Application Deadline: 7 May 2024

Department: Veterinary Services

Employment Type: Permanent - Part Time

Location: Victoria animal hospital

Reporting To: Deputy Nurse Manager

Compensation: £26,208 / year

Contract: Permanent, part time (34 hours a week over 4 days)

Salary: £26,208 plus £3,954 London Weighting Allowance pro rata for part time

Location: London SW1V 1QQ

Closing date: Tuesday 7 May 2024

Interview date: 15 & 16 May 2024

We’re recruiting a part time Animal Care Assistant to join our Victoria animal hospital team – a team that recently one our Blue Cross team of the year award!

Blue Cross animal hospitals and pet care clinics play a vital role in providing veterinary treatment to sick and injured pets, particularly when their owners are unable to afford private veterinary fees. Our veterinary care services are accessible to pets whose owners receive certain means-tested benefits and reside within the catchment area of one of our animal hospitals or pet care clinics.

Our Victoria animal hospital provides 24/7 veterinary services to approximately 10,000 unique pets every year in the heart of London.

Our Animal Care Assistants have a key role in our fast-paced hospitals, providing a high standard of care to the pets in our hospitals and providing support to their owners. They do this by providing the highest level of animal care and customer service with empathy and a non-judgmental mindset in all situations.
Each day will see you providing care to the pets in our hospitals which includes cleaning, feeding, exercising, grooming, laundry, and administering treatment dealing with clients, dispensing medication and taking payments. You will be monitoring our patient’s health, wellbeing and behaviour as well as those recovering from anaesthetic.
Working closely with our Vets and Nurses, you will be assisting them with the preparation of preparation of patients and operating theatre for surgery.
This is a part time role working 34 hours a week over four days. Our Animal Care Assistants cover a range of shifts, including early mornings, evenings, and bank holidays on a rotational basis. For weekends it is usually 1 in every 6 and for bank holidays, it will be occasional and no more than 2 days a year.

Due to the nature of the work of Blue Cross, and this post, it may be necessary to exceed these hours when the workload demands.

If you excel in an environment where you can see the difference you make every day, then this is the role for you. Interested? Then apply and let’s work together to see if this is the role for you.

The ideal candidate for this role is someone who has previous experience in a similar role such as a Veterinary Care Assistant, Animal Care Assistant or Animal Nursing Assistant.
With great communication skills they will be able to speak to a wide variety of people. Working in an animal hospital can involve supporting clients that are distressed, therefore, you will be able to work in an emotionally charged environment and have excellent ‘bounce back ability’ and resilience, with ability to keep calm under pressure and re-prioritise tasks where needed. This person will be emotionally intelligent, showing empathy and knowing how to support clients and colleagues.
You will have a genuine desire to improve the lives of pets and their clients and be proactive in the promotion and delivery of Blue Cross aims.

Knowledge, skills, and experience

• Experience working or volunteering in a veterinary practice or within a similar role
• Experience within a reception or client care role
• Good communication skills, both written and verbal
• IT literate with MS Office and web-based databases and platforms
• The ability to demonstrate, understand and apply our Blue Cross values

Although not essential, it would be great if you also had:

• Experience within a reception or client care role
• Qualification in Animal Care or similar
• The ability to observe changes in animals health and wellbeing
• The ability to interact face to face with clients and visitors and communicate effectively with a range of people

How to apply

Click the apply button below and complete the online application process before the closing date on Tuesday 7 May 2024 .

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response.

Our people are the most important part of delivering our purpose. If it were not for their amazing efforts and commitment, we would not be able to make the difference that we do today.

In return, Blue Cross wants to ensure we provide you with the best working environment we can. We want you to be happy working for us and will do everything we can to make sure you are.

Our generous benefits package includes:

• Enhanced annual leave entitlement: 30 days plus bank holidays
• Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution
• Health cash plan
• Life assurance
• Unlimited access to an employee assistance programme
• Programmes for physical and mental wellbeing support
• Free access to GP via MetLife
• Recognition scheme Annual volunteer days
• Claim for professional fees

To read more about the benefits Blue Cross has to offer, please visit the 'why work for us' page on our website.