Dog Daycare Supervisor

Paws Indoors Southend; Southend-on-Sea; On-site; GBP 15,000 - 22,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Management training and support

Full uniform

Monday–Friday working

No regular weekends

Progression opportunities

Job summary

Paws Indoors Southend, based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, is seeking an Assistant Manager for a hands-on, full-time role. You will help oversee day-to-day running, support the team, ensure welfare standards, and step up to lead when the Manager is away.

A passion for dogs, organisational ability, reliability and clear customer communication are essential. You’ll be involved in compliance, staff training, recruitment support, and maintaining high standards of cleanliness and safety.

Qualifications

• Confident with canine body language and signs of stress or overstimulation.
• Previous dog daycare or supervisory experience desirable.
• Able to delegate tasks and lead by example.
• Organised and able to prioritise responsibilities.
• Reliable, punctual and able to remain calm under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Help with the daily running of the daycare.
• Take charge when the Manager is absent.
• Supervise and support the team.
• Ensure dogs are safely grouped and supervised.
• Monitor welfare, behaviour and interactions.
• Maintain cleanliness and hygiene standards.
• Follow company policies and procedures.
• Assist with staff training and onboarding.
• Communicate professionally with customers.
• Complete incident and welfare records.
• Support Health & Safety and licensing compliance.

Skills

Dog handling

Body language

Supervising staff

Organisational skills

Reliability

Communication with customers

Initiative

Admin & paperwork

Problem solving

Ownership

Job description

Absolutely — I’ve tightened it up so it still feels substantial, but doesn’t read like a full employee handbook.

Supervisor.

Paws Indoors Southend

Southend-on-Sea, Essex.

Full-time | Monday–Friday.

Salary: £13.50+.

Love dogs? Brilliant.

But we’re also looking for someone who loves organisation, responsibility, people and getting shit done.

Paws Indoors Southend is a busy, established indoor dog daycare and we’re looking for an Assistant Manager to become a key part of our management team.

This isn’t just a senior daycare role. You’ll work closely with our Manager to help oversee the day-to-day running of the centre, support the team, maintain excellent welfare standards and step up to take charge when needed.

THE ROLE

You’ll help with:

• Supporting the daily running of the daycare.
• Taking charge when the Manager is absent.
• Supervising, supporting and directing the team.
• Ensuring dogs are safely grouped and properly supervised.
• Monitoring behaviour, welfare and interactions.
• Making sure enrichment, rest and activities are carried out correctly.
• Maintaining excellent standards of cleanliness and hygiene.
• Ensuring company policies and procedures are followed.
• Supporting staff training and development.
• Identifying performance or conduct concerns early.
• Helping with recruitment, interviews and onboarding.
• Ensuring staff training and documentation is kept up to date.
• Communicating professionally with customers.
• Managing minor customer concerns and escalating where necessary.
• Completing incident, accident and welfare records.
• Supporting Health & Safety and licensing compliance.
• Reporting maintenance issues and helping arrange solutions.
• Helping keep the centre organised, stocked and running efficiently.

This is still a hands-on role, so you’ll be working around the dogs, helping the team and getting involved in the practical side of daycare.

DOG WELFARE

Dog welfare is at the centre of everything we do.

You should be confident recognising canine body language and signs of stress, discomfort or overstimulation.

You’ll help make decisions around dog groupings, manage play appropriately, ensure individual care instructions are followed and report any welfare concerns quickly.

You don’t need to be a qualified dog trainer, but you do need a genuine understanding of dogs and a willingness to keep learning.

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

A big part of this role is supporting and leading the team.

We need someone who can:

• Delegate tasks.
• Give clear instructions.
• Support staff when they need help.
• Lead by example.
• Help train new employees.
• Recognise problems early.
• Address minor issues appropriately.
• Know when something needs escalating to senior management or HR.

We want somebody who can be friendly and approachable while still being confident enough to manage people.

Sometimes that means praising somebody for doing a brilliant job.

Sometimes it means having an uncomfortable conversation.

You need to be comfortable with both.

COMPLIANCE & STANDARDS

As a licensed dog daycare, paperwork and procedures matter.

You’ll support the Manager with:

• Health & Safety.
• Risk assessments.
• Accident and incident reporting.
• Emergency procedures.
• Staff training records.
• Licensing requirements.
• Daily and weekly checks.
• Maintaining accurate records.

You’ll also help ensure staff follow uniform and PPE requirements and that the overall presentation of the centre remains professional.

You don’t need to know every policy on day one — but you do need to be willing to learn and understand why these procedures matter.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Confident with dogs of different breeds, sizes and temperaments.
• Knowledgeable about basic canine body language.
• Comfortable supervising other staff.
• Organised and able to prioritise.
• Reliable and punctual.
• Calm under pressure.
• Confident speaking with customers.
• Comfortable giving instructions.
• Able to use initiative.
• Happy completing basic admin and paperwork.
• Keen to learn and develop.
• Someone who notices problems rather than walking past them.
• Most importantly, we need someone who is dependable and takes ownership.

EXPERIENCE

Previous experience in any of the following would be highly desirable:

• Dog daycare.
• Kennels.
• Animal care.
• Dog training.
• Veterinary environments.
• Animal rescue.
• Supervisory or management roles.

Previous management experience would be an advantage, but we would also consider someone with strong animal care experience who is ready to take the next step.

THIS ROLE PROBABLY ISN'T FOR YOU IF

You want a job where you simply turn up, cuddle dogs and go home.

Yes, there are plenty of dogs.

There are also staff issues, cleaning schedules, paperwork, customer conversations, incidents, maintenance, dog poo and occasionally several problems happening at exactly the same time.

We need somebody who sees something that needs doing and thinks:

“That needs sorting.”

…and then sorts it.

WHY JOIN PAWS INDOORS

Paws Indoors Southend is an established, licensed indoor dog daycare with a huge emphasis on welfare, enrichment and genuinely excellent care.

You’ll receive:

• A genuine opportunity to progress.
• Management training and support.
• Training in our systems and procedures.
• Full uniform.
• Monday–Friday working.
• No regular weekends.
• A varied role with real responsibility.
• And an unreasonable number of dogs trying to sit on you.