Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon

The Vale Veterinary Group is a well-established, 16-vet, small animal practice based in beautiful Devon.

We have three standalone clinics in Tiverton, Cullompton and Honiton. It might be a cliche, but we are proudly independent and plan to remain so; two of our vets, Eva and Fran, have recently joined the partnership. We do our own out-of-hours work, which means we can offer the best service and continuity of care to our clients and their pets. Our independence and ability to offer exceptional service to clients means that we are growing and, hence, our need to recruit.

We want the pets and owners that come through our doors to be treated as we would treat our own animals – we feel there is a lot more job satisfaction when there is time and opportunity to build rapport and relationships.

Something that strikes anyone who walks through the door is the collaborative nature of our team; we discuss our cases, pool our ideas, and argue the pros and cons of treatments. Ultimately, we find it makes for a great environment, a growth mindset and better outcomes. Whatever your passion, developing them benefits us all, and we are keen to support this. Our vet team has a wealth of experience, with certificate holders in small animal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, and diagnostic imaging, and vets currently undertaking cardiology certificates.

We listen to our team, and everyone’s opinions are valued. To quote the directors, ‘We want people to enjoy working here’. People matter; this practice has a family feel to it, and we intend to keep it that way. We are committed to our team, and in turn, we hope to find vets who share our ethos and commitment to providing the best care for our clients and their pets.

We’ve worked hard to develop a rota that maximises everyone's work-life balance, meaning time to enjoy the benefits of living in the South West.

We are growing our team and are looking for a vet, ideally with some experience, who shares our values, passion and commitment. We have an interesting and varied caseload to support a surgical bias or if you want to take on a certificate. We will always encourage you to build your skills, follow your interests and share what you learn with the team. The practices have excellent equipment that we put to good use! We have digital and dental radiography, great new ultrasound machines with cardiac probes and software, and a wonderful new scope and processor with the equipment to perform endoscopy, bronchoscopy, rhinoscopy and cystoscopy.

Our full-time vets work a 4-day week, typically between 8.30 am and 6.30 pm, with multiple short consulting blocks which provide time for admin, investigative work and, most importantly, lunch. There are also operating and consulting shifts providing an interesting caseload with cases worked up and managed to a high level in-house.

We offer our own out-of-hours service as we feel we can provide great continuity of care this way. We’ve worked very hard to ensure the OOH rota is sustainable for our team, and with their input, we’ve designed a rota that means you never have to work a full weekend on-call and just 1:10 weeknights, the duty shift starting at 11 am, with time off following your duty shift. There is also an RVN on-call to look after any inpatients and assist you.

We are perfectly situated as a gateway to the South West and all its benefits: beautiful countryside with moors, coastal paths and beaches while still accessible to airports and the rest of the country. We are a sociable lot and enjoy catching up outside work, whether to the pub, rugby, or dog walk!

We offer:

• Salary of £40,000 - £65,000
• 5 weeks holiday, plus bank holidays, and holiday increases with length of service
• CPD encouraged, with certificates supported and funded
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Bupa private healthcare
• Visa sponsorship

If you want job satisfaction, career progression and a fantastic work-life balance, call us for an informal chat or apply now!