Clinical Director - Garden Vets

Kin Vet; Keele; Remote; GBP 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Kin Vet Community Keele campus is seeking a Clinical Director to shape the future of our small-animal hospital. You will lead clinical governance, teaching integration with Harper & Keele Vet School, and drive a forward-looking health plan and KPIs.

Join a ground-breaking model with subscription care, a 24/7 hospital on Keele University campus, and a team-focused culture that values growth, client care, and teammate development.

Qualifications

• RCVS-registered small-animal vet with significant leadership experience.
• Experience teaching students or graduates in an academic or clinical setting.
• Commercially minded with a strong welfare focus and patient-centred care.
• Ambitious to shape how the practice operates and grows.
• Bonus: previous Clinical Director, Head Vet, VetGDP Adviser or governance experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead clinical governance, audits and protocols across the hospital.
• Line-manage and develop the veterinary team, fostering CPD and professional growth.
• Integrate teaching with clinical operations, collaborating with veterinary schools.
• Drive performance metrics: income, expenditure and operational KPIs to sustain care models.
• Support development of subscription health plans and new service models.

Skills

Leadership

Teaching

Governance

Commercial mindset

Education

RCVS-registered small-animal vet

Job description

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:

• o 9 consult rooms
• o 6 theatres
• o In-house lab
• o 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

• 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.

The Curve Group is Kin Vet Community UK’s outsource partner for Recruitment and a "Data Processor". The Curve Group will hold the information you submit but Kin Vet Community UK will have access to it.

Job type Permanent

About us

Kin Vet Community is a growing professional network built to connect and empower the veterinary community. We bring together veterinary professionals, students, and industry partners to share knowledge, create meaningful connections, and support career growth.
We bring together independent veterinary teams under a shared vision while preserving the clinical freedom and local decision-making that make each practice unique. Unlike many large corporate groups, our practices retain their individual identity and autonomy, supported by the scale, investment and expertise of a growing organisation.
Everything we do is underpinned by our core values of Empathy, Trust and Transparency. We believe in creating an environment where our people feel valued, listened to and supported; where trust enables clinical teams to make the right decisions for our patients; and where open, honest communication builds strong relationships with colleagues, clients and partners alike.
Our people benefit from market-leading rewards and benefits, opportunities for career development, and a collaborative network where knowledge and best practice are shared across the community.
At Kin Vet, we are building something different, a connected, supportive veterinary community where people come first, clinicians have the freedom to deliver outstanding care, practices are