Job Description

UE04: £26,093.00 -28,778.00 pro rata/per annum (based on a 35 hour work week)

CMVM / Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies.

Open ended contract – Permanent.

Averaging 10 hours/week, working Saturday and Sunday shift every other weekend.

Shifts are 6am-5pm, with one hour unpaid lunch (TBC with successful candidate).

2x posts.

The Opportunity:

Your next step starts here. Be part of something bigger.

The University isn’t just any employer. We are part of a local community and a contributor to global thinking, progress and research. In Edinburgh, you are in one of the world’s most attractive cities with active arts and social sectors, while working in a University that has made significant contributions to society, medicine, physics and teaching for over four centuries. Our people have helped create the modern world and are working on more ground-breaking technologies and practices.

Technical Clinical Services​

The University of Edinburgh is a world-class organisation. We are a large University covering a wide range of activities. In Technical Clinical Services, we support the University’s clinical, research and teaching, offering many career and role specialisms.

The role:

Are you passionate about animal care and ready to make a real difference? This is a fantastic opportunity to become part of a leading veterinary and teaching hospital, where your work directly supports the health and wellbeing of a wide range of animals as part of our weekend team.

We’re proud of our dynamic and compassionate team of vets, nurses, and assistants—all united by a shared commitment to delivering exceptional patient care. Now, we’re looking for someone equally dedicated to join our Animal Care Team.

About the Role

This is a hands-on, fast-paced position that plays a vital role in the care of our hospitalised patients over the weekends. You’ll be involved in a variety of essential tasks, including:

• Cleaning and maintaining kennels to the highest hygiene standards
• Supporting infection control protocols
• Feeding and grooming inpatients
• Walking dogs and providing enrichment
• Assisting vets and nurses with procedures involving dogs, cats, and exotic species
• Managing laundry and general patient care duties

View the full job description (opens in a new browser tab)

Our hospital is equipped with:

• Three canine wards
• Four exotics wards
• One feline ward
• Purpose-built isolation units
• A fully equipped emergency room
• Dedicated Intermediate Care and Intensive Care Wards

We are proud to deliver the highest level of care 24/7/365 to patients with life‑threatening conditions as well as those with more routine needs, ensuring every animal receives the attention and expertise they deserve.

If you're ready for a rewarding ACA role where no two shifts are the same, we’d love to hear from you.

Training & Support

We offer a comprehensive 6–8 week training programme to help you settle into the role. You’ll normally start shadowing our friendly and experienced team during standard weekday daytime hours (Monday–Friday, 8:30am–5:00pm) to build your confidence and skills.

A career with us has a range of other benefits that can be tailored to your lifestyle:

• Staff discount for pet treatment.
• Staff discount for on-site gym and exercises classes https://www.ed.ac.uk/sport-exercise/gym-memberships
• Free car parking with electric car charging points https://www.ed.ac.uk/transport/driving/ev-charging
• Two on site canteens.
• Cycle to work scheme, on-site bike lockers and showers available. https://www.ed.ac.uk/transport/cycling/getting-a-bike/cycle-to-work
• Holiday entitlement 36 days + 4 days public holiday (pro rata)

How to apply

Please include the following documents in your application:

- CV

- Cover letter

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

• A competitive salary.
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits.

Championing equality, diversity, and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates. Contact our out of hours senior nurse, Nicola Cochrane Nicola.Cochrane@ed.ac.uk for more details.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab).

On this occasion the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 22 June 2026.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm UK time. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.