Rehoming Centre Groom (1998)

The Donkey Sanctuary is an international animal welfare organisation, offering care and protection to donkeys worldwide. Our vision is a world where every donkey has a good quality of life, and our mission is to improve the lives of donkeys every day. We will achieve this by transforming the lives of donkeys in need worldwide by fostering greater understanding, collaboration and support, and by promoting lasting, mutually life-enhancing relationships.

Due to operational demand, we have an exciting opportunity to repurpose our Ivybridge site to become a short-term Rehoming Centre which will provide care and rehabilitation donkeys who will be suitable for the rehoming scheme. We anticipate the Ivybridge centre will be used until the end of August 2026. By moving donkeys internally within the organisation who have the potential to be trained for the rehoming scheme we are enabling individual donkeys the prospect of moving into a loving Guardian home where they can benefit from one-to-one care and attention.

To successfully operate the Centre we are looking to recruit 3 Rehoming Centre Grooms.

About you:

• Experience of working with donkeys or within the animal care industry.
• Self-motivated – able to work well within a team and use own initiative.
• Experience of using farm machinery would be beneficial.

About the role:

Your principal duties and responsibilities will include –

• Providing daily care to our resident donkeys, including checking, feeding, medicating, grooming, weighing and worming.
• Working alongside internal & external equine professionals such as Vets, Dentists and Farriers, as required.
• Helping to rehabilitate and train donkeys through the guidance of the supervisor and behaviour team by providing a regular training plan to suit the individual needs of donkeys for rehoming.
• Supporting with welfare support when required, collaborating with the wider Equine Operations department.
• Assisting with all aspects of offsite visits, including the loading, unloading and supervision of the donkeys during transport.
• Providing additional donkey care by operating machinery, and/or manually, mucking out, paddock maintenance, feeding and bedding up of barns and distributing straw and haylage.

What we offer in return:

Based at The Donkey Sanctuary Rehoming Centre, Ivybridge, Devon – these are full-time, fixed term contracts starting as soon as possible until 29 August 2026, working 37.5 hours per week, 5 days over 7. The working pattern will be agreed between the line manager and post-holder, but flexibility will be required for weekend working as part of the team rota and for extra hours as required when donkeys are poorly.

Please note: We will be happy to consider applications from those wishing to apply on a part-time basis (minimum 22.5 hours per week).

Life assurance.

31 days holiday (including Bank holidays), rising to 34 will each full year of service.

Wellbeing team.

Recorded Pilates and Yoga classes.

Long service awards.

Healthshield plan –

• Reimbursement of some medical expenses up to the specified limits per membership.
• Offers, discounts and cashback on shopping, travel and entertainment from participating outlets.
• Access to a 24/7 GP and counselling service.

Free parking.

Subsidised restaurant and shop at The Donkey Sanctuary, Sidmouth.

Closing date for completed applications: Friday 25 July 2025.

Interviews will be held at The Donkey Sanctuary, Sidmouth on Friday 1 August 2025.

The Donkey Sanctuary is a Disability Confident Employer.

The Donkey Sanctuary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable people (children and adults), and expects all staff and volunteers to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to safer recruitment processes, including an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where required for the post.

The Donkey Sanctuary also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and, for relevant posts, may request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.

Please note: The Guaranteed interview scheme is only applicable to candidates who consider themselves to have a disability applying for roles based within the United Kingdom.

NOTE TO APPLICANTS: We look forward to receiving your application, but we do ask you to complete this in your own words, and not to employ an Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tool or assistant. Applications that are considered not to be an applicant’s own work may not be shortlisted for interview.

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