Description
Contract: Permanent, full time (42 hours per week)
Salary: £26,208 per annum (plus £3,954 for London Weighting Allowance)
Location: Victoria Animal Hospital, with travel across London
Closing date: Sunday 16th March 2025
Interview date: 24th & 25th March 2025
We are looking for a confident driver who knows their way around London, to join our Veterinary Team as a Veterinary Hospital Driver! You will play a crucial role by providing essential transport services in one of our Blue Cross ambulances!
More about the role
Our Hospital Drivers provide a pet transport service by collecting and returning sick and injured pets for owners who are unable to bring them to the hospitals themselves through illness, age or disability. You don’t have to have any professional experience of animal handling as basic training will be provided but experience of caring for animals would be advantageous.
In the role, you are responsible for regular vehicle checks before travelling to ensure yours and the animals safety when travelling. There are regular cleaning schedules to follow and you will also organise any vehicle maintenance as required.
We have a hospital driver email inbox which you will be a part of so you will use this email inbox to manage booking appointments for approved clients and communicating the application process to new, potential clients. You may also be asked to cover some reception tasks which we will provide further training on.
Join us to have a career that you can be proud of!
About you
Our Hospital Drivers are helping our clients and their beloved pets so being courteous and empathetic is crucial to be successful in the role.
Excellent communication skills are crucial for engaging effectively with clients and colleagues, while strong organisational skills enable effective time management, task prioritisation, and resilience in handling stressful situations.
Although you may work independently when out on collections, you will form part of a wider team who come together to keep the animals and clients we support at the heart of everything we do.
Knowledge, skills, and experience:
* Valid, full UK driving licence
* Demonstrable driving experience
* Customer-facing experience
* Experience caring for or handling animals
* Drive, resilience, and ability to manage stressful situations
It would be great (but not essential) if you also had:
* Knowledge of the London area and road system
* Previous charity/voluntary sector experience
* Experience in a busy hospital/clinic environment
* Light goods vehicle driving experience
* Understanding of animal health, wellbeing, and behaviour
* Proficiency in IT functions (Word, Outlook, Excel)
How to apply
Click the apply button below and complete the online application process before the closing date. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response.
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
* Free physiotherapy advice and face to face intervention
* 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.
Blue Cross is a national charity that has been helping sick, injured and homeless pets since 1897.
Every month we help thousands of pets and their people by providing veterinary care, expert behaviour advice and find homeless pets loving families. We also offer education for future generations plus pet bereavement support for those who have lost their beloved pet companion.
We love the ways that pets can make such an amazing difference to the people they live with and we offer lifelong support and advice to help that unique relationship thrive. With your support we can give back to more pets and their families who need our help.
Pets change lives. We change theirs.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion
We believe that every pet should enjoy a healthy life in a happy home, and we always seek to recruit the best people who share our values and commitment so we can continue to help and support pet owners across the UK to achieve this.
At Blue Cross, we want you to feel that you belong, without the need to hide any part of who you are.
Diversity and inclusion at Blue Cross means creating a workplace where all people, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, nation or country of origin, disability, age, and socioeconomic backgrounds are welcome, respected, supported, and have access to equal opportunities.
We are working hard to reflect the world we live in and the communities we serve at every level of our organisation. As much as we have made positive advances, we consider diversity and inclusion to be a work in progress – a continual commitment that remains a priority for all of us.
If you would like to talk to us about any reasonable adjustments or changes to our recruitment process to support you to be your best, then please get in touch either via email at jobs@bluecross.org.uk, via telephone on 01993 825515 or if you would prefer a video call then we can arrange this using Microsoft Teams.
Our values
Our values define the way we do things. We use them every day to guide us, and to make sure we put people and pets at the heart of everything we do.
Compassionate: We listen, we are non-judgmental, we are kind and caring to the pets and people we encounter, and we offer support in difficult times
Courageous: We make brave decisions, embrace change, and encourage innovation, ensuring we always act with integrity – doing the right thing even when no one is looking
Inclusive: We value all our relationships and work in an open and positive culture where we celebrate our diverse talents and empower you to be you