About this role
Contract: Zero hours contract Salary: £14.24 per hour (£12.71 plus £1.53 holiday pay) Location: Southampton, SO30 2HL Closing date: Monday 12 October 2026 Interview date: 19 & 20 October 2026 We’re recruiting a Standby Pet Welfare Assistant for on-site animal care, for our Rehoming & Fostering team in Southampton! At Blue Cross, we're dedicated to providing the best care possible to pets in need. As a Standby Pet Welfare Assistant for our onsite services, you'll play an important role in our mission, ensuring that every pet receives the love, attention, and support they deserve during their stay at our Burford rehoming centre. This is a zero hours contract. As a skilled animal handler and assessor, you will be responsible for the ‘preparation stage’ with the pets in our care which involves caring, carrying out assessments and rehabilitation plans, preparing them for the ‘adoption stage’ or the best possible outcome for their circumstances with minimal delay. As a Standby Pet Welfare Assistant, you will ensure that the welfare standards are met and that rehabilitation plans are followed and supported for pets in our care. Working independently and with the team you will carry out meetings with owners giving up their pet, ensuring all information is recorded, paperwork completed and that the pet is immediately assessed for behavioural or veterinary problems. Working closely with the Adoptions Coordinator you will provide additional in person or virtual advice and practical demonstrations to ensure new owners are fully aware of the work that has been done with the pet and how to continue with any other additional behaviour training or medical provision. This role is mostly based in our kennels department. At our Southampton rehoming centre, we provide onsite accommodation for pets in our care 24/7. Overnight shifts are usually undertaken by team members who live on site. Occasionally, you will be expected to carry out night checks or stay in onsite accommodation overnight when the resident team members are either not working or away for a period of time. You will be on a zero hour’s contract and therefore you will not have regular hours of work but will be on standby to work shifts as and when required. If you excel in an environment where you can see the difference you make every day, then this is the role for you. Interested? Then apply and let’s work together to see if this is the role for you.