Recruitment Pack Cattery Team Leader (Part-time) Battersea Dogs & Cats Home

Recruitment Pack Cattery Team Leader (Part-time) Battersea Dogs & Cats Home

Dear Applicant, Thank you for requesting further information for our Cattery Team Leader (Part-time) vacancy (Ref BOW323). Please find enclosed the below information which you should read thoroughly before starting your application: A full job description & person specification Additional information Closing date: 9 th February 2017 Interview date: 16 th February 2017 If you do not hear from us within 2 weeks of the closing date, please assume you were unsuccessful on this occasion. Please note that we reserve the right to close this post early, should we receive a high volume of applications. Thank you for your interest in working for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. The HR Team jobs@battersea.org.uk

Job Description Job Title: Cattery Team Leader (Part-time) Hours: 24 per week over 3 days, including alternate weekends and Bank Holidays Responsible To: Rehoming & Welfare Managers Works With/Key Contacts: Staff across the Home, especially our Fostering, Volunteer, Clinic, Reception, Communications and HR teams, members of the public and external organisations. Location: Old Windsor Duration: Fixed Term 12 months Responsible For: Animal Welfare Assistants, Re-homers and/ or Reception staff Salary: 15,600 per annum (based on a full-time equivalent of 26,00 per annum) Context and Background Established in 1860, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home aims to never turn away a dog or cat in need of help, caring for them until their owners or loving new homes can be found, no matter how long it takes. We currently operate from three centres in Battersea London, Old Windsor in Berkshire and Brands Hatch in Kent. We are champions for, and supporters of, vulnerable dogs and cats, determined to create lasting changes for animals in our society. Every year, we care for over 8,000 dogs and cats. As the UK s stray cat population continues to grow and we see an increase in the number of owners who are no longer able to look after their cats, the demand for our work increases. We are a fast-paced, growing operation, and over the past two years our cat rehoming has exceeded our dog rehoming for the first time in our history. This role sits within the Operations Directorate, which is responsible for delivering the highest standards of animal welfare to every dog and cat in its journey through the Home. We are committed to staying up to date with advancements in academia (feline behaviour and welfare), and incorporating this knowledge into our working practices. Main purpose of the role To provide front line leadership and supervision to a team of Cattery staff, ensuring high quality delivery of customer service and animal care and welfare standards, and adhering to Battersea standards. Overall Objectives To lead the Cattery team, managing, motivating and developing staff to achieve their full potential. To maintain exceptional standards in husbandry and welfare To maintain exceptional levels of service delivery to our customers To effectively manage our population of cats enabling us to help as many cats as possible within our limited capacity.

Responsibilities Lead and manage the cattery team, including recruitment, learning and development, engagement and performance management of all direct reports, and ensuring that they have sufficient training, support and resource to carry out their roles effectively. To undertake day-to-day operational duties this includes holding regular team meetings and ensuring effective communication, organising rotas and staff cover, ordering equipment and consumables in line with the Home s procurement policy and completing incident reports where applicable. Oversee the efficient movement of cats on their journey through the Home, including capacity management, ensuring each cat is with us for the shortest amount of time possible, and identifying and addressing any impediment to this. Oversee the cat rehoming process and maintain first class service delivery to our customers. This includes maintaining a good knowledge of our current population of cats and their profiles, dealing with any escalated issues promptly and efficiently, and organising the promotion of harder to rehome cats. Ensure that exceptional standards in animal welfare, husbandry and hygiene are met and maintained within the Home, in accordance with relevant legislation and the Home s guidelines, delivering a safe, healthy and lowstress environment for our cats. Approx. % of time 25% 10% 10% 10% 15% This includes monitoring adherence to hygiene and infection-control procedures, and ensuring that all animal details, needs and observations are monitored and recorded clearly and consistently on our animal management database (AIM). Ensuring that organisational KPIs are met. Lead on the management of our most vulnerable cats, identifying alternative care options and potential outlet opportunities and, at times, making the decision to euthanise a cat when all other reasonable options have been exhausted (i.e. due to serious welfare, behaviour and/or medical issues) To deal promptly and professionally with all complaints and escalated matters within the remit of the team, ensuring positive outcomes for staff, volunteers, customers and the Home. Work proactively with colleagues to develop and implement improvements to our service delivery and operating procedures, in line with best practice and trends in customer service and animal welfare, ensuring Battersea is a centre of excellence. To record and measure the team s performance against departmental key performance indicators, identifying any variances and agreeing and implementing corrective action where applicable. Maintain mutually beneficial relationships with other organisations so that by working together we can increase our impact and help more cats in need of rehoming. 10% 5% 5% 5% 5% Provide support to other departments in the Home, such as facilitating cat/kitten introductions with various stakeholders, VIP tours, organising events, representing Battersea in the media, organising staff/cats for photo shoots etc.

The above job description is intended to be an outline of the duties and responsibilities for this role. This is not an exhaustive list, and it is likely to change over time. You may be expected to undertake other duties that are commensurate with this role and grade. Decision Making Be a part of a team to make the decision to euthanise a cat when all other reasonable options have been exhausted, due to serious welfare, behaviour or medical issues. Making decisions regarding the first-line management of direct reports Where/when to use resources within the Cattery and the decision to replace or procure new items (equipment and consumables) in line with the Home s procurement policy Accountability Management of the performance of direct reports (in line with the Home s policies and procedures) and the smooth day-to-day running of our cattery operation For the welfare of the cats in our care, and implementing appropriate care plans to meet each cat s needs. Person Specification Essential qualifications, experience and skills Proven hands-on experience of successfully motivating, leading and developing a high performance team, including setting clearly defined objectives and managing performance Excellent customer service skills, with demonstrable experience of working in a challenging customerfacing operation and delivering continuous improvement in the customer s experience A good understanding of the issues facing feline welfare, and the challenges of working in a rehoming organisation Practical experience of working with cats, specifically with experience of feline behaviour, handling and assessment Some experience of recording and measuring key performance indicators and running reports Proven experience of positively embracing and adapting to change by identifying, leading and managing change in line with organisational objectives Proven experience of a flexible approach to managing and prioritising a high workload and multiple complex issues and tasks in a changing environment with tight deadlines Proven interpersonal and consultative skills, including the ability to communicate, present, negotiate, influence and build credibility with colleagues and external parties Financially aware and numerate Ability and motivation to deliver high quality work with minimum supervision Proven experience of working constructively and collaboratively with colleagues from different teams Experience of keeping up to date with and applying good practice in your role Experience of communicating clearly, with the ability to adapt your communication style for different groups and present to large audiences Excellent written and spoken English IT literate with good experience of MS Office and using a database Proven administrative experience and excellent attention to detail Commitment to and understanding of the vision, mission and values of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home Ability to work weekends as required by the role

Desirable qualifications, experience and skills Experience of working within the animal welfare sector Knowledge of cat behaviour and assessment, as evidenced by further study in a formal relevant qualification Knowledge of cat rehoming Position in the team

General information The Home is an equal opportunities employer and all employees are actively encouraged to contribute to the promotion of diversity. All employees are required to act in accordance with their responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Act. Data protection As part of your duties, you will be required to obtain, process and use information held on a computer or word processor. You may not use or disclose data for any other purpose than that for which it was recorded. You must only disclose data to authorised persons or organisations as instructed. Working at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home Please note that all offers of employment require: References deemed satisfactory to the Home Medical clearance via our occupational health team Proof of eligibility to work in the UK All new employees to the Home will be subject to a probationary period. We are unable to allow staff to bring their own dogs with them to work. The Home offers our employees a wide range of benefits to reward them for the value that they bring to the Home. Please click here for more information. We look forward to receiving your application!