Call Handler – Emergency Services

About the Role

You’ll be joining Vets Now’s Contact Centre team in Dunfermline, answering emergency calls from pet owners and coordinating their care pathways. As the UK’s leading provider of emergency pet care, Vets Now operates from 60+ dedicated out-of-hours clinics and two 24/7 pet emergency hospitals, handling calls for over 1,700 partner practices nationwide. This is a fast-paced role where your professionalism and empathy directly impact outcomes for distressed pet owners and their animals.

Working part-time (average 16–25 hours per week), you’ll cover weekday evenings, Saturdays, Sundays, and bank holidays. Shifts typically run 3–8 hours, with typical times spanning 18:00–23:00 on weekday evenings and 12:00–01:00 on Saturdays. This role demands flexibility around weekend and bank holiday working as it’s essential to the operation.

Key Responsibilities

• Handle incoming emergency calls and manage them according to established call flow protocols to determine the nature and urgency of each case
• Offer preliminary consultation guidance, gathering and analysing caller information using judgment, training, and pre-determined algorithms to recommend the most appropriate course of action
• Explain Vets Now’s services and provide customers with essential information: clinic/hospital location, fees, estimated travel time, and arrival procedures
• Use the Helix practice management system to send SMS messages with clinic details and directions to customers
• Accurately and efficiently log all calls using telephony and PC systems, booking consultations, documenting cases, and alerting clinics and hospitals to incoming patients
• Handle all personal data in accordance with Data Protection Policy and relevant legislation, maintaining compliance with Information Security policies

Requirements

• Proven experience working in a customer service or client-facing environment, ideally within a contact centre
• Excellent customer service and communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly in speech and text
• Competency with MS Office packages and the ability to learn new systems quickly
• Strong ability to work under pressure while maintaining tact and diplomacy in challenging situations
• Adaptability and professionalism in a rapidly changing environment
• Problem-solving mindset and commitment to service excellence
• Good general language skills and quick information collation abilities

Benefits

• Competitive hourly pay: £12.60 per hour (standard rate), with enhanced night rate of £15.00 per hour for hours worked between 23:00 and 08:00
• 7 weeks pro rata annual leave
• Your birthday as a paid day off
• Health cash plan provided by Simply Health
• UK standard pension contributions: 5% employee / 3% employer
• Up to 50% discounted staff pet care
• Death in service benefit of two times annual salary
• Access to employee wellbeing programme membership
• Company-provided sick pay, maternity pay, paternity pay, and adoption pay schemes

About the Practice

Vets Now Emergency Limited is the UK’s leading provider of emergency and out-of-hours pet care. Operating from Penguin House in Dunfermline, the organisation runs 60+ dedicated out-of-hours clinics and two 24/7 pet emergency hospitals, providing emergency services to more than 1,700 partner veterinary practices across the UK. The company is part of Vets Now Group Ltd and Mars Veterinary Health, combining trusted emergency expertise with significant resources to deliver consistent, high-quality care.

Vets Now welcomes applications from candidates of all backgrounds and is a Disability Confident Employer, committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. The organisation prides itself on flexibility, adapting working arrangements to support staff wellbeing and work-life balance.