Laboratory Animal Veterinarian
Newcastle, GB
Salary: £33,966 to £36,024 with progression to £44,263 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 12 January 2024
The Role
To be considered for this job you need to be currently qualified for registration as a MRCVS.
The University’s Vision and Strategy sets out an ambitious and exciting journey, to be a people focused, world-leading university that harnesses academic excellence, innovation and creativity to advance knowledge and provide benefits to individuals, to organisations and to society as a whole.
As a laboratory animal veterinarian, you are the advocate for the animals, using your clinical and interpersonal skills to ensure the highest standards of welfare and ethical consideration and compliance, for animals that are part of the University’s biomedical, agricultural and wild animal research. You will assist in providing veterinary professional services to the registered premises of Newcastle University. Acting under the Named Veterinary Surgeon in accordance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, with a focus on veterinary care (e.g., health monitoring, anaesthesia, analgesia and peri-operative care) and guidance on project licence applications and retrospective reviews and to Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body. Starting salary is dependent on experience. This role offers new challenges for those looking for a career change with an unbeatable work-life balance.
This role offers new challenges for those looking for a career change with an unbeatable work-life balance. Starting salary is dependent on experience.
Newcastle University is a Russell Group University, situated in a city which is fifteen minutes from the beautiful Northumberland coastline and bounded by national parks, life in the Northeast has a lot to offer.
To apply for the position, we’ll need your CV and a personal statement outlining how you are suitable for the role using evidence to highlight how you meet the essential criteria in the knowledge, skills and experience as listed in the job description
The position is open-ended and offered on a full-time basis (40 hours per week).
For informal enquiries contact: Paul.dearden@newcastle.ac.uk
Key Accountabilities
- Providing veterinary care and supporting research programs involving a wide variety of species including non-human primates. To include maintaining appropriate veterinary and other records and assisting the Director in ensuring that the University complies with the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act
- Providing professional and technical assistance and specialised advice to research workers on a variety of projects, particularly those involving anaesthesia and surgical procedures
- Acting under the Named Veterinary Surgeon, including the provision of “on-call” veterinary support, and maintaining out-of-hours support for research projects when necessary
- Maintain an internal and external network of fellow professionals, keep up to date with developments in laboratory animal science and laboratory animal anaesthesia and to identify new areas for improvement, facilitate implementation of the ‘3Rs’ and recommend changes to promote ‘Best Practice’ in animal care and welfare
- Participate in, and provide professional advice to the Animal Welfare Ethical Review Board at Newcastle University
- Contribute strategically to the development of veterinary specialist support services for the university’s research animal facilities. To lead specific projects and oversee specific service developments as required by the Director
- To act as a course tutor for the Department’s training courses for researchers and other parties, to provide practical training for personnel at all levels. To contribute to the implementation of appropriately high standards to ensure external accreditation of training courses is maintained. To contribute to course development and production of training materials (eg E Learning, websites)
- To act as one of a team of Named Training and Competency Officers ensuring training and competency assessment of holders of personal licences
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Essential
- Experience of anaesthesia, surgical procedures, imaging and diagnostic techniques
- Evidence of project management
- Proven ability to influence, motivate individuals and transfer knowledge and skills effectively
- Proven ability to implement and manage change and champion a culture of care
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including proven presentation skills
- High level planning, organising and problem-solving skills, with a proactive solution based and innovative approach; utilising excellent prioritisation skills and effective delegation
Desirable
- Experience of advanced anaesthesia or surgical procedures, imaging and diagnostic techniques
- Experience of working under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, with familiarity with project licence applications, retrospective review and Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body
- Experience of training and competency assessment
- Experience of laboratory animal science
- Publications in a relevant subject area
- Experience of ethical review processes
- Knowledge of Health and Safety policy and procedure
- To contribute to the research program of the department, both by assistance with ongoing projects and development of independent research projects
Attributes and Behaviour
- Has the ability to see the “big picture”, to think strategically and to manage complex problems and issues
- Experience of effective team-working where the value of different views are respected in a supportive environment
- Embraces change and is forward looking, both as an individual and as part of a team
Desirable
- Extensive experience of effective team management and leadership
- Experience of inter-disciplinary management across staffing types
- Able to create a vision for own area and explain how it fits in with the overall strategic vision
- Understands and makes sense of complex or conflicting situations and different perspectives of stakeholders and University areas/faculties/etc
- Develops plans and strategies for influencing and persuading stakeholders
Qualifications
- University degree in veterinary medicine
- Currently qualified for registration as a MRCVS
Desirable
- Experience of working under the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act or equivalent legislation
- Post graduate qualification related to anaesthesia, laboratory animal science or animal welfare
- PhD
Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 26457
