Deputy Head Veterinary Nurse

About the Role

This is your opportunity to take on a meaningful leadership position within a thriving small animal practice. You'll work across a purpose-built main hospital in Bridgend, leading and mentoring nursing colleagues while staying hands-on with clinical work—balancing leadership with the patient care you love. Working on a 4-day week alongside another Deputy Head Nurse and two Head Nurses, you'll have genuine support from day one. The practice values teamwork and wellbeing over hitting targets, creating the kind of environment where you can focus on what matters: excellent clinical care, developing your team, and actually enjoying your work.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and develop nursing team members, supporting their growth and confidence
• Oversee daily nursing activities to maintain consistently high clinical standards aligned with RCVS Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) requirements
• Remain actively involved in clinical nursing duties—maintaining your own skills and developing special interests across medical and surgical cases
• Support training and development of student nurses and the wider nursing team
• Ensure practice policies, protocols and hospital accreditation standards are maintained and kept up to date
• Promote excellent patient care and client communication throughout the practice
• Manage stock control, equipment maintenance and support clinical audits
• Act as a key point of contact within the clinical team, supporting rota management and resolving team issues constructively
• Foster a positive, collaborative team environment focused on continuous learning

Requirements

• Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) with proven experience in a nursing leadership or supervisory capacity
• Confident, proactive approach with strong leadership and communication skills
• Passion for maintaining high clinical and welfare standards
• Ability to balance mentoring responsibilities with hands-on clinical work
• Familiarity with RCVS standards and hospital accreditation frameworks (essential for this role)

Benefits

• Salary: £30,000–£33,000 depending on experience (based on 4-day week)
• Work-life balance: 4-day working week with fair share of weekend work
• Leave: 6 weeks paid holiday including bank holidays
• Professional development: £600 CPD allowance per annum plus 3 days fully paid training (pro-rata to rota)
• Wellbeing support: Health Shield membership covering dental, sports massage, counselling and GP services
• Professional membership: RCVS membership paid, plus one additional membership subscription of your choice
• Additional benefits: VDS cover, colleague discount scheme, cycle-to-work scheme, company sick pay, one paid volunteer day, buy-and-sell holiday scheme, life insurance

About the Practice

Maes Glas Vets operates a central hospital in Bridgend with four additional branches across South Wales, delivering comprehensive small animal care. The practice holds RCVS Hospital Status and ISFM Gold Cat Friendly accreditation, and actively trains veterinary and nursing students. The team combines a wide range of clinical interests and encourages RVNs to develop their full scope of practice across varied medical and surgical caseloads. As part of the VetPartners family (winners of Employer of the Year at the Press BusinessIQ Awards), the practice is committed to creating a friendly, supportive and inclusive workplace where commercial targets are not imposed on staff, and every team member is encouraged to grow.