Pet Welfare Assistant - On-site Services, full & part-time opportunities

Blue Cross; Hitchin; On-site; GBP 15,000 - 25,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site accommodation

Healthcare benefits

Pension scheme

Wellbeing programmes

Volunteer days

Job summary

Blue Cross in Hertfordshire is seeking a Pet Welfare Assistant to care for dogs, cats and small pets at our on-site rehoming centre. You will follow rehabilitation plans, assist with adoption, and support adopters with post-adoption guidance.

Roles include full-time (37.5h) or part-time options on a two-week rota, with weekend and holiday shifts. The post offers on-site pet accommodation, a welfare-focused team, and training.

Qualifications

• Experience with domestic animals or in an animal welfare environment.
• Customer-focused with high customer satisfaction.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Good organisational and administrative skills, including computerised systems.
• Current full driving licence.

Responsibilities

• Care for pets in on-site care and aid in preparation for adoption.
• Record information, complete paperwork, and assess behavioural or medical needs.
• Provide in-person or virtual advice to adopters and demonstrate care practices.
• Work across a two-week rota, including weekends and public holidays.

Skills

Animal welfare experience

Customer service

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Driving licence

Job description

Pet Welfare Assistant - On-site Services, full & part-time opportunities

Application Deadline: 25 November 2026

Department: Rehoming & Fostering Services

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Hertfordshire

Reporting To: Assistant Manager - On-site Services

Compensation: £24,976 / year

Description

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week, or part-time, 26.25 or 22.5 hours per week

Salary: £24,976 per annum (FTE), pro rata to £17,484 (26.25 hours) or £14,986 (22.5 hours)

Location: Hitchin SG4 8EU

Closing date: Wednesday 25th November 2026

1st stage interview dates: 1st & 2nd December 2026

2nd stage animal handling assessment: 8th - 10th December 2026

We’re recruiting Pet Welfare Assistants for onsite animal care, for our Rehoming & Fostering team in Hertfordshire!

At Blue Cross, we're dedicated to providing the best care possible to pets in need. As a Pet Welfare Assistant for our onsite services, you'll play an important role in our mission, ensuring that every pet receives the love, attention, and support they deserve during their stay at our Hertfordshire rehoming centre.

Our Hertfordshire rehoming centre, based in Kimpton, originally opened in the 1940s and have facilities for dogs, cats and small pets. Our newly refurbished facilities include 20 kennels, five puppy pens and 29 cat pens, which includes a mother and kitten unit. We also have indoor rabbit space and rooms for small pets.

Our dedicated Rehoming & Fostering team, supported by an incredible network of volunteers, helps pets and people across Hertfordshire and beyond. The team plays a vital role in finding loving new homes for pets through both centre-based adoptions and our Home Direct scheme, which allows pets to remain in a home environment while they wait to be adopted. By working closely with adopters, owners and foster carers, the team helps ensure every pet has the best possible chance of finding the right home.

More about the role

As a skilled animal handler and assessor, you will be responsible for the ‘preparation stage’ with the pets in our care which involves caring, carrying out assessments and rehabilitation plans, preparing them for the ‘adoption stage’ or the best possible outcome for their circumstances with minimal delay.

As a Pet Welfare Assistant, you will ensure that the welfare standards are met and that rehabilitation plans are followed and supported for pets in our care. Working independently and with the team you will carry out meetings with owners giving up their pet, ensuring all information is recorded, paperwork completed and that the pet is immediately assessed for behavioural or veterinary problems. Working closely with the Adoptions Coordinator you will provide additional in person or virtual advice and practical demonstrations to ensure adoptees are fully aware of the work that has been done with the pet and how to continue with any other additional behaviour training or medical provision.

We have three permanent roles available, one full-time role working 37.5 hours per week, one part-time role working an average of 26.25 hours per week and one part-time role working 22.5 hours per week. These are all worked across a two-week rota that includes every other weekend and occasional public holiday shifts.

Full-time working pattern:

Week one: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday

Week two: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday

Part-time, 26.25 hours per week working pattern:

Week one: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday

Week two: Monday, Wednesday & Friday

Part-time, 22.5 hours per week working pattern:

Week one: Monday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday

Week two: Monday & Friday

At our Hertfordshire rehoming centre, we provide onsite accommodation for pets in our care 24/7. Overnight shifts are usually undertaken by team members who live on site. Occasionally, you will be expected to carry out night checks or stay in onsite accommodation overnight when the resident team members are either not working or away for a period of time.

If you excel in an environment where you can see the difference you make every day, then this is the role for you.

About you

As a skilled animal handler and assessor, you will be intuitive with pets, empathetic and welfare focused having worked in a similar animal related environment. You will also be used to assessing the needs of a pet, alert to the behavioural signs and have a basic knowledge of the use of medication e.g., hibiscrub, flea and tick treatments, and diabetes management. In addition, you will have a fundamental understanding that the best welfare intervention for a pet is to find a new home and leave on site pet accommodation as quickly as possible.

You will be self-motivated, forward thinking with a collaborative and creative approach to your work, which will ensure to bring your best pragmatic ideas for the care of the pets to ensure the best outcome is achieved. In addition, you will be able to quickly assimilate information, be competent at accurately recording information while also conducting conversations with clients and stakeholders. You will be an excellent communicator, approachable with strong interpersonal skills.

You will know what it is like to work in an emotionally charged environment and have excellent ‘bounce back ability’ and resilience. In addition, you will be emotionally intelligent, showing empathy and knowing how to support clients and colleagues.

Knowledge, skills, and experience

• Experience of having previously worked or volunteered with domestic animals or in an animal welfare environment.
• Previous experience in working in a customer focused environment and used to achieving a high level of customer satisfaction.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Good organisational and administration skills to include computerised systems.
• Current full driving licence.

It would be great (but not essential) if you also had:

• Qualification or similar experience in animal behaviour or animal training.
• Experience of cash handling
• Experience of working to strict health and safety procedures.
• Understanding of safeguarding issues.

Want to know more detail? Great! We have attached the job description which hopefully gives you everything you need.

The first stage of the recruitment process will be a competency-based interview via Microsoft Teams. Candidates who are successful at this stage will be invited to attend a second-stage practical animal handling assessment on-site at our Hertfordshire rehoming centre.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response.

Using AI in your application

We’re happy for you to use AI tools to help you prepare your application, for example to organise your thoughts, improve clarity or check spelling and grammar. However, your application must be an honest reflection of your own skills, experience and achievements, and AI should not be used to write your application for you or create examples that aren’t your own.

Please read our guidance on using AI when applying to Blue Cross before submitting your application.

Blue Cross benefits

Our people are the most important part of delivering our purpose. If it were not for their amazing efforts and commitment, we would not be able to make the difference that we do today.

In return, Blue Cross wants to ensure we provide you with the best working environment we can. We want you to be happy working for us and will do everything we can to make sure you are.

Our generous benefits package includes:

• Full time equivalent of 38 days holiday rising to 43 with service (including Bank Holidays)
• Programmes for physical and mental wellbeing support
• Free access to GP via MetLife- 24/7 GP services, private prescriptions and more for you and your family
• Health cash plan
• Unlimited access to an employee assistance programme
• Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution
• Professional fees paid with Continuing Professional Development and personal development support.
• Life assurance
• 20% discount on Pet Plan pet insurance
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Recognition scheme
• Annual volunteer days
• Charity worker discounts across a variety of retailers

To read more about the benefits Blue Cross has to offer, please visit the 'why work for us' page on our website.