Interested in working with us?
Application deadline: 28 February 2026 at 23:59
We are currently looking for a kennel assistant to join our team!
About the role
As a Kennel Assistant, you will help ensure our patients are comfortable, clean, and well cared for during their stay with us. You’ll support our vets and nurses with the day-to-day running of the practice while helping to create a welcoming, caring environment for both pets and their owners.
Key responsibilities may include:
- Cleaning and preparing kennels, cages, and equipment
- Feeding and providing basic care for inpatients
- Laundry
- Maintaining high standards of cleanliness across the whole practice
- Assisting the clinical team with handling animals when required
- Manual handling of equipment and products
- Supporting with basic laboratory tasks (training provided)
- Answering phones and assisting with client enquiries
- Welcoming clients and maintaining a tidy, professional reception and clinical environment
What we’re looking for:
- A genuine love of animals and commitment to their welfare
- A client-focused attitude and enjoyment in building relationships with pet owners
- Good phone manner and confident face-to-face communication
- Flexibility with duties and working hours
- Adaptability in a busy, sometimes unpredictable environment
- An interest in developing laboratory and clinical support skills
- Attention to detail in all aspects of role
- Reliability, a strong work ethic, and willingness to learn
- A positive, team-oriented attitude
What we offer:
- National minimum wage
- Supportive and friendly team environment
- Hands-on experience in a veterinary setting
- Potential nurse training opportunity for the right candidate
Required qualifications:
5 GCSEs of grade A-C or 4-9 to include Mathematics, English and Biology. Proof of grades required at interview stage.
Hours of work: 30-43 hours per week depending on the needs of the rota
Working time: Monday to Friday and up to 2 in 3 Saturdays (usually mornings on Saturdays). Shifts can be early, middle or late so flexibility in working hours is required.
Documents required for application:
- Covering letter
- CV AND/OR Application Form – please note, if you are submitting your CV instead of using our application form template which can be downloaded below, then you must make sure all the details we request on the application form are included in the CV for your application to be considered.
This role can be physically and emotionally demanding at times, but it is also very rewarding. If you are caring, motivated, and keen to start a career in animal care, we would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about the role, please email our practice manager, Donné, at donne.stam@heathfieldvets.co.uk.
Vet Nurse Training - RCVS Approved Centre
We are an approved veterinary nurse training centre – with a strong affiliation to our local training college Plumpton College.
Veterinary nurses are an integral part of the Heathfield Vets team, and expectations are high as they perform very important duties in the practice.
To find out all about becoming a veterinary nurse, please see our article. Places for trainee nurse positions are very limited, and applicants are only considered for the role once they have been a Kennel Assistant with us for between 12 and 24 months.
This gives you a chance to get hands-on experience in a related role in practice, understand all aspects of the position and make sure you are committed to the veterinary nursing pathway – as our very hardworking trainees will tell you, the three year course is demanding, but incredibly rewarding.
We pride ourselves on the amount of support we give our trainees, which helps maintain our very high standards – and an almost 100% pass rate.
If you are interested in a veterinary nursing trainee role, please fill in and submit the application form above.
If there is not a current vacancy for the Kennel Assistant role, your CV will be kept on file for six months from the date of submission and handled according to our Privacy Policy, in order to be considered for a suitable role should it arise in that time period.
Work Experience and EMS Placements
We get lots of enquiries from people considering veterinary medicine or nursing as a career and we are always more than happy to help by answering questions or giving advice.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has good information on its website.
We encourage applicants to come along and see the realities of life in a small-animal veterinary practice by undertaking work experience with us. However, places are limited so we do have to prioritise certain types of placements, for example students who are already studying a veterinary degree, as they are required to gain practical experience (EMS) as part of the course. The availability of placements also depends on our staff availability, as we do have to be sure we can properly support you and allow you to gain as much experience as possible while you are with us. For all types of work experience, we do operate a waiting list so that if there are any cancellations, we are able to offer the placement to the next available person.
Please take a look below for information on how to apply for certain types of work experience:
CEMS or EMS placements
Please email us, marked for the attention of our practice manager with your CV, a copy of your university’s letter confirming you are on the course and which year of study you are currently undertaking, together with the dates you are hoping to undertake EMS with us. We can then check availability and let you know if we are able to support you during one of the time periods you have requested.
Nursing degree placements
Please email us, marked for the attention of our practice manager with your CV, a copy of your course provider’s letter confirming you are on the course and which year of study you are currently undertaking, together with the dates you are hoping to undertake a placement with us. We can then check availability and let you know if we are able to support you during the time period you have requested. Please be aware that we already have a number of our own apprentices, so availability for this is limited and will depend on a number of factors including clinical coach availability and your year of study, as we do not allow multiple students in the same year at the same time, to prevent students from feeling like they need to compete for cases.
Veterinary degree application placements
Most of the universities that have a vet school require you to complete a certain number of weeks of placement before you apply in order to be able to complete your application. If you are planning to go through this process and would like to complete some of this work experience with us, please email us, marked for the attention of our practice manager with your CV including the subjects you are undertaking and your predicted grades, as well as a covering letter and the dates you are available. We can then check availability and let you know if we are able to provide you with work experience during one of the time periods you have requested.
Nursing apprenticeship/degree application placements
Please see our page dedicated specifically to the process of becoming a veterinary nurse. Apprentices will work in practice for 6 months before being able to apply for the course, so work experience is not usually needed unless you are not sure that nursing is for you (and generally, the 6 month window beforehand allows for you to see if it is!). Nursing degree applicants may need to undertake work experience for their applications, so if you are planning to go through this process and would like to complete some of this work experience with us, please email us, marked for the attention of our practice manager with your CV including the subjects you are undertaking and your predicted grades, as well as a covering letter and the dates you are available. We can then check availability and let you know if we are able to provide you with work experience during one of the time periods you have requested.
Work experience for 16-18 year olds
This is an exciting time where you know you want to work with animals – some will be absolutely certain of their career trajectory, but others may not be sure of whether veterinary is for you! Work experience is a good wayto further your career goals or to investigate whether this branch of animal care is for you . If you are interested in a placement with us, please submit your CV including the subjects you are undertaking and your predicted grades, as well as a covering letter and the dates you are available. We can then check availability and let you know if we are able to provide you with work experience during one of the time periods you have requested. This kind of placement would give you an overview of what it is like to work in a veterinary practice, but it’s worth being aware that due to your age and therefore the requirements of our insurers, what you can do with us is very limited – animal handling will be minimal, there will be a fair amount of cleaning and you will be able to observe consultations and procedures where this is appropriate.
Work experience for under 16s, Year 10 work experience
We love seeing how passionate you are about animals! Unfortunately, our insurers do not permit under 16 year olds to undertake work experience with us. This won’t be the case at every veterinary practice as we don’t all use the same insurance company for the business, so this shouldn’t put you off sending applications to other local practices. Once you are over 16, please don’t hesitate to follow the instructions in the section above to apply for work experience. Otherwise, if you’d still like to do something relating to animals then it is certainly worth also looking at placements in other areas of animal care, some sugggestions of which include:
-
Dog grooming
-
Equine stables
-
Dog training/behaviourists
-
Hydrotherapy
-
Physiotherapy
If you have any questions about work experience placements here at Heathfield Vets, please do not hesitate to contact us.
“During my 3 years of Clinical EMS I have spent several enjoyable weeks with the team at Heathfield Vets.
The team are truly inclusive, friendly and considerate and I learnt a lot whilst on my placements.
The vets and nurses took a proactive interest in my learning, educational and practical development as both a student and future vet.
I am incredibly grateful for my invaluable experiences and knowledge gained whilst at Heathfield Vets and shall take this with me once I have graduated.”
Sarah McConkey (Vet student)
“A huge thanks to the Vets, Nurses and rest of the team at Heathfield Vets for their continued support and help throughout my time completing work experience with them.
They are all wonderful, kind and generous people who taught me so much! I cannot say enough great things about everyone there and I would just like to say a special thanks to Donné for letting me come in.
It was a real joy to be around a great team with a wealth of experience between them.”
Melissa H (student)
