Canine Fostering & Rehoming Coordinator in Princes Risborough

This job has a vital role in delivering dogs in optimum health to support in the creation of thriving hearing dog partnerships. This is something no other charity can create and so our work in canine healthcare is crucial. This role is vital in delivering our mission of helping people live well with hearing loss. This role focuses on how we monitor and support the healthcare and wellbeing of dogs through their lifetime with the charity.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible for achieving balance between physical, emotional and cognitive health of dogs in fostering.
• Responsible for routine and preventative healthcare of dogs in fostering.
• Responsible for foster dog health management and weight control, supporting volunteers as required.
• Work reactively to ensure timely returns of dogs.
• Responsible for matching returning dogs to a suitable volunteer home to provide the dogs with the appropriate care to suit its medical, emotional and behavioural needs.
• Identify when a foster or rehoming dog’s behaviour or training needs require specialist support.
• Work with Dog Training and Partnership teams to make sure dogs moving from working role to pet are handed over smoothly, with clear information for fosterers and adopters.
• Responsible for pet dog profile building and advertising as per charity protocol.
• Responsible for matching dogs for long term foster and pet dog homes.
• Responsible for long term foster and pet dog rehoming placements.
• Carry out a professional standard of grooming and clipping.
• Work with the Partnership Support team and the Canine Healthcare Consultants to provide timely and appropriate communications for clients.
• Foster a positive, solution-oriented team culture through cross-departmental collaboration.
• Responsible for identifying recruitment needs, and onboarding urgent care dog fosterer volunteers.
• Carry out home visits and assess applicant suitability for foster and pet dog homes.
• Ensure the delivery of a successful education programme for fosterer volunteers.
• Contribute to foster care and rehoming process reviews, ensuring continued development and best practice procedures.
• Assist with veterinary visits (on-site and off-site), provide relevant information to the veterinary surgeon and distribute information effectively.
• Provide healthcare support for site events, this may include evening and/or weekend working.
• Contribute to a robust out of hours service, ensuring we meet client’s needs.
• Provide bereavement support as required.
• Identify department trends including returns from partnerships, rehoming, etc.
• Contribute to projects relating to dog returns from partnership and rehoming.
• Accurately record relevant information on Hearing Dogs internal database.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Always acts with professionalism, showing respect, reliability and accountability.
• Demonstrates excellent time management, a self-starter using time efficiently to achieve goals and responsibilities.
• Demonstrates a strong and clear communication style, adaptable and excellent approach according to audience and goals.
• Demonstratable ability to remain calm under pressure.
• Dog health qualification/experience is essential and dog behaviour qualification/experience is desirable.
• Demonstratable knowledge of a holistic view of canine behaviour and health, including up to date canine training practices.
• Ability to assess and profile the needs of our audience to provide with the right practical and emotional support, working with vulnerable clients or animals requires a compassionate approach.
• Strong deaf awareness communication skills.
• Track record of successful cross team collaboration.
• Experience of managing volunteers including the ability to adopt a flexible coaching style to promote education and engagement.
• Excellent administration skills, understands the need for, and delivers, accurate and timely record keeping.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 due to its duties involving the protection of children and/or adults at risk. Applicants are therefore required to disclose all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, warnings, and reprimands, as well as any relevant non-conviction information. The successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check in accordance with the Police Act 1997 (Part V).

Benefits

• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Death in Service Payment.
• Annual leave enhancements recognising long service.
• Day off for your birthday.
• Defined contribution group personal pension plan.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay.
• Eye care.
• Hearing tests.
• Learning and Development opportunities.
• Discounts on merchandise at Hearing Dog gift shops.
• Pet Dog Policy.