Thursday, April 14, 2016

Senior Keeper


Senior Keeper

 The Living Rainforest currently has a vacancy for a Senior Keeper within the Animal Department.

Trust for Sustainable Living is a registered charity based near Newbury, Berkshire. At our visitor centre, The Living Rainforest, the animal collection is contained within two tropical glasshouses and consists of more than 60 species. These include callitrichids, toucans and turacos, snakes, chelonian, stingrays, dendrobatids, and invertebrates.

The Role:
·         This is primarily a hands on, practical role, working with a diverse range of tropical animals from all taxa and reporting directly to the Animal Curator. You will be expected to effectively manage both your time and that of the rest of the department in order to meet daily, weekly and monthly goals.
·         You will be expected to assist with record keeping, diet assessments, welfare audits, medical treatment, collection planning, enclosure construction, informal education, research projects, health and safety assessments and much more in this diverse role.
·         This role will also involve providing support to the Animal Curator with regards to collection planning and maintenance, husbandry policy and legislation requirements. Therefore you are expected to have good understanding of Zoo licensing and associated legislation.
·         You will assist in the supervision and training of Junior Keepers, volunteers and work experience students to ensure consistently high standards. You should have experience of managing a small team and teaching relevant skills.
·         Public education is important to The Living Rainforest therefore you will be trained as a tour guide and will be required to undertake some school tour guiding and keeper talks.
·         The job is physically demanding and will involve some heavy lifting and some construction and maintenance work. Therefore you should be physically fit. Practical experience of enclosure planning and construction will be useful, but is not essential as training will be provided.
·         The Living Rainforest is continuing to increase our involvement with the BIAZA working groups and other external institutions. We hope to provide opportunities to attend meetings and training sessions, and will be supportive of staff contributions to research, articles for publication, or other projects, providing that they are relevant to our collection and staff time is available.
·         Working hours are approximately 9.00 – 5.30pm five days per week on a rota’d basis. Some weekend and bank holiday work will be required.
·         Salary will be commensurate with level of experience, between £16 – 18k per annum. The holiday allowance is 20 days per annum plus bank holidays. TSL participates in a group stakeholder pension scheme.
·         Accommodation and transport are not provided with this post.

Applicants:
·         Applicants should have a minimum of three years zoo industry experience (full time employment).
·         Applicants should have an animal related qualification at Level 4 or above.
·         Experience of public education is important along with some basic knowledge of rainforests and exotic species.
·         A full driver’s license and own vehicle will be necessary for travel to and from the workplace as public transport is infrequent. There may also be occasions when travel is required as a part of your job role and therefore access to your own vehicle will be essential.
·         The Living Rainforest is an equal opportunities employer.






Please send a one page cover letter and CV to Ela Suliga, Human Resources. The closing date for applications is May 8th  2016.


Post:
HR department
The Living Rainforest
Hampstead Norreys
Thatcham
Berkshire
RG18 0TN




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