Dog Day Care Assistant

**COMPANY DESCRIPTION - PACK BUDDIES DOGGY DAYCARE**

Created out of passion and dedication, we are Southampton’s interactive doggy daycare. Our dogs enjoy going back to their origins, where they explore the best of what nature has to offer. Through treasure hunts, a sensory garden, agility area and much more, our dogs get to enjoy being dogs.

Winners of **Dog Daycare UK Business of the Year 2021** by the Pet Industry Federation and **Best Doggy Daycare Provider 2023 - Hampshire **by the Pet Products and Services Awards

**JOB DETAILS**
- Location: _Pack Buddies Doggy Daycare, Newbridge, Southampton, SO40 2NW
- Salary:_ £12,937 per annum (part-time) - equivalent to £23,000 full-time salary.
- Hours:_ Part-time, Monday - Friday, 22.5 hours per week.
- Core hours:_ These are the core hours, however the finish time depends on the daily drop-off rota and traffic:

- Mondays: 6.5 working hours per day 09.30-17.00, with a 1-hour lunch break
- Tuesday - Friday: 4 hours per day, 13.00-17.00
- Finish time is dependent on the daily drop-off rota and traffic - employee flexibility is required.
- **Flexibility**:_We need staff to be flexible and occasionally work full-time to cover other staff absences such as annual leave and sickness. We are a small family business and therefore flexibility is an essential requirement to support our small team. If you do not have flexibility to work full-time (a minimum of 12 weeks full-time per year and sometimes at short notice) then please do not apply.

**APPLICATION PROCESS**
- **Application Closing Date**:_Sunday 30th April 2023
- **Interview Date**:_Monday 8th May 2023. _Interviews will take place in person._

**JOB DESCRIPTION**

**KEY RESPONSIBILITIES**

1. This role is to ensure the safety and welfare of all dogs in our care. This includes supervising dogs during socialisation, interacting with the dogs in a positive way, providing stimulation in the form of positive reinforcement dog training and developing activities for the dogs to enjoy (e.g. agility, group training and treasure hunts).

2. Safely transporting the dogs to and from the daycare facility in the doggy taxi.

3. Building relationships with clients during collection and drop-off, including learning their dog’s home routine, providing updates to the clients and understanding their needs.

4. Daily set-up, close-down and cleaning procedures. This involves setting up shades, paddling pools, water bowls etc. In addition, cleaning of the van, indoor areas, dog water bowls etc.

5. Photography and social media. We share our dog’s experiences with their owners, so to do this we need staff to take photographs and videos of the dogs and create engaging social media content.

**PERSON SPECIFICATION**
- **Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience**_

Essential: Able to demonstrate a good knowledge of dog behaviour and body language. Passionate about dogs, their welfare and development.
- **Attitude**_

Essential: Attitude is key to us at Pack Buddies as we want to employ staff who share our values. We are seeking reliable, honest, trustworthy, hard-working, flexible, adaptable and professional staff.
- **Driving**_

Essential: Full, clean UK driving licence is essential, ideal held for a minimum of 5 years.

Desirable: Good local knowledge of Southampton and surrounding areas. Experience of driving a short wheelbase van.
- **Planning and organising**_

Essential: Able to effectively organise a daily rota, planning time effectively.
- **Problem solving and initiative**_

Essential: Able to independently solve a range of problems by responding to varying circumstances, whilst working within operational procedures. Ability to work well and use initiative with minimum supervision.
- **Teamwork**_

Essential: Able to contribute to team efficiency through sharing information and constructively supporting others. Able to work effectively in a small, intimate team.
- **Communication**_

Essential: Experience of working in a client facing role, evidencing ability to build rapport with customers. The way we engage with Pack Buddies clients and the professionalism we provide is paramount.

Part-time hours: 22.5 per week, with flexibility to do full-time hours occasionally.
- **DBS check required**_

Application deadline: 30/04/2023

**Job Types**: Part-time, Permanent
Part-time hours: 22.5 per week

**Salary**: £12,937.00 per year

**Benefits**:

- Company pension
- On-site parking

Schedule:

- Monday to Friday

Application question(s):

- Please provide your experience of working with dogs in a professional capacity.

**Experience**:

- Driving: 5 years (required)

Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 30/04/2023
Reference ID: PB2023
Expected start date: 15/05/2023