About the Role
This part-time position offers 26-28 hours per week across 3 days, giving you the flexibility and work-life balance that matters. You'll work with a varied first opinion caseload covering nursing consultations, in-patients, anaesthesia, and dentals, with room to develop skills in your preferred areas of expertise. There's no out-of-hours work required—weekend commitments are limited to a 1:4 Saturday morning rota only.
Based in Hove, East Sussex, you'll be just a 5-minute walk from the beautiful seafront and 10 minutes by car from the South Downs. Hove sits within vibrant Brighton with excellent transport links to London, making this an attractive location for living and working.
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct nursing consultations and provide direct patient care across the two-site practice
- Support in-patient management and post-operative care
- Assist with anaesthesia procedures and monitoring
- Contribute to dental nursing and procedures
- Work collaboratively with the team of 4 vets and 7 nurses across the Portland Road main site and Hangleton branch
- Develop specialist skills in your area of interest within a supportive, close-knit environment
Requirements
- Current RVN registration with the RCVS
- Experience in first opinion small animal nursing
- Strong communication and teamwork skills
- Commitment to providing exceptional patient care
Benefits
- Annual Leave: 6.6 weeks plus your birthday as a paid day off, with increasing allowance based on length of service
- Professional Development: £550 CPD allowance with 24 hours paid CPD leave, certificate support, access to IVC Evidensia Academy and Vetlexicon online encyclopaedia, research funding opportunities, and structured programmes in Infection Prevention & Control and Quality Improvement
- Health & Wellbeing: Private Medical Insurance, Cycle to Work scheme, discounted gym membership, enhanced family-friendly policies (maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental and surrogacy pay), and non-accidental injury support
- Professional Support: VDS cover and RCVS fees paid
- Financial: Competitive base salary up to £31,000 pa (FTE, depending on experience), 5% Employee/3% Employer pension contribution
- Additional Perks: Pawsome Benefits reward gateway with discounts and cashback from 100s of retailers, discounted staff pet care
About the Practice
Acorn Vets has been delivering compassionate veterinary care in Hove for over 33 years. Originally established as Anicare in 1978, it became Acorn in 2002 when the Hangleton branch opened to serve local clients. The Portland Road surgery underwent complete refurbishment in 2011 with a new sterile operating theatre, kennels, and waiting room. The practice is part of IVC Evidensia and serves pets affordably in a modern, welcoming environment.
The two-site practice boasts state-of-the-art equipment including in-house laboratory, digital x-ray, ultrasound machine, digital dental x-ray, and operating theatre. The team is notably stable—most staff have been with Acorn for five years or more, and some for over 25 years. The practice holds RCVS accreditation, reflecting its commitment to high standards of care. You'll find this is a genuinely supportive environment where collaboration is valued and every voice matters.
