Job opportunities

Animal Keeper

We are recruiting for a hardworking and enthusiastic Animal Keeper to join our team at Merrist Wood College.

Join us in ensuring high care and welfare for the animals in our Zoo Section which span a wide variety of Taxa and include Marmosets, Meerkats, Rabbits, Roti Island Turtles, Indochinese Box Turtles, Hog Islands Boa, Dart Frogs, Von der Decken’s Hornbills, Bleeding Heart Doves (and many more!). And you get to be part of providing a high-quality learning environment for the next generation of future animal keepers!

The role will involve maintaining high standards of husbandry and welfare daily through progressive animal keeping, along with ensuring visitors and guests are provided with an informative and friendly experience. You will also lead practical learning sessions to develop learners' wider skillsets within industry and assist with the supervision of external work experience students undertaking practical exercises in the facility, ensuring the development of industry standard safety practice, animal related skills and attributes.

Our Animal centre is nestled in a beautiful 400-acre campus and comprises of a Rare Breed Survival Trust Accredited Farm, a small domestic mammal section, and a Zoo with exotic mammals, birds and ectotherms. We have lots of exciting changes happening in the Animal Centre and are looking for someone to bring innovative, industry experience to ensure our animals receive the highest quality of care and play including an active role in enrichment and training programmes. Merrist Wood has a national and international reputation amongst employers and industry specialists and a long history of providing unrivalled education in the land-based sectors.

This is a permanent, full-time position working 37 hours per week. The candidate will be expected to work 5 days out of 7 and this may include weekends and bank holidays in order to provide care for the animals.