Keeper
Wildwood Trust
This post is for a
highly motivated person, who is practical and hard working.
This role will suite
a fit, practical person who can work outdoors during all weathers doing a
physically demanding job.
Specifically:
• Care for our
collection of British native & once native wildlife
• Build and maintain
our natural woodland animal enclosures
• To engage with the
public through talks and demonstrations about our animals
• Help our
conservation projects to promote wildlife conservation
Job description
Job title: Keeper - Kent
Function: Looking after the Wildwood animal
collection and conservation projects.
Responsible to: Head Keeper / Line manager.
1 Principal Duties
1.1 Looking after the Wildwood collection
Your primary focus
will be the care of wildwood’s unique collection of British wildlife. This will
encompass food preparation, feeding and cleaning.
You will be
responsible for the welfare and well being of the animals, monitoring health
issues and improving their enclosures to provide behavioural enrichment.
You will take
instruction from the Head keeper, working to priorities to achieve the best
animal welfare within the resources we have.
1.2 Exhibit design and maintenance:
You will be required
to assist in the day to day maintenance of exhibits so you will use small tools
and do general DIY functions.
You will have a
substantial input into exhibit design and building to provide the highest
standards on animal care and efficiency of operations.
1.3 Meeting zoo legislation:
You will help to
keep animal records to meet all zoo legislation. You will follow all procedures
on safe practice and hygiene regulations and records.
1.4 Internal Communications:
You will play a key
role in the keeper team and as such attend all staff meetings and produce any
required reports. You will be expected to play a positive and helpful role in
developing a happy productive team working towards common objectives as laid out
by you line manager.
1.5 Human Resources:
You will be required
to help to maintain TOIL time sheets and any other records as required.
1.6 Financial administration:
You will be required
to help in financial administration, playing a role in cost control and making
financial systems effective. You will be required to help investigate and
acquire animal food from local sources who donate them.
1.7 Health and Safety:
You will be required
to support your line manager to ensure that Wildwood’s Health and Safety
arrangements are effective, consistent and well documented.
1.8 Customer care & animal talks
As a charity
Wildwood’s ultimate success will depend on the value we can deliver to our
members, donors and visitors. ‘Making every visitor a friend’ will be a key
role for the post holder. This will give public animal feeds, help in
organising themed weekends, and help run membership events, give guidance for
effective signage and interpretation. Above all this will be fostering a
customer focused attitude within the keeper team.
As a membership
organisation Wildwoods success will depend on our ability recruit and retain
members. This will involve instilling in your self a ‘customer focused ethos’
to actively engage visitors and recruit members through membership forms and
giving advice on membership at every available opportunity.
1.9 Conservation projects
You will be required
to look after animals in our captive breeding programme and to play an active
role in our conservation and contract work.
1.10 Special projects:
From time to time,
with direction from the park manager or your line manager, you will support the
activities of other departments when it’s ‘all hands to the pump’.
2 Skills, Knowledge & Experience
2.1 Essential
The post-holder must
have two years’ experience in a similar role. They will be mature in outlook,
confident, hard working and practical. Common sense and the ability to
concentrate and prioritise on the essentials of a task will be key elements of
your personality. You will need to be prepared to work through peak times in
what is a seasonal business.
- A minimum work history of two years of paid employment, working with a range of relevant species, in a zoo or wildlife park.
- Demonstrable understanding of animal management.
- Experience of captive animal husbandry.
- The ability and desire to enhance and develop your knowledge.
- Ability to communicate effectively at all levels.
- Must be a team player with the ability to multi-task.
- A genuine love of British wildlife.
- Full clean drivers licence.
2.2 Desirable
Experience in these
areas is desirable; you must be able to demonstrate recent practical experience
in many of the below.
Mammal husbandry and
breeding.
Bird husbandry and
breeding.
Reptile husbandry
and breeding.
Aquarium husbandry.
Animal records and
zims.
Practical building
work and construction.
Giving public talks
& demonstrations.
Conservation
reintroduction projects.
Health and safety
systems.
A relevant animal
qualification such as the DMZAA qualification.
3 Other Considerations
The post is
advertised as a full time
Appointment will be
subject to a six month probationary period.
Understanding of and
sympathy with Wildwood’s role as a conservation body would be helpful.
No person shall be
treated less favourably than another on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation,
marital status, race, ethic or national origin, religion, colour, age or
disability. As an equal opportunities employer, applicants for staff vacancies
shall be short listed for interview and appointed purely on the grounds of
their suitability for the post as laid out in the advertised job description
Wildwood operates a
no smoking policy in the park and in its offices.
Employment Package
The salary band for
keepers is £15,868.00 per annum. Finances permitting, salaries are updated once
a year to allow for the rate of inflation.
Normal working hours
are a 37.5 hour week average over the year. Normal working hours will be from
8.00 am to 4.00 pm in winter and 8.00 am to 5.00 pm in summer with a lunch
break of half an hour each day. Your monthly pay will reflect the hours you
work.
Due to the nature of
the work you will be required to work bank holidays, weekends and some
evenings. Overtime is not usually paid, but time may be taken off in lieu. The
holiday allowance is 30 days a year, this includes statutory holidays.
Appointments are
subject to confirmation after a six-month probation period.
Apply for this job:
Application is by
C.V. and must contain the following information:
Name, address,
contact phone numbers at home and work (for discreet calls only)
Employment history
Educational history
You should include a
statement of the relevant skills and experience that you believe you will bring
to the job, paying careful attention to the requirements of the job outlined
above.
You should give two
referees to whom we can turn for a confidential reference, one of whom should
be your current or most recent employer. References will only be taken up for
those candidates chosen for interview or, with regard to current employer, on offer
of contract.
Applications will
not normally be acknowledged unless submitted by email, which receive an auto
response.
Applications should
be sent to Wildwood Trust, Herne Common attn. Office Manager
Herne Bay, Kent, CT6
7LQ. Or jobs@wildwoodtrust.org
The closing date for applications is February 14th
2018
Interviews and
selection tests will be held at Wildwood Park at Wealden Forest Park, Herne
Common by arrangement during the following two weeks after the closing date for
applications. The interview may involve working alongside our keepers for a
trial.
Peter Dickinson
Independent International Zoo Consultant        |
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