Veterinary Surgeon (3020)

Do you want to create a better world for animals? At the RSPCA, we believe all animals deserve kindness and respect. We work for the benefit of every animal – as well as pets, that includes farmed animals, wildlife, and animals used in science. Choose a career with us and make a difference for every kind.The RSPCA is committed to inclusivity and diversity, and we welcome suitably qualified and experienced candidates from all backgrounds.

We are looking for a Veterinary Surgeon to join our Wildlife and Cattery teams, supporting sick, injured, orphaned, abandoned and confiscated wildlife, exotic and domestic animals. 

Shifts will include evenings (up to 9pm), weekends, or bank holidays. There will be some on call work within our 8am to 9pm working days.

To respond quickly to emergencies, applicants should ideally live within 20 minutes of the Centre.

Are you ready to join our movement?

At Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre and Cattery, no two days are the same. You'll work as part of a passionate, supportive team, helping animals at every stage of their care. Typical tasks include:

• Treating wild, exotic, and domestic animals in RSPCA care.
• Managing a diverse caseload including seals, swans, falcons, bats, pigeons, and swifts – over 120 species admitted annually.
• Performing a wide range of surgical and medical interventions.
• Providing veterinary input for welfare prosecution cases (training provided).
• Supporting the cattery with routine surgical procedures, including neutering and dental work.
• Theatre work will also include neuterings of ferrets and rabbits.
• Teaching the veterinary professionals of the future forms part of our remit, and you will be involved in teaching and training of students on a regular basis.
• You will be involved in full case continuity, from admission and triage through to rehabilitation and release (or rehoming). The role also provides opportunities to collaborate with other RSPCA veterinary teams.

Personal attributes are more important to us than experience. The ideal candidate would be keen to work and keen to learn, be able to use evidence based veterinary medicine principles to direct their case work. They would bring enthusiasm for wildlife medicine, a 'can-do' attitude and be able to justify their clinical decision making process to the clinical team. Most importantly we need someone who can work well as part of a close knit team.

Essential:

• Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).
• Legal right to work in the UK (we are unable to sponsor visas).
• Ability to work safely and efficiently under time pressures, particularly during seasonal peaks (May through to October).
• Confidence with basic feline medicine and surgery
• Experience with shelter medicine
  
  

Desirable:

• Additional qualifications or clinical experience in wildlife medicine.
• Teaching qualification or mentoring qualification/ training experience.
• Experience with ferrets and small mammals such as rabbits or mice.
• Ideally located within an easy commutable distance of the centre, within 20 minutes for on call purposes

What we offer:

• A supportive, team-based environment where your expertise makes a real difference to animals.
• Exposure to a wide variety of species and cases.
• Opportunities to develop your skills in veterinary care, teaching, and welfare policy.

Your recruitment journey:

Application - Submit your CV detailing your qualifications and experience. Additionally submit a Covering Letter detailing a little about you, and your working preferences, and why you wish to work with British wildlife.

Panel Interview - Should you be shortlisted for a discovery interview, the interview will be in person. You will spend time at the Centre, meeting staff and seeing our facilities. You'll have an abundance of opportunity to ask and have answered any questions you may have. It is important for us that you visit the centre and meet the clinical team. We aim to make this a supportive, two-way process.

Final stage - if you can see yourself working at our Stapeley Grange site and the the discovery interview goes well, we'll invite you back for a more in depth interview with the Clinical team. 

If you need adjustments during recruitment, please let us know – we're happy to provide support. 

Successful candidates for certain RSPCA roles will need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK - We are unable to sponsor visas at RSPCA

We want to ensure we do all we can to give you a positive candidate experience through our recruitment. Whilst we do try to give feedback where we can, sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible

We are building the future of a diverse Society, and our priority is to support animal welfare by finding people from all backgrounds who are committed  to our mission.  For this reason we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications - in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities - as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA. Your transferable skills & lived experiences could make you a valuable addition to our RSPCA Family! 

We're here to support you and encourage you to let us know if you need any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please feel free to contact us at resourcingteam@rspca.org.uk or 0300 123 0685 so we can ensure the process works for you.