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The Puppy Selection and Screening Specialist helps people with sight loss to live the life they choose by supporting with sourcing high quality puppies that meet the needs of Guide Dogs’ training and breeding departments. The role works in close collaboration with the breeding department and dog supply colleagues to ensure the appropriate number of puppies are available to meet training department needs and ensure on-going breeding colony genetic health. As directed by the Dog Sourcing Manager, the role will visit carefully selected high quality breeders to screen litters, ensuring the selection of healthy puppies with excellent temperaments. The role also supports with the direct placement of puppies selected to join Guide Dogs programme into puppy raising homes.

We’re committed to enabling our staff to work where best suits the needs of the individual, their team and the organisation. We want our staff to flourish and work in environments which maximises their potential and best serves our stakeholders.

This role will be based on site at our Bristol office with some home working and requirement to travel. You’ll be working 35 hours per week, worked 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

We offer a generous pension scheme, annual leave, life assurance and enhanced pay for parenting and sickness leave. In addition, we provide an Employee Assistance Programme, flexible benefits package and discounts and cashback scheme to care for our people.

More details can be found in the attached candidate pack and job description.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.

Diversity

Guide Dogs welcomes applications from all sections of the community and actively encourages diversity to maximise achievements, creativity and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or nationality.

We encourage applications from people with disabilities as they are currently under-represented in the organisation and guarantee an invitation to interview for all applicants with disabilities who demonstrate, within their application form, sufficient evidence to meet the essential criteria for the job.

Safeguarding

Guide Dogs is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk of harm with whom we work. We expect all our employees and volunteers to fully share this commitment.

To be able to fulfil this role, the skills and experience we are looking for in a potential candidate include;

Essential

• 
  Able to undertake physical demands of the role, including handling puppies in the nest and placing puppies in and out of vehicles. Be able to handle equipment and specialist resource required for the role.
• Current valid Driving licence, or able to demonstrate how to complete the role without.
• 3 GCSE, O’ levels or the equivalent – including Math’s /English (QCF levels 1-2 / SQCF levels 4-5).
• Strong demonstrable working knowledge of dog care and behaviour.
• Proven/demonstrable understanding of dog/puppy behaviour, temperament, care and welfare practise.
• Proven knowledge and interest of dog breeding and knowledge of external breeding practices.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Comfortable using and updating databases and using online telephone systems.
• Effective planning to meet personal and team objectives and deadlines.

Desirable

• 
  Accredited learning in the areas of animal welfare, health, behaviour, reproduction and/or ethics.
• Previous experience of whelping and rearing puppies.

For the complete list of essential and desirable criteria necessary to be successful in this role please see the Person Specification within the Job Description below. The candidate pack contains more information about this role & the recruitment process at Guide Dogs.

If you are successful you will need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. We cannot provide sponsorship for this role.

How to apply

If you have any accessibility issues, please contact our Recruitment Team on 0118 3540345 or [email protected].

Applications need to be made using the online application form, accessed using the ‘apply’ button above.

As part of your application ensure you provide evidence and examples of how your skills & experience meet the criteria as set out in the attached job description.

The system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised.

If any mandatory fields are missed, a pop-up box will appear at the top of the page advising which sections require completion.

Please note that you’ll have to upload a CV as this is a mandatory requirement as part of our Safer Recruitment Policy.

Guide Dogs follow Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding the vulnerable people we work with. As part of this, we require a full work history with any gaps accounted for & a minimum of 2 professional referee details fully covering the past 5 years. If there is not enough space in your application form to provide this information, please ensure you upload additional documentation containing the additional detail.

Please contact our Recruitment Team on 0118 3540345 or [email protected] if you require any support with your application.