Head Of Kennels

Contract length: Permanent

Location: North West London

Hours per week: 35, working Sunday - Thursday, 9am-5pm

Salary:  £28k-£35k pa depending on experience and knowledge

Closing date for applications: Sunday 5 May 2024. First round interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams; interested candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible

Every dog and cat in need deserves expert, personalised care and support, and to be loved. When you work for Mayhew, you understand that better than ever.

We’re a passionate, committed and diverse team of c80 staff and c150 volunteers, here for dogs, cats and communities in the UK, in Afghanistan and in Georgia. We offer expert veterinary care, rescue and rehoming services, programmes in the community and guidance and support to improve the lives of dogs and cats in need.

We do our best for dogs and cats in need every day, working with colleague across the sector to improve their lives and to give them the care, support and love they deserve. But it’s our warmth, creativity and care that touch lives. Here, we take the time to really get to know the dogs and cats we care for and those who love them.

At our North West London Home, we are recruiting a Head of Kennels who will share our compassion and commitment for animal welfare to provide front line leadership to our team of Kennel and Animal Care staff and volunteers. We care for up to fifteen dogs on site, in addition to dogs placed into foster homes. Our Head of Kennels is responsible for managing the day-to-day smooth running of our kennels and maintaining the wellbeing of all dogs in our care, so that their individual physical and psychological needs are catered for adequately, and in line with our standards and ethics.

This is a high profile and hugely important role for Mayhew as our Head of Kennels oversees each dog's journey through Mayhew from in-take to assessment and then to rehoming. Working with staff and volunteers across the Home, foster carers, adopters, other charities and rescues and members of the public, our Head of Kennels is instrumental in ensuring that our dogs have all they need - from feeding, exercising, cleaning, and socialising to finding their perfect forever home. This role can be physically and emotionally demanding but is also hugely rewarding; you can view some of our amazing rescue stories here.

Leading a small team, our Head of Kennels is responsible for managing all aspects of our dog in-takes, adoptions, fostering and Pet Refuge (read more here), managing our capacity to ensure we help as many dogs as we can and ensuring our dogs are rehomed to a home suited to their individual needs as soon as possible.

We offer a caring and supportive team and the chance to make a lasting difference to the lives of dogs who rely on us.

Generally, you will:

• Lead and manage our kennels and ensure the very best care and support is given to each of our dogs
• Proactively, collaboratively and resourcefully maintain relationships with volunteers, foster carers, adopters, other rescue managers and other colleagues in the wider Mayhew community
• Manage your team in an inclusive and collaborative way, enabling and empowering them
• Engage and collaborate with senior staff to ensure effective delivery of our strategic and operational goals

To be successful in this role, you need relevant experience in:

• Experience working with dogs, preferably in a shelter environment
• Knowledge of dog behaviour, training and welfare
• Experience of successfully motivating, managing, and developing a high performing team and managing performance
• Experience of effectively managing competing and changeable priorities, a high workload and multiple complex issues and tasks