Veterinary Care Assistant

Veterinary Care Assistant

Location: Animed (Shedfield)

Contract: Permanent, Full Time (40 hours per week, including weekend and bank holiday shifts)

Practice Type: First Opinion

At CVS, caring is what we do. For us, caring isn't just a job—it's in our nature.

We put our people first—because when you're supported, you can deliver the very best care. With industry-leading learning, hands-on training, and guidance, you'll have everything you need to grow your skills and confidence. Whether you're looking to progress in your current role or explore new career pathways, CVS is the place to nurture your future career.

Life at Animed Veterinary Hospital

Animed Veterinary Hospital is a Small Animal practice with a passionate team of vets, nurses, PCAs and receptionists. This is a unique chance to step into a well-established practice with state-of-the-art facilities, including:

A dedicated orthopaedic theatre, two fully equipped soft tissue theatres (both with laparoscopic equipment), a double dental suite, a dedicated imaging suite, separate wards for dogs, cats, and exotic pets.

Our team is close-knit, supportive, and enthusiastic about sharing knowledge across multiple disciplines. You'll be part of a team of 16 day vets & 3 night vets, which include cert holders in Diagnostic Imaging, Cardiology, Medicine, Endoscopy & Endo surgery. We also have 34 clinical, 18 reception & 5 admin staff as part of our wide team, so plenty of people to call on for support.

About the role:

The Veterinary Care Assistant role is one of the foundations of an outstanding veterinary practice, and as a VCA you will be involved in supporting our team of qualified RVNs and Vets to provide outstanding care to our patients.

Some of the duties will include:

. Nursing care to patients

. Assisting Vets and Nurses in restraining animals for treatment

. Cleaning, walking, and feeding of patients

. Preparation of emergency and operating facilities

. General cleaning and maintenance duties

. Running internal lab samples

. Answering emergency calls

. Covering the receptionist desk, including answering queries, booking appointments and taking payments

What we're looking for in our Veterinary Care Assistant:

· An excellent communicator with strong empathy

· Excellent customer service skills and experience in dealing with members of the public

· Experience in animal welfare, including feeding, cleaning, medicating and handling and a high level of understanding of how to meet the welfare needs of animals

· Resilient with the ability to cope with potentially distressing and emotional situations

· A positive attitude and excellent teamwork skills

· Experience in caring for animals in a veterinary environment would be desirable

The benefits:

Salary will be in line with the National Minimum Wage.

At CVS, we know that care for our patients starts with dedicated people like you. That's why we invest in your growth and your future. When you join us, you'll get:

· RCVS fees paid in full

· Generous CPD allowance, Knowledge Hub access, BSAVA library, and funded advanced training opportunities

· Excellent Nursing Career Pathway

· Up to 33 days holiday (with the option to buy/sell)

· Health cash plan, Employee Assistance Programme, Wellbeing Champions, and enhanced family leave policies

· Staff pet care discounts – 50% off services, MiPet food, and medications

Unfortunately, we are unable to accept and progress applications from candidates without the Right to Work in the UK as we cannot provide visa sponsorship, due to our clinical support roles not meeting the criteria set out by the Home Office to be eligible.

Join us at CVS

We're committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels welcome, valued and able to do their best work. We foster an inclusive and equitable workplace, where diverse perspectives are invited and people feel safe to speak up.

Wellbeing support is always available, from monthly line-manager check-ins to our network of 400 Wellbeing Champions, Pastoral Support Vets and personal mentors. We offer leading benefits and policies, such as our Health Shield which provides support for physical and mental health.

Our aim is to free up clinical colleagues to do what they do best, so we offer practices a wide range of operational support. Central expert HR, recruitment, payroll, IT, finance, procurement teams are on hand to support with all aspects relating to the smooth running of each practice.

We prioritise investment in our facilities, delivering significant enhancements across numerous practices through a dedicated multi-million-pound improvement fund.

Interested? Please click apply now!