Animal Care Assistant

Contract: 12 month fixed term contract

Hours: 35 hours per week on a shift basis including weekends

Closing date: Wednesday 31 May at 23:30

Are you looking to work on the frontline of an organisation that ends cruelty, promotes kindness and alleviates suffering to animals?

We're looking for an Animal Care Assistant to join our amazing team at our West Hatch Animal Centre.

Our centre nestles in beautiful and quiet countryside at West Hatch, east of the county town of Taunton in Somerset, and is within easy reach of the M5 at junction 25.

The centre has 42 kennels, 40 cat pens and a small animal block that can house a variety of animals, including rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, ferrets and much more.

As an Animal Care Assistant you'll be providing care for all animals in the centre, establishing good customer relations with members of the public and RSPCA staff, and maintaining administration and health and safety procedures in use.

Our vision is a society where no animal suffers unnecessarily. Some animals that come to us have been mistreated, kept in awful conditions or left without free access to food or water. They may arrive terrified and it's up to us to try and work out why and bring them round to trusting people again. We do this on a daily basis with a dedicated team that we're extremely proud of. The work can be tough, both physically and emotionally, but very rewarding.

What you'll be doing:

• Cleaning of animal accommodation for all animals to the required standard set by the RSPCA.
• Preparing and providing food and water for all animals in the centre's care.
• Performing regular health checks on all animals and giving medical treatments as prescribed by the centre's consulting Veterinary Surgeon.
• Attending to the needs of the individual animals, including exercise/socialisation and grooming for all domestic animals.
• Communicating with supporters/adopters, staff and volunteers both face to face, by phone and email.
• Completing all relevant animal paperwork and updating the centre's computer data base for all animals at the centre.

You'll have:

• It is essential that you have experience working with domestic animals and good animal handling skills. Preference will be given to candidates with experience of working in a rescue environment.
• Good communication skills and the ability to work as part of our fantastic team.
• Our Animal Care Assistants are responsible for record keeping, so you'll have the ability to create and maintain computerised records.
• The ability to be flexible and get stuck in.
• Animal care qualifications are desirable, but we really value experience as well as passion about our cause and the animals we care for!
• As we are located in a rural area we recommend candidates have their own reliable means of transportation to and from work.

What's in it for you

It's an exciting time to join us in the decade of our bicentenary as we focus on our Strategy to 2030. The RSPCA works 365 days a year, rescuing all animals of all types from abuse, neglect, and injury.

We value and recognise our employees' contribution and are proud to offer an extensive benefits package that includes:

• Great annual leave benefits - all staff receive 25 days annual leave on entry rising to 30 days after five years service, and 31 days after six years' service, plus an additional Society day around Christmas. Staff can also carry over up to five days leave to the next leave year.
• Generous pension scheme- contributions are made by salary sacrifice, improving tax efficiency, for example if you contribute 1.5% RSPCA will contribute 9%. The Pension also comes with associated life assurance and access to our employee assistance programme.
• Group income protection scheme
• Access to a healthcare cash plan

Our values

* We are compassionate * We are inspirational * We are committed * We are expert * We act with integrity *

How to apply

Please visit our website using the following link:

https://jobs.rspca.org.uk/jobs/vacancy/animal-care-assistant-0551-animal-centre---west-hatch-/569/description/

All online information and documents are available in alternative formats, including Braille and large font, upon request from the Resourcing Team. Our contact details can be found using the link above.

Early applications are encouraged as we reserve the right to close this advert once sufficient applications have been received.

We strongly believe in being an innovative, diverse, and inclusive organisation and recognise that diversity in all of our people will help achieve that purpose and our mission more effectively. We actively encourage and seek applications from a wide diversity of candidates and in particular welcome applications from minority ethnic, black, and candidates with disabilities, who are currently under-represented at the RSPCA.

Ending cruelty, promoting kindness and alleviating suffering to animals.

Job Types: Full-time, Temporary contract, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 12 months

Salary: From £19,838.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Life insurance
• Sick pay
• Wellness programme

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Weekend availability

Work Location: In person

Reference ID: 0551