Animal Care Assistant - Nights

The University of Edinburgh; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 29,000; Part time

Job summary

Join a dynamic and compassionate team at a leading veterinary and teaching hospital. As part of the Out-of-Hours Animal Care Team, you'll play a vital role in the care of hospitalized patients, ensuring high standards of hygiene and patient welfare. This part-time role offers a competitive salary, comprehensive training, and unique staff benefits while providing essential care for a variety of animals.

Benefits

Staff discount for pet treatment

On-site gym and exercise classes discount

Free car parking with electric car charging points

On-site canteens

On-site bike lockers and showers

Paid overtime for additional hours

Qualifications

• Essential experience in veterinary care.
• Ability to work alone and in teams.
• Strong communication skills essential.

Responsibilities

• Cleaning and maintaining kennels to hygiene standards.
• Feeding and grooming inpatients.
• Assisting vets and nurses with procedures.

Skills

Experience working with animals in a veterinary setting

Teamwork

Communication skills

Full, clean driving licence

Job description

Grade UE04: £25,733-£28,381 per annum pro rata (Additional 30% Premium Band on contracted hours)

Corporate Services Group / Strategic Change and Planning

Part-time: 28 hours per week

Open-Ended : Permanent

As part of this role, you will be expected to cover an equal share of the annual leave in your pod of night ACAs, accruing paid overtime for all additional hours worked.

The Opportunity:

Are you ready to make a real difference in animal care? This is a fantastic opportunity to become part of a leading veterinary and teaching hospital, where your work directly supports the health and wellbeing of a wide range of animals.

We’re proud of our dynamic and compassionate team of vets, nurses, and assistants—all united by a shared commitment to delivering exceptional patient care. Now, we’re looking for someone equally dedicated to join ourOut-of-Hours Animal Care Team.

About the Role
This is a hands-on, fast-paced position that plays a vital role in the care of our hospitalised patients. You’ll be involved in a variety of essential tasks, including:

• Cleaning and maintaining kennels to the highest hygiene standards
• Supporting infection control protocols
• Feeding and grooming inpatients
• Walking dogs and providing enrichment
• Assisting vets and nurses with procedures involving dogs, cats, and exotic species
• Managing laundry and general patient care duties

Shift Pattern
You’ll work a rolling pattern of4 night shifts on, followed by 8 nights off, providing a great balance of work and rest. You’ll be part of a supportive pod system, sharing annual leave cover equally with your two pod-mates.

Holiday Commitment
As part of the rota, you’ll also cover a fair share of public holidays, including over the Christmas period, if your shifts fall on those dates.

Training & Support
We know starting a night-based role can be a big step, so we offer a comprehensive6–8 week training programme. You’ll shadow our friendly and experienced team during daytime hours (Monday–Friday, 8:30am–5:00pm) to build your confidence and skills. Any hours worked beyond your contracted time during training will be paid as overtime.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Experience working with animals in a veterinary setting is essential.
• Ability to work alone as well as part of a team is essential.
• Excellent communication skillsareessential to this role.
• Full, clean driving licence is essential.

Click to view a copy of the full job description (opens new browser tab)

Application Information

Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:

• CV
• Cover letter

Informal questions regarding this post can be emailed to Seante Knight [e-mail]

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

• A competitive salary
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on ourstaff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits

HFSA Staff benefits include:

• Staff discount for pet treatment.
• Amazing onsite perks:
  - Staff discount for on-site gym and exercises classeshttps://www.ed.ac.uk/sport-exercise/gym-memberships
  - Free car parking with electric car charging pointshttps://www.ed.ac.uk/transport/driving/ev-charging
  - Two on site canteens.
  - On-site bike lockers and showers available.https://www.ed.ac.uk/transport/cycling/getting-a-bike/cycle-to-work
• Additional shift cover opportunities are available, accruing paid overtime for additional hours worked.

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on ourright to work webpages (opens new browser tab).

The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. International applicants will therefore be unable to apply for and secure a Skilled Worker visa. They will only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 17/07/2025.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.