Practitioner (Banbury)

About your role

As a Practitioner with Dogs for Good, you’ll play a hands-on role in bringing people and dogs together to create life-changing partnerships. Every day looks a little different. One moment you might be planning and delivering Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) sessions, helping someone build confidence or independence. The next, you could be supporting a person to strengthen the bond with their own pet dog or contributing to the journey of an assistance dog from training through to placement. You’ll be working closely with individuals, families, and professionals across health and social care, using your skills to design and deliver meaningful, person-centred programmes. Alongside this, you’ll help educate dogs, develop their skills, and ensure their wellbeing is always front and centre. It’s a role that blends practical dog training, people-focused support, and partnership working — all underpinned by careful planning, thoughtful observation, and a strong belief in the power of human–dog connection. This is an 18-month fixed term contract. The range shown is the starting salary, and there is the opportunity to increase this with progression.

About you

You’re someone who brings both empathy and expertise to your work. You’re confident handling and training dogs using positive, non-coercive methods, and just as confident working alongside people with a wide range of needs. You know how to read both dogs and humans, adapting your approach to get the best from each interaction. You’re organised and self-motivated, able to manage your own workload while staying connected to a wider team. You’re also a great communicator — comfortable building relationships with clients, families, professionals, and volunteers alike. Most importantly, you share our belief in what’s possible when people and dogs connect — and you’re motivated to help make that happen in a thoughtful, inclusive, and creative way. Ideally, you’ll live in the Banbury area, but we will consider applications from candidates within a reasonable commuting distance (60 mins).

Your responsibilities

• Prepare and deliver Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) sessions, including client profiling, goal setting, risk assessments, session planning, and evaluation.
• Deliver Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) for groups, ensuring sessions are safe, engaging, and well-structured.
• Contribute to the ongoing education and training of community dogs, developing their skills for specific exercises and roles.
• Support the Assistance Dog service, including identifying suitable dogs, matching with clients, supporting placements, and providing ongoing aftercare.
• Build strong relationships with partner organisations and healthcare professionals to promote and deliver our services.
• Work closely with volunteers to deliver community-based activities.
• Maintain accurate, timely records that demonstrate the impact of our work.
• Keep up to date with developments in AAI and relevant client needs, using this to inform your practice.
• Share learning and best practice with colleagues across Dogs for Good.
• Support evaluation and research activities, ensuring data is collected and handled in line with our policies.
• Contribute to talks, demonstrations, and events to support marketing, PR, and fundraising.
• Take part in regular one-to-one meetings and appraisals to support your own development.
• Actively safeguard clients, including vulnerable children and adults, in line with our policies.
• Carry out any other reasonable tasks agreed with your manager.

Your skills, experience and approach

It’s essential that you:

• Have strong skills and experience in positive, non-coercive dog training and handling, including understanding behaviour, temperament, and training needs.
• Have experience working with people with a range of disabilities or additional needs.
• Understand Animal Assisted Intervention and how it can be applied effectively.
• Have a good knowledge of health and safety in relation to both dog handling and client support.
• Communicate clearly and confidently with a wide range of people.
• Are able to listen to and use feedback to continuously improve your work.
• Can design creative, engaging programmes that meet both client goals and dog welfare needs.
• Are a strong team player who can also work independently.
• Have good organisational skills and can prioritise your workload effectively.
• Are confident using IT systems to manage records and support service delivery.

It’s beneficial if you:

• Have experience working therapeutically with people with disabilities.
• Have knowledge of relevant dog-related law.
• Understand health and social care systems and local community networks.
• Have experience supporting people with communication differences such as autism or dementia.
• Are familiar with systems such as Microsoft Dynamics.

Other requirements

You must have the right to live and work in the UK. You must be comfortable working around dogs. Driving the charity’s vehicles is part of the role so a full driving licence is preferred, but we’ll work with you to find alternative solutions if reasonable adjustments are required. As you’ll be working with vulnerable people, you’ll be required to undergo a DBS check. This will be renewed every 4 years. You’ll be expected to have a good understanding of safeguarding issues and how they should be applied to the work of the charity and its partner organisations. Full training on this will be provided during your induction. Sometimes you may need to work flexibly so we can deliver our services effectively, and this may occasionally involve working evenings and/or at weekends. You’ll be given time off in lieu (TOIL) for this. You may occasionally need to stay away from home for short periods. You may have the opportunity to accommodate a community dog in your home. You’ll be expected to work in line with Dogs for Good’s AAI standards and those of AASI.

Closing date

The closing date/time for applications is Wednesday 3 June 2026 at 12pm.

Interviews

1st stage interviews will be held on Teams on Friday 12 June 2026. 2nd stage interviews will be held at our Banbury HQ on Friday 19 June 2026.