Dog Trainer

We are seeking an Animal Training & Behaviour Manager to join our friendly head office team based in Watford, striving to give every animal the best chance of finding a new home.

You will be working for a charity that never stops caring for its animals and people.  As a rescue and rehoming charity, operating five rehoming centres and three shops across the south of England, we are committed to improving the lives of the UK’s pets, helping around 1,500 animals each year.

About the role:

Reporting to the Director of Operations, in this new role you will support and mentor the centre teams in assessing cats and dogs, providing positive reinforcement training and behaviour support to animals in NAWT care.  Liaising with centre management teams you will develop behavioural modification plans and identify the development requirements for centre employees and volunteers to contribute to their development plans.   You will collaborate with new owners to provide post homing support for any complex behaviour challenges displayed by newly homed pets.

Some of your key responsibilities will include:

• Conduct timely and objective behaviour assessments of dogs and cats whose behaviour concerns have been escalated to the Training and Behaviour Manager;
• Regular travel to the five NAWT homing centres to conduct training sessions with teams, animal assessments and provide other areas of support required;
• Ensure all behaviour plans applied at centres are evidence based and have a positive effect on the pet’s welfare;
• Ensure up to date knowledge in animal behaviour is adopted by the centre teams and used to create training and development plans;
• Support centre teams with completing regular audits on assessment quality, length of stay and the advertising of pets in NAWT care;
• Plan and deliver agreed training on cats and dogs behaviour/training knowledge and welfare matters to NAWT employees and volunteers to ensure centre teams continually improve their knowledge to effectively work with and rehome pets in NAWT care;
• Support centre teams to ensure all animals are assessed, advertised, matched, and rehomed in a responsible and timely manner;
• Work with the centre management team to fully implement and monitor Home Direct and Short-Term Fostering homing initiatives;
• Provide specific reports as and when required on all animals on behaviour modification programmes;
• Develop and implement new ways of working to improve all aspects of assessment, training and matching within the homing journey for all animals in NAWT care.

Hours:                 35 hours per week (some weekend work involved)

Location:            Hybrid (with regular travel to centres and once a week in Watford HQ)

About you:

The ideal candidate will be conscientious, reliable, good humoured and confident, with a solid background in developing, coaching and line managing teams. You will have an aptitude for dealing with people, natural leadership skills and believe in the importance of good customer service. You will have experience of working in a sometimes emotionally challenging environment and have the natural ability to defuse such situations, creating a calm working atmosphere.

Essential skills and experience include:

• A thorough, in depth knowledge of dog and cat behaviour, training and welfare. An animal behaviour or welfare qualification or similar relevant academic study is essential.
• A strong track record of mentoring and motivating individuals including giving constructive feedback on performance.
• Practical experience in assessing cats and dogs.
• Developing and coaching others in behaviour modification and training programmes for cats and dogs with a variety of behavioural challenges within a rescue environment.
• Excellent communication skills and be able to clearly advise on and monitor the management of behaviour challenges.
• A flexible approach to cope with a varied and demanding workload and work as part of a team.
• Good overall IT skills, including Microsoft Office and excel.
• A full UK driving licence and access to a car.
• Member of a registered behaviour body (e.g. APBC) would be desirable.

As part of our commitment to making NAWT a great place to work, we offer access to the following employee benefits:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Contributory pension.
• Group Life Assurance.
• Access to a free 24/7 support service providing support including legal, financial, emotional and medical advice.
• Free onsite parking.

Please note, we’re actively reviewing applications and interviews will be held on a rolling basis. The ad may close early if a successful candidate is found.