Animal Care Assistant

Animal Care Assistant

Application Deadline: 27 September 2026

Department: Veterinary Services

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Victoria animal hospital

Reporting To: Nurse Manager

Compensation: £16,984 / year

Description

Contract: Permanent, part time 25.5 hours p/week over three days

Salary: £16,984 plus £2,401 London Weighting Allowance per annum (FTE £27,973 plus £3,954 LWA)

Location: Victoria animal hospital, London SW1V 1QQ

Closing date: Sunday 27 September 2026

Interview date: 6 & 7 October 2026 At Victoria animal hospital, every day is different. As one of Blue Cross's veterinary hospitals, we provide essential treatment and support to pets and their owners, helping animals receive the care they need when they need it most. We're looking for an Animal Care Assistant to join our dedicated team. If you're passionate about animal welfare, enjoy working with people and thrive in a hands-on environment, this could be a rewarding opportunity to make a real difference to pets and their owners every day.

More about the role

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 available to pets whose owners receive certain means-tested benefits and live within the catchment area of one of our hospitals or clinics. As an Animal Care Assistant, you will work alongside our team of Veterinary Surgeons, Registered Veterinary Nurses and fellow Animal Care Assistants to provide a high standard of care to the pets in our hospital. You'll support the day-to-day running of the hospital by carrying out essential animal care tasks, including feeding, cleaning, exercising and monitoring patients, while also assisting with veterinary treatments, surgical procedures and reception duties. You'll play an important role in ensuring pets receive excellent care throughout their stay and that clients receive a warm, compassionate and non-judgemental service.

About you

You will be a confident and flexible individual who enjoys working as part of a team and takes pride in delivering a high standard of care to animals. You'll be comfortable working in a busy environment where priorities can change and will be able to work both independently and collaboratively with colleagues. Working in a veterinary hospital can sometimes be emotionally challenging, so you'll be resilient, able to remain calm under pressure and have excellent bounce-back ability. You'll be emotionally intelligent, showing empathy and understanding when supporting both clients and colleagues. You'll have a good understanding of the importance of maintaining a clean, safe and comfortable environment for animals and be willing to learn, follow direction and work within the boundaries of the role. You will also share our commitment to improving the lives of pets and the people who love them.

Essential qualifications, skills, and experience

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

Desirable qualifications, skills, and experience

• 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 To apply for this role, please submit your application through our careers site and answer the application questions, demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive a high volume of applications.

Blue Cross benefits

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:

• Full time equivalent of 38 days holiday rising to 43 with service (including Bank Holidays)
• Programmes for physical and mental wellbeing support
• Free access to GP via MetLife- 24/7 GP services, private prescriptions and more for you and your family
• Health cash plan
• Unlimited access to an employee assistance programme
• Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution
• Professional fees paid with Continuing Professional Development and personal development support.
• Life assurance
• 20% discount on Pet Plan pet insurance
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Recognition scheme
• Annual volunteer days
• Charity worker discounts across a variety of retailers

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