About the job

Job summary

Kennel Assistants role, working with members of the Royal Air Force to ensure kennel hygiene and animal welfare for 25-30 Military Working Dogs at a busy operational Royal Air Force Police Military Working Dog Section at RAF Brize Norton.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Join the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civil Service and play a vital role in supporting our dedicated RAF Police Military Working Dogs. Responsible for the health and wellbeing of between 25-35 MWD at the main airhead for the RAF. This integral role assists with the enablement and operational effectiveness enabling the RAF Police Military Working Dogs to conduct vital security and policing operations within RAF Brize Norton and the MOD.

The Royal Air Force Police Military Working Dog Section, RAF Brize Norton is a specialised unit within the Royal Air Force responsible for training and deploying military working dogs and their handlers. Crucial for security and operational tasks at RAF Brize Norton and throughout the RAF. Responsible for the maintenance of base security through intruder detection patrols, criminal activity detection and counter terrorism activity, they are also utilised throughout the RAF and MOD. Daily operations include routine patrols, security sweeps, continuous training, and ensuring the dogs’ health and welfare. RAF dog sections significantly enhance the RAF’s ability to protect its personnel, equipment, and facilities.

 The successful candidate will be part of a team of 2 Kennel Assistants who will work as part of a larger team of 20 RAF Police Military Working Dog Handlers. They will be responsible for kennel hygiene of up to 49 kennels and animal welfare of between 25 and 35 military working dogs. This involves exercising all dogs throughout the working day, daily cleaning all occupied kennels, feeding and administering veterinary medication and care. This will include several different breeds and sizes of dog ranging from large GSD to small English Springer Spaniels, requiring someone with a robust, diligent work ethic.

Person specification

• Understand and conform to the 5 Welfare Needs for dogs.

1. A suitable environment to live and work in.
2. A suitable diet.
3. The ability to exhibit normal species-typical behaviour patterns.
4. To be housed with, or apart from, other animals, as appropriate.
5. Protection from pain, injury, suffering and disease. Conform to and have a working knowledge of the H&S at Work Act 1974.

• Conform to and have a working knowledge of the Animal Welfare Act 2006
• Carry out a physical check that all dogs are in their compounds and are in apparent good health and are free from obvious injury.
• Exercise Military Working Dogs in line with extant MOD policy, if practical during the working hours.
• Rotate MWD’s out of the kennel environment into the exercise areas and allow enrichment and group exercise where MWD’s run together.
• Prepare feeds and special diets, conduct feeding routine and administer veterinary medication at the required times.
• Conduct kennel hygiene routine including removal of dog and food waste, and bi weekly disinfection and cleaning of kennel surrounds and exercise areas.
• Maintain a constant line of communication with MWD Section kennel management with regards to dog health and behavioural issues.
• Assist MWD handlers with veterinary consultation attendance and localised veterinary care following diagnosis when required.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £21,610, Ministry of Defence contributes £5,834 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.

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours/Experience:

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

• Communicating & Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

At interview, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours:

• Communicating & Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

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.