About the job

Job summary

The kennel assistants’ routine duties will include but are not limited to ensuring military working dog welfare is maintained in line with service policy and the daily feeding, grooming and cleaning of the dogs. The role will also require various areas within the military working dog section to be cleaned and maintained daily to ensure the high hygiene standards are met. The kennel assistant may be called upon to complete other tasks commensurate to the role.  

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

The kennel assistant is responsible to the military working dog senior non-commissioned officer and the Officer Commanding the Royal Air Force Police Flight for the following:

• Daily physical checks of all of the RAF Police military working dogs ensuring they are in good health and free from injury.
• Providing daily exercise, play and grooming of the military working dogs in their charge.
• Administration of medication or First Aid that may be necessary and as authorised by a veterinary surgeon.
• Manage continual disease prevention measures by routine worming, flea, and tick treatments and completing the relevant documents in each military working dog record of service.
• The daily care of any sick or injured military working dogs, maintaining correct hygiene / isolation procedures to prevent communicable disease and maintain all treatments in each military working dog records of service.
• The daily cleaning of all kennels and surrounds, including isolation.
• Ensure water is refreshed daily.
• A thorough daily clean of all feed bowls, feed preparation room and medical dispensary.
• The daily preparation of feeds in accordance with all dietary requirements of the dogs.
• Conducting regular inspections of the kennel compound for damage or unserviceable equipment and report any issues to the Sergeant or Corporal in charge.
• Submit work service requests as necessary for the kennel compound infrastructure.
• Assist in the conveyance of military working dogs within and outside the station boundaries and to the local veterinary surgery.
• Inform the Corporal in charge when the ordering of feeds, medication or associated equipment is required.
• Ensure that the feed and medication information board is maintained with up-to-date information including kennel name plates.
• Be conversant with the policy of exercising and free running of military working dogs to prevent unauthorised breeding.

The role is dynamic and will require a person with a flexible attitude and enquiring mind alongside the ability to problem solve. 

Person specification

It is essential that the post holder has good communication skills, an excellent team ethos, good administrative skills, accuracy in the delivery of routine tasks coupled with the ability to adhere to animal welfare policies.  

It is highly desirable that the post holder has prior experience of working with or handling military working dogs.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £22,011, Ministry of Defence contributes £5,942 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Email POC below, behaviours will be reviewed and a interview will be conducted.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

At Interview candidates will be assessed against the following Behaviours-

Communicating and Influencing
Delivering at Pace
Making Effective Decisions
Working Together
Managing a Quality Service

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.