Purpose of the role

The purpose of this role is to support the delivery of clinical veterinary services by the Wildlife Health Services (WHS) team across both ZSL London and ZSL Whipsnade Conservation Zoos. 

Key responsibilities:  

  • Ensure continuous best practice veterinary care (including preventive medicine, diagnosis, treatment, disease surveillance and gross post-mortem examination) for all animals at ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.
  • Work closely and collaboratively, and regularly attend meetings, with curatorial, animal management, and other colleagues across ZSL to provide the best health, care and welfare of animals in the care of ZSL and to meet ZSL’s strategic aims.
  • Lead on, support, and publish appropriate clinical research material in peer reviewed journals and other media (textbooks, etc.) to support the profile of ZSL.
  • Train students (including tracking students, MSc, ECZM ZHM residents, and others) on courses run by ZSL, the RVC and other collaborating institutions to increase wildlife health capacity worldwide.

About You

  • RCVS membership is essential. 
  • Proven experience in veterinary care of zoo and wild animals across a range of species is essential. 
  • Experience using remote drug-delivery firearms and systems. 
  • Knowledge of relevant legislation related to zoo licensing, animal health, health & safety, firearms, and veterinary medicine is required. 
  •  
  • This post requires occasional work during evenings and/or weekends and outside working with direct exposure to weather and animals. 
  • This post works across both ZSL sites (London and Whipsnade). 
This role is subject to standard pre-employment checks, including the candidate's right to work in the UK.

We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds and celebrate the value of having a team of employees with diverse skills, experiences, and heritage. We are committed to ensuring our teams can bring their authentic selves to work without fear of discrimination. ZSL has active equality networks for our staff with lived experience and those who provide active allyship in Race and Culture, Team Pride, Disability Network, and Menopause Network, complemented by our strategic EDI Steering Group.  

About Us

We’re ZSL, an international conservation charity. Through our unrivalled animal experts in our two zoos (London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo), the work of our pioneering scientists, our dedicated conservationists, our purpose is to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wild animals going extinct. Our vision is a world where wildlife thrives and we’re working every day to achieve this. From investigating the health threats facing animals, to helping people and wildlife live alongside each other, we are committed to bringing wildlife back from the brink of extinction.  

What do we offer?  

At ZSL, we are proud of our approach to employee benefits. Our benefits include: 

  • Our vision and purpose - you’ll work alongside colleagues who are passionate about science-led conservation, knowing that you will help us to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wildlife going extinct  
  • Pension scheme - we offer a generous pension scheme with up to 12% contributory pension
  • Flexible working – talk to us about your flexible working requirements and we will do everything we can to make sure you work in a way that suits you  
  • Holidays – 25 days annual leave allowance, plus UK bank holidays  Wellbeing – access to a blended programme of wellbeing initiatives, including confidential access to our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme  
  • Life assurance – eligible employees will be enrolled in ZSL’s life assurance scheme from their first day 
  • Complimentary tickets – annual allocation of Whipsnade Zoo and London Zoo tickets, with a 30% discount in online and retail shops  
  • Cycle2Work - our cycle to work scheme enables you to lease a bicycle  
  • Season ticket loan - we offer an interest free loan for eligibly London-based employees to buy a season ticket for travel between home and work 
  • Family friendly policies – we offer enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption packages  
NB: We reserve the right to close our advertisement early or extend the advertising date until a suitable candidate has been found.

What our team say...

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