A bit about us
2024 is a big year for us as we turn 200 years young! We are proud of our long history of animal rescue, rehabilitation and our campaigning for a better world for animal welfare. Our vision is to one day live in a world where all animals are respected and treated with compassion. And that is what we work towards every day.
We are looking for a new Head of Clinical Behaviour to work as part of the Clinical Leadership Team within our Veterinary Department and reporting into the Chief Veterinary Officer.
- Working hours: 35 hours / Mon – Friday.
- Hybrid role: This will involve home working, office meetings and travel to sites. Hybrid working isn’t a tick exercise for us – we live the values.
You’ll be part of a team of committed professionals who support each other and work closely together, as well as working very closely with colleagues from across our field operations, all working together for animal welfare.
Are you ready to be part of our journey and make a difference to the animals most in need?
About this opportunity
This truly is an exciting opportunity to join a growing team of welfare experts driving change within frontline animal welfare. As the Head of Clinical Behaviour you’ll be building on firm foundations to continue to drive improvements, understanding and innovation in animal behaviour across the RSPCA; including in our centres and through our unique Inspectorate function
The main focus of this role will be leading a team of experienced and committed Clinical Animal Behaviourists providing assessment and treatment for a wide variety of behavioural conditions affecting the animals in our care. You’ll work very closely and collaboratively with your operational colleagues.
You will play a critical role in developing and advancing our behavioural strategy, including working in collaboration with partner organisations. You’ll also play a key role in the “Animal Journey” transformation programme, ensuring the animal welfare and behavioural knowledge sits at the heart of every interaction we have with animals, their owners and carers.
From providing training, supporting prosecution cases, updating and designing assessment processes and building new facilities the role of the Head of Clinical Behaviour is crucial in ensuring animal’s behavioural needs are met and that animals with behavioural problems receive the care they need.
Interviews will be held virtually on 27th & 30th November, this will also include a small presentation the details of which will be confirmed should you be progressed to interview stage.
What makes a great Head of Clinical Behaviour
We are looking for an individual that is passionate about advancing in the field of animal behaviour science, and implementing knowledge throughout the organisation and beyond. In order to be successful in this role the ability to collaborate, educate and communicate with a wider variety of animal care stakeholders is vital.
- An ability to lead and influence through change will be absolutely essential in this role.
- Postgraduate qualification in companion animal behaviour and welfare or other relevant subjects is essential, as is being an ABTC Clinical Animal Behaviourist, or equivalent.
- You must have extensive experience of working in the field of dog behaviour rehabilitation and welfare, with strong practical hands on experience of handling dogs with a range of problem behaviours.
- Experience in shelter/ rescue environments or, as a minimum, an understanding of the sector is essential.
- Experience in managing individuals and teams would be highly desirable.
Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits to recognise your contributions at RSPCA.
- 35 hour week
- Great Annual Leave benefits – 25 days annual leave on joining increasing each year to a maximum of 31 days (pro rata for part-time)
- Additional Society day around Christmas.
- Flexibility in hours – with the introduction of Core Hours staff can work their 35 hours flexibly across Monday to Friday. Core hours are 10.00am – 15.00 (please note this isn’t available for our frontline animal care roles)
- Generous pension scheme
- Career development through our in-house Learning & Development training
- Charity worker discounts: Access to hundreds of discounts across many retailers, travel, insurance & cinema tickets.
Final note from us & good luck with your application!
We are really lucky that some of our roles attract a high level of interest and for this reason we review applications as they are received, unfortunately on some occasions this means roles may close earlier than advertised; so early submissions are highly recommended.
We do try to give feedback where we can but sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible
We recognise that a diverse and inclusive workforce is essential to achieving our core mission. For this reason we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications – in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities – as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA.
Should you need any support with your application or interview process please contact [email protected]
Our mission is to ensure animals have a good life by rescuing and caring for those in need, by advocating on behalf of all animals and by inspiring everyone to treat them with compassion and respect.
