering strong commercial results
- The ability to build a positive, inclusive team culture
- A passion for delivering exceptional customer experiences
- A love of pets is preferred - we’ll support
you to develop specialist knowledge What We Offer
- Performance-based bonus scheme
- Ongoing training and development
- Generous staff discounts across retail and vet services
- ‘Paws for Good’ volunteer leave
- Paid pet bereavement leave
- Employee Assistance Programme with wellbeing resources and confidential counselling
Why Join Animates?
We’re proud to offer a genuinely supportive and inclusive culture, where our leaders care deeply about the wellbeing of their teams and everyone lives our values of passion, authenticity, care, knowledge, and togetherness. As a Rainbow Tick Certified Employer, we encourage you to bring your whole self to work.
We’re also honoured to be the first organisation in Aotearoa to achieve Gold level recognition in the Mental Health First Aid Workplace Recognition Programme. This reflects how seriously we take mental health and wellbeing—through training our people in Mental Health First Aid, creating safe and open environments to talk, and making sure everyone feels supported, connected, and able to look out for one another every day.
If you’re looking for a leadership role where you can grow and support your team, run a successful store, and make a real difference to pets and their people, we’d love to hear from you.
