Head Veterinary Nurse

About the Role

This Head Veterinary Nurse position is based at Parkvets Hospital in Sidcup and sits within Vets Now’s emergency care service. The role combines clinical shifts with protected time for management duties and meetings, so you can stay close to patient care while leading the wider team.

You’ll be guiding a large group of veterinary nurses and clinical support staff in an already established clinic, with responsibility for day-to-day operations, rota and gaps management, host practice communication, equipment quality control, and team welfare support including appraisals, performance and return-to-work tasks.

The rota is full time at 40 hours per week. It includes weeknight cover, 1:2 weekends and bank holidays, with shifts running Monday to Friday from 18:00 to 09:00, Saturday and Sunday from 19:00 to 09:00, plus Saturday day from 12:00 to 19:30 and Sunday day from 08:30 to 19:30.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead a large team of veterinary nurses and clinical support staff within the Sidcup clinic.
• Manage day-to-day operational and financial performance of the clinic.
• Oversee rota planning and cover gaps.
• Maintain regular communication with host practices.
• Take responsibility for quality control of clinical equipment.
• Support team welfare, mentoring, appraisals, performance management and return-to-work tasks.
• Work clinical shifts while maintaining patient care standards and supporting team development.

Requirements

• At least two years’ experience in an out-of-hours and critical care environment.
• Proven experience of managing others, ideally in a veterinary setting.
• Demonstrable experience of managing performance.
• Motivation to maintain high clinic standards.
• A genuine focus on caring for clients and their pets.

Benefits

• Salary up to £46,320 DOE.
• Private medical insurance.
• Enhanced sick pay and maternity pay.
• 7 weeks annual leave.
• Your birthday as a paid day off.
• £1,125 CPD allowance plus 20 paid hours.
• RCVS fees paid.
• ECC certificate support and access to professional qualifications.
• Reward Gateway discounts and cashback with hundreds of retailers.
• UK Standard Pension contributions at 5% employee and 3% employer.
• Up to 50% discounted staff pet care.
• Death in service cover at two times annual salary.
• Paid volunteering.

About the Practice

Vets Now is the UK’s leading provider of emergency pet care, serving more than 1,700 veterinary practices through 60 plus dedicated out-of-hours clinics and two 24/7 pet emergency hospitals. The Sidcup clinic is based in a fully equipped pet hospital and has been recognised by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as an outstanding provider of emergency veterinary care.

The wider culture is described as close-knit and collaborative, with teams supporting each other under pressure and sharing responsibility in ECC work.