Assistant Ranger

Hampshire County Council; Havant; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in the UK is seeking a passionate Assistant Ranger at Staunton Farm. The role involves ensuring animal welfare, conducting husbandry tasks, and leading volunteers. Ideal candidates should have a Level 3 qualification in Animal Care and experience with animals. This physically demanding position requires excellent customer service skills and the ability to work outdoors in all weather conditions.

Benefits

Flexible, motivating and inclusive workplace

Interest-free travel loans

Discounts for staff

Qualifications

• Level 3 qualification in Animal Care or equivalent, or relevant industry experience.
• Knowledge of animal diseases, welfare codes, and relevant legislation.
• Experience in farm parks, farms, or zoos.

Responsibilities

• Ensure the health and welfare of all animals on site.
• Undertake daily routine husbandry tasks such as feeding and cleaning.
• Assist with routine preventative and reactive medical care for all species of animals.

Skills

Experience working with animals

Excellent customer service

Teamwork skills

Knowledge of animal health and behaviour

Physically fit

Basic IT skills

Education

Level 3 qualification in Animal Care or equivalent

Job description

Assistant Ranger

Job Reference: HCC622341

Salary Range: £25,186 - £26,244 per annum

Work Location: Staunton Farm, Havant

Hours per week: 37

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 13 October 2025

Interview Date: 22 October 2025

Part of Hampshire County Councils Countryside Service, Staunton Farm is a unique site offering visitors a chance to meet a range of animals, explore the walled gardens and Victorian glasshouse before adventuring into the 1,000 acre listed Regency parkland. Staunton Farm is a busy site with over 170,000 visitors each year. The site has a dedicated farm team who care for the animal collection on a day-to-day basis.

The farm team are responsible for a range of animals including:

• Small animal collection of rescued rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets
• Equines including Shetland ponies and donkeys
• Exotic collection including llamas, alpacas, rhea and a range of invertebrates, snakes and lizards
• Traditional farm animals including Jacob and Hampshire sheep, Bagot, Golden Guernsey and Pygmy goats, Berkshire, Middle White and Saddleback pigs and Jersey and Highland cattle
• Bird collection including ducks, geese, chickens, guinea fowl, turkeys and aviary birds

The majority of the animals are kept in paddocks on the farm where they can interact with visitors, be used for interactive handling sessions or provide a resource for our Animal Care BTec students. The sheep flock and cattle herd are used to conservation graze the Country Park fields as part of the Environment Land Management Scheme.

An annual breeding programme is in place for the sheep, goats and alpacas. Offspring may be kept as replacements for the Staunton collection, sold for breeding, conservation grazing or in special circumstances to pet homes or finished on-site to provide products for the Farm Shop.

The Role:

At Staunton, we are passionate about animal welfare and our farm team go above and beyond to ensure all our animals receive the very best care. We are looking for someone to join our farm team as a full-time Assistant Farm Ranger.

The Assistant Farm Ranger will work alongside our small team of assistant farm rangers, volunteers and work experience students, guided by our full-time Farm Ranger and Farm Attractions Lead. The Assistant Farm Ranger will be responsible for ensuring the health and welfare of every animal on site, undertaking routine husbandry tasks including; daily health checks, feeding and cleaning animal paddocks and accommodation. The Assistant Farm Ranger will also monitor animal behaviour, create engaging and enriching environments for the animals, provide animal encounter sessions for our visitors, assist with animal births, help with routine and reactive procedures and treatments and supervise work experience students and volunteers.

What you’ll do:

In this role you will be responsible for:

• Ensuring the health and welfare of all animals on site
• Undertaking daily routine husbandry tasks such as feeding, cleaning and providing forage in a timely and efficient fashion
• Undertaking daily health checks of animals and reporting any issues to the senior member of staff on duty
• Assist with routine preventative and reactive medical care for all species of animals at the farm
• Assist animals giving birth including sheep and goats
• Be vigilant to hazard and be responsible for the health and safety of yourself and those around you
• Organising seasonal staff, volunteers and students to ensure all routine tasks are completed
• Ordering animal feed and medications
• Providing excellent customer service to all of our visitors
• Delivering a range of seasonal talks and animal interaction sessions for our visitors
• Providing technical assistance to our education team for their educational session delivery
• Assist with events such as the Enlightened Light trail, Halloween etc.

The role is extremely physical in its nature, with loads in excess of 20kg having to be moved, large animals weighing over 500kg to be handled and distances of 15km walked daily. Some farm vehicles are used including a tractor and ATV. The team are out caring for the animals in all weathers, including storms and snow. Between the team animal care is provided 7 days a week, 365 days of the year, working every third weekend and a rota of bank holidays including Christmas day. Staff often undertake late evening, late night and early morning checks for animals that are due to give birth, animals that are being hand reared or animals that are poorly and need some TLC. The role comes with lots of highs but also the lows of losing animals.

What we’re looking for:

We’re looking for a passionate and resilient individual with a strong work ethic and a flexible approach to working hours. The ideal candidate will have experience working with animals and be confident leading volunteers and students in practical tasks.

Essential Requirements:

• Level 3 qualification in Animal Care or equivalent, or relevant industry experience
• Basic IT skills (Word, Excel, apps)
• Knowledge of animal health and behaviour
• Physically fit and comfortable working outdoors in all weather
• Excellent customer service and teamwork skills
• Experience in farm parks, farms, or zoos
• Knowledge of animal diseases, welfare codes, and relevant legislation
• Qualifications in First Aid, Vet Meds, tractor driving, animal transport, and trailer towing
• Experience with lambing, kidding, and unpacking
• Ability to deliver animal interaction sessions and maintain equipment
• In-house and external rolling CPD programme
• Help shape the future of Staunton Farm with zoo development projects
• Connect with the local community working with individuals and community groups

Our benefits package includes details of the holiday entitlement, pension scheme, flexi-time scheme, family friendly policies and interest free travel loans and discounts. We offer a flexible, motivating and inclusive workplace. We have created an environment that you can look forward to being a part of, where you are empowered to be your best and a workplace built on teamwork where people can grow and develop in their roles.

If you think you have what it takes to make a real difference in Hampshire, get in touch!

Hampshire County Council is recognised nationally as one of the highest performing local authorities in the UK. A modern, forward-looking local authority, it offers a pleasant, supportive, and collaborative working environment.

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

Hampshire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment.

In order to combat discrimination, no unnecessary conditions or requirements will be applied which could have a disproportionately adverse effect on any one group. All sections of the population will have equal access to jobs. No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) applies.

We are a Disability Confident Employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.