Zoo curator to animal facility manager
A zoo curator already meets 69% of what the animal facility manager role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
32.7/ 100
1 How much of what an animal facility manager is expected to do is already part of a zoo curator’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the animal facility manager role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An animal facility manager role treats 13 of its required skills as things a zoo curator already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- environmental legislation
- manage budgets
- manage teamwork
- manage zoo staff
- organise zoological exhibitions
- oversee animal management
What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 14 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An animal facility manager role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a zoo curator background worth leading with.
- already held read zoo reports information skills
- already held zoo exhibit design arts and humanities
- already held zoo regulations business, administration and law
- already held manage zoo staff management skills
- already held organise zoological exhibitions management skills
- already held oversee animal management management skills
All 14 carried skills, including the 13 the animal facility manager role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 6 missing skills fall into 3 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn zoo community required
- still to learn customer relationship management required
- still to learn implement strategic management required
- still to learn respond to visitor complaints required
- still to learn develop visitor engagement strategies required
- still to learn apply strategic thinking required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an animal facility manager role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 develop visitor engagement strategies practise this
- 02 zoo community study this
- 03 apply strategic thinking practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 14 skills that carry over
- already held environmental legislation knowledge
- already held manage budgets skill
- already held manage teamwork skill
- already held manage zoo staff skill
- already held organise zoological exhibitions skill
- already held oversee animal management skill
- already held perform project management skill
- already held read zoo reports skill
- already held speak about your work in public skill
- already held speak different languages skill
- already held work effectively with animal-related organisations skill
- already held zoo exhibit design knowledge
- already held zoo regulations knowledge
- already held study a collection skill
0 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
43 held skills the animal facility manager role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role administer treatment to animals skill
- not needed by the target role advise on animal purchase skill
- not needed by the target role analyse transportation costs skill
- not needed by the target role anatomy of animals knowledge
- not needed by the target role animal acquisition knowledge
- not needed by the target role animal breeding programmes knowledge
- not needed by the target role animal evolution knowledge
- not needed by the target role animal transport regulations knowledge
- not needed by the target role animal welfare legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role applied zoology knowledge
- not needed by the target role assess the compatibility of individuals and animals to work together skill
- not needed by the target role breed reptiles skill
- not needed by the target role budgetary principles knowledge
- not needed by the target role chair a meeting skill
- not needed by the target role coordinate events skill
- not needed by the target role coordinate export transportation activities skill
- not needed by the target role coordinate import transportation activities skill
- not needed by the target role corporate social responsibility knowledge
- not needed by the target role create safe working protocols skill
- not needed by the target role develop recreation programmes skill
- not needed by the target role develop zoonotic disease control policies skill
- not needed by the target role ensure health and safety of staff skill
- not needed by the target role ensure health and safety of visitors skill
- not needed by the target role establish daily priorities skill
- not needed by the target role fix meetings skill
- not needed by the target role follow company standards skill
- not needed by the target role liaise with local authorities skill
- not needed by the target role liaise with transportation companies skill
- not needed by the target role maintain catalogue collection skill
- not needed by the target role maintain professional records skill
- not needed by the target role manage logistics skill
- not needed by the target role manage recreational facility skill
- not needed by the target role manage staff skill
- not needed by the target role manage supplies skill
- not needed by the target role physiology of animals knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare transportation routes skill
- not needed by the target role promote recreation activities skill
- not needed by the target role recreation activities knowledge
- not needed by the target role represent the organisation skill
- not needed by the target role schedule recreation facilities skill
3 further entries not listed here
2 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn zoo community required
- still to learn customer relationship management required
Common questions about this move
Can a zoo curator become an animal facility manager?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A zoo curator already covers 69% of what an animal facility manager is expected to do: 14 skills carry over, 13 of which the animal facility manager role treats as required.
What skills does a zoo curator need to become an animal facility manager?
6 required skills are missing, plus 0 optional ones. They fall into 3 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by business, administration and law. The single most important is develop visitor engagement strategies.
How hard is the move from zoo curator to animal facility manager?
Its learning distance is 32.7 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.