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Veterinary Surgeon – Large Animal & Equine

Hay Veterinary Group, Hay-on-Wye

Hereford, Ludlow, Ross-on-Wye, Brecon, Abergavenny, Newport, South Wales are all within 1 hour’s drive.

Part-time

Your Role

We are looking for a Farm/Equine Veterinary Surgeon to join our friendly, caring team in the beautiful market town of Hay-on-Wye.

Our farm work is mainly with beef cattle and sheep on small/medium family farms. Small holders provide an interesting mix of goats, alpacas and backyard poultry flocks. There is an increasing opportunity for us to provide a more proactive approach to the health and welfare of the animals in our care. We are recruiting to enable us to take advantage of new funding from English and Welsh governments for health planning and disease testing.

Our equine caseload is varied and rewarding and rarely highly-pressured. Clients range from Thoroughbred and Standardbred trainers to pleasure-horse owners; studs, trekking stables and retirement liveries to farmers with semi-feral mountain pony herds. With all these and more, you will have every opportunity to develop an individual enthusiasm, whether that be for dentistry, stud work, or for lameness/poor performance investigations. We have a close working relationship with local referral practices and visiting specialists, enabling us to maintain close contact and learn from more complicated cases. Our experienced colleagues and nursing team are always happy to help out too.

Our practice operates from modern, purpose-built premises with plenty of space for regular staff and client meetings. We have a well-equipped in-house laboratory and the facilities to hospitalise calves, sheep and horses.

We are a veterinary nurse training centre and have also nurtured many new graduate vets over the years. Depending on your own enthusiasm and experience, an important part of your role could be mentoring and teaching less-experienced members of the team.

Work-life balance that works for you

We are happy to discuss flexible working hours, based around our opening times. Currently there is a requirement for 1 weeknight per week on call, plus one weekend in 4 but we hope to reduce this in the future.
We know that everyone has demands and priorities outside of their career and we want to make it easy for you to strike the right balance.

About the Team and Culture

You will be working with a dedicated, loyal and kind crew, and we’re excited about expanding it as the practice grows. We are a family-oriented business with strong ties to our local community, and we’re striving to be a centre of clinical and people excellence for our staff and for our clients.

Many of our close-knit team have been with us since the practice was founded. Our clinical team consists of 4 Small Animal, 1 Mixed, 1 TB-tester, and 2 Large Animal Veterinary Surgeons. We have 6 RVNs and 1 SVN. Our fantastic administrative team and pharmacy SQP provide us with an unrivalled depth of experience and local knowledge.
We have three certificate-holders in the clinical team (veterinary and nursing) who can provide help and support whatever your level of experience. We pride ourselves on our collaborative clinical approach with regular informal case discussions.

Our overriding aim is to provide a comprehensive, empathetic, and personal service to our clients and patients.

About the Area

Sitting on the bank above the iconic River Wye and straddling the English / Welsh border, Hay is a great place to live and work. Overlooked by the Black Mountains and a short drive from the Brecon Beacons, our surroundings are a haven for the outdoor enthusiast. The town boasts a myriad of independent food shops including bakers, butchers, breweries, distillers, greengrocers, and a deli. It is also justly famous for its bookshops.

The world-famous annual book festival in May attracts writers, politicians, musicians and more, and is repeated in miniature at the winter festival each November. Throughout the rest of the year, thousands of visitors are drawn to the town to enjoy independent galleries and exhibitions, while locals enjoy various choirs, theatre, creative writing, history, and photography groups.

We are lucky enough to have a very comfortable (and licensed) independent cinema showing everything from blockbusters to arthouse to National Theatre Live productions. The recently restored medieval castle hosts regular art classes and exhibitions.

Mountain bikers, walkers, runners, and paragliders are frequently seen in the hills above the town. In the summer the Wye is alive with canoeists, paddle boarders and wild swimmers.

Cycle hires and repairs (and a coffee) can be had next door to the practice, and the town hosts a lovely local market every Thursday. There is a thriving and welcoming running club within the town that hosts a park run once a week. Llangorse is a twenty-minute drive away and has a sailing club on the lake and an indoor climbing centre. There are trekking centres and riding schools to suit every equestrian ability, and miles and miles of hacking on open hill on our doorstep.

There are plenty of pubs and restaurants to choose from, with takeaways, pop-up pizza vans, gastropubs, tapas, and modern British tasting menus.

Hay is a family-friendly town with lots of baby and toddler groups, a new library, and a good choice of local primary and secondary schools.

Applicant Requirements

A successful candidate will strongly align with our values and team spirit. We will need you to be qualified and licensed to practice in the UK. Willingness to contribute to our OOH rota is required.

You may be an accomplished vet looking for a lifestyle change or to develop your career, but we’d be equally happy to consider a new or recent graduate, who would like to build experience within a mixed practice.

We are currently recruiting for a Small Animal Vet too, and we would welcome applications from a couple, or a job share arrangement.

Because our employees matter

We recognise that our people are fundamental to the success of our business. Investing in our people, premises and processes is at the heart of what we do. In addition to a competitive base salary of up to £56,700 , you will benefit from -

Work life balance

• 6.6 weeks annual leave
• Increasing holiday allowance based on length of service
• Your birthday as a paid day off

Wellbeing

• Private medical insurance
• Enhanced family-friendly policies, including maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental and surrogacy pay
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Initiatives focused on employee wellbeing
• Non-accidental injury support

Development

• £1,250 CPD allowance with 5 days paid pro rata
• Certificate support
• Learning and development opportunities via the IVC Evidensia Academy
• Access to Vetlexicon – our online encyclopaedia provider
• All our Vets & Nurses can apply for research funding
• All our Vets get £1000 per annum to spend via our Care Fund
• Infection Prevention and Control Programme
• Quality Improvement Programme

Professional Memberships

• BVA membership
• VDS cover
• RCVS fees

Additional

• Pawsome Benefits – reward gateway giving discounts and cashback with 100’s of retailers
• Pension – 5% Employee/3% Employer
• Discounted staff pet care

At Hay Vets we value diversity of thought, background, and experience. We encourage applications from everyone everywhere – especially women, people of colour, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Research shows that members of minority groups are less likely to apply for a job unless they believe they meet all the requirements listed. Even if you feel that you do not meet 100% of the job criteria, we’d love to hear from you. You might be a great fit for another position now, or in the future. We look forward to hearing from you!

If this position is of interest to you then please get in touch.

Any questions before applying?

Speak to Nicola Grant from our recruitment team who would be happy to help you with any questions you have before applying for this role.