Animal Care Assistant (fixed term contract) - Hammersmith animal hospital

Application Deadline: 18 June 2026

Department: Veterinary Services

Employment Type: Fixed Term - Full Time

Location: Hammersmith animal hospital

Reporting To: Nurse Manager

Compensation: £31,927 / year

Description

Contract: Fixed Term Contract for 9 months, full time 42 hours p/week over 5 days

Salary: £27,973 plus £3,954 London Weighting Allowance per annum)

Location: Hammersmith animal hospital, London W6 0RQ

Closing date: Thursday 18 June 2026

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.

More about the role

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 on our busy reception, 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.

Our Hammersmith hospital is a compact, quirky site with lots of character which first opened in 1922; we’re very proud of its history. Despite its size, it’s well equipped with digital and dental x-ray, ultrasound and a mini-lab for in-house testing and microscopy, which we actively encourage nurses to get involved to develop these skills. We have separate dog and cat wards, a dedicated room for euthanasia to ensure privacy and dignity and a designated reception team so clinical staff can stay focused on patient care.

We have one full time position working 42hours per week with a one hour paid lunch break on a rota to include weekends and public holidays at our 24 hour animal hospital at Victoria. 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.

About you

The ideal candidate for this role is someone who has previous experience in a veterinary support role which may have been in a vet practice, or kennel setting. As well as the practical animal handling skills, we would ideally like someone who has experience working in a busy reception alongside their animal care role who feels confident in both animal facing and customer facing environments, however this is not essential.

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.

Essential 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

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

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.

Blue Cross

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Animal Care Assistant (fixed term contract) - Hammersmith animal hospital