Logistics Operative - Animal Food Stores

ZSL London Zoo is offering an exciting opportunity for an Animal Food Stores operative to join our Grounds & Logistics team. In this vital role, you’ll play a key part in supporting the smooth operation of animal food stores across the organisation. Your knowledge of nutrition, experience with warehouse storage solutions and attention to logistical detail will contribute directly to ZSL’s efficiency and success.

You will be instrumental in helping the team achieve departmental goals through a mix of hands-on responsibilities and behind-the-scenes coordination, ensuring that animal feed is executed through clear end-to-end point service within agreed budgets and timeframes to support our conservation mission.

Key responsibilities:

• Animal Feed Preparation: Accurately handling and portioning meat, flesh, and joints to specified sizes and weights, as well as managing frozen rodents, fruits, and vegetables.
• Nutrition & Welfare: Maintain high hygiene standards through routine cleaning schedules in all feed preparation areas and keeping informed with current legislation via Defra and other reporting bodies. Additionally, you will oversee dietary plans in collaboration with the nutritionist.
• Vehicle Operation: Operate a range of vehicles and equipment safely and responsibly, including forklifts, vans, trucks, and cars, in line with training and site safety requirements.
• Administrative and Communication Tasks: Use Microsoft Office to create and amend documents and communicate professionally via email with internal teams and external contacts, ensuring accurate and timely information sharing.

• Experience in stock management processes via an organised inventory and implementation of loss prevention and shelf optimisation procedures for operational efficiency.
•  Demonstrated experience in safely handling, preparing, and storing animal by-products within zoos or similar facilities, including adherence to health regulations and best practices for sanitation.
• Advanced MS office packages skills, specifically Excel and PowerPoint or equivalent software packages will be acceptable.
• Ability to follow a process and work on their own initiative to solve problems and see tasks through to completion.
• Full clean driving license, with at least 1 year of driving experience. Training for forklift driving will be provided.

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.  

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