Clinical Director

Garden Vets Ltd; Keele; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

State-of-the-art hospital facilities

Teaching partnership with Vet School

Keele University campus location

Job summary

Garden Vets Ltd on Keele Campus in Staffordshire seeks a Clinical Director to shape how a busy small-animal practice operates, teaches, and grows. You will lead clinical governance, mentor vets and coordinate teaching activities with the Harper & Keele Vet School.

Working alongside our Hospital Director, you will drive innovative care models, guide staff development and ensure high standards of patient care within a state-of-the-art facility on the Keele University campus.

Qualifications

• RCVS-registered small-animal vet with leadership experience.
• Enthusiastic about teaching, whether that's students, graduates or experienced colleagues.
• Comfortable with numbers and commercially minded, without ever losing sight of welfare.
• Ambitious for the practice and proactive in shaping how things are done.

Responsibilities

• Lead clinical governance, audit and protocols.
• Line manage the veterinary team and support clinical development.
• Collaborate with academic partners to integrate teaching into hospital operations.
• Drive operational performance, KPI monitoring and financial stewardship.
• Recruit, mentor and develop the veterinary team to support growth.

Skills

RCVS-registered

Small-animal vet

Teaching enthusiasm

Leadership

Commercially minded

Education

Veterinary degree

Job description

Clinical Director

Garden Vets at Keele | Staffordshire

Want a Clinical Director role where you genuinely shape how a practice works, teaches and grows? This is it.

Garden Vets at Keele is a busy small-animal practice with a significant teaching partnership with Harper & Keele Veterinary School. Located on the beautiful Keele University campus, we are the cornerstone of the School’s final-year practical teaching and welcome over 120 students a year through our 24/7 state-of-the-art hospital.

Kin Vet Community acquired the practice in July 2026 and is investing significantly in the practice infrastructure, the team and the way we care for our clients' pets. We’re building a ground-breaking business model with animal health, colleague satisfaction and financial sustainability at its heart, and we're looking for a Clinical Director to lead this next chapter alongside our Hospital Director.

What makes this role special:

• Shaping the future of our health plan. With over 4,000 pets receiving wide-ranging care as part of our subscription model, our health plan underpins how we look after our patients, and we're developing the next generation of it. You'll bring the clinical lead: what great preventive, reactive and emergency care looks like, how we support pets with ongoing conditions, and how the plan delivers real value for clients. It's a rare chance to put your stamp on a model of care that most clinical leaders only ever inherit.
• Teaching at the heart of the practice. Our partnership with Harper & Keele Vet School is central to our operation, both commercially and clinically. We are measured on the the quality of the student experience and are proud of the graduates we help to shape. Working alongside the Vet School, you'll lead on how teaching is integrated into a commercial hospital setting: giving students real hands‑on responsibility and keep the practice a safe, supportive place to learn. If you want a hand in shaping the future of the profession, few roles let you do it every day.
• Setting the clinical standard. You'll lead clinical governance, audit and protocols, with the freedom to define how we practise. You’ll line manage our team of fantastic vets, support them clinically and professionally and encourage a culture of continual professional development at all stages of the veterinary career, including VetGDP.
• Operational Performance and Collaborative Leadership. Work in partnership with the Head of Nursing and Hospital Director to drive clinical excellence, team engagement and operational performance. Monitor clinical and financial KPIs, including income, expenditure, average transaction values, missed charges and resource utilisation, supporting the team to deliver clinically appropriate, financially sustainable care across existing PAYG and healthcare plans, while contributing to the development of future subscription models.
• Clinical Leadership, Governance and Team Development. Work collaboratively with the Head of Nursing and Hospital Director to coordinate daily clinical operations, manage veterinary rotas and staffing, and ensure effective patient flow and continuity of care across core and non-core services. Lead veterinary team development through onboarding, performance reviews, coaching, training, and regular team meetings, while overseeing clinical governance, significant event reviews, audits, complaints and continuous improvement.
• Growing the team. With investment in people and modern practice systems, you'll help recruit and develop a team that's proud of the care it delivers.

The Practice:

• This practice is a growing practice with a unique subscription service, whilst also shaping the future of veterinary students
• Sharing campus with an innovative University
• Excellent, state of the art facilities including:
• 9 consult rooms
• 6 theatres
• Amazing imaging kit (digital X-ray, endoscopy suite, ultrasound, CT)
• In-house lab
• Teaching/student space

About you:

• An RCVS-registered small-animal vet with significant experience and the clinical credibility to lead others.
• Enthusiastic about teaching, whether that's students, graduates or experienced colleagues.
• Comfortable with numbers and commercially minded, without ever losing sight of welfare.
• Ambitious for the practice, and someone who enjoys shaping how things are done rather than just keeping them ticking over.
• Previous Clinical Director, Head Vet, VetGDP Adviser or clinical governance experience is a bonus.

What we offer:

• Up to £95k DOE
• Purpose-built, state-of-the-art veterinary hospital.
• Advanced diagnostic and surgical facilities.
• Interesting and varied caseload.
• Opportunity to mentor and develop veterinary students.
• Supportive multidisciplinary team.
• Genuine opportunities for career progression as our hospital continues to grow.
• Excellent location on the Keele University campus with great transport links.

Want to talk it through first? We'd welcome an informal, confidential conversation with Dr Matt Haslam, Regional Director or Charlotte Lea-Atkin, Hospital Director.