Animal Management Assistant (Zero Hours)

Fairfield Trust Job Description and Person Specification

Job title: Animal Management Assistant (Zero Hours)
Work base: Fairfield College, Dilton Marsh
Hours of work: Zero Hours Contract to provide weekend cover – this is expected to be around 3 hours per day. The post holder must have flexibility to cover additional hours during college holiday periods, including bank holidays when required.	Salary: Minimum wage dependent on age. Please note, applicants must be over 16 years of age.

Safeguarding

Fairfield Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and all staff are expected to share this commitment. You will be expected to report any concerns relating to the safeguarding of young people in accordance with agreed procedures. If your own conduct in relation to the safeguarding of young people gives cause for concern, Fairfield Trust agreed child and adult protection procedures will be followed.

All posts involving direct contact with young people, children and vulnerable groups are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. However, amendments to the Exception Order 1975 (2013 & 2020) provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’. These are not subject to disclosure to employers and cannot be taken into account. Guidance and criteria on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found on the Ministry of Justice website

For all roles that involve regulated activity, a DBS check will be required before appointment is confirmed

Job context and purpose

Fairfield Trust is a local, independent charity. Its core areas of operation include an independent specialist college for young people with additional needs, alongside residential care services. In addition, Fairfield provides practical learning and work placement opportunities through its commercial ventures: The Weavers, a community pub in Dilton Marsh, and the Fairfield Animal Centre, a visitor attraction and café located within Southwick Country Park, Trowbridge.

The Trust’s mission is: To enable young people to live and work without barriers

Our 5 agreed values are:

Teamwork: We hold ourselves and each other to account, and are better when we work together

Compassion: We act with trust, honesty and kindness in everything we do

Inclusion: We treat each other fairly and with respect

Innovation: We encourage thoughtful, creative and aspirational ideas

Pride: We encourage each other to be proud of who we are and what we do

This role involves general animal care duties, such as feeding and mucking out. You will be selfmotivated and be able to work independently.

You will be required to lone work during college closure times to ensure continuity of animal care.

Main duties

Feeding animals and ensuring they have fresh water

Mucking out

Monitoring the welfare of the animals and reporting any health concerns

Turning animals out and then restabling where needed

Logging all completed tasks on an electronic tracking system

Any other duties which may reasonably be requested

Supervision/management of people

N/A

Contacts and relationships

The post holder will:

Report to the Principal

What we offer - Employee Benefits

There is a pension scheme available for eligible staff

Free entry to Fairfield Animal Centre for 2 adults & 2 children

10% discount at The Weavers pub

Discounted staff lunches in the Student Canteen (College Site)

Corporate Eye Care Scheme

Training & Development opportunities

Information technology

Basic proficiency in using online tracking systems and web-based software.

Financial responsibility

Always ensure effective use of resources and value for money is secured for the Trust.

Health and Safety

To be responsible for your own health and safety and that of anyone else who may be affected by your acts or omissions.

Equality and Diversity

You are required neither to discriminate against nor harass or victimise colleagues, suppliers or third parties at work. You are further required to report incidents of discrimination at work, either to the Principal or anonymously to the Chair of Trustees.

Records management

You are responsible for ensuring that all information sources for which you have responsibility are maintained in-line with guidance. This applies to all electronic and hard copy information. You should also ensure that access permissions are maintained to limit access to sensitive information. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive data, whether held electronically or in hard copy, and promptly reporting all breaches, or potential breaches of security to the Head of HR.

Other duties

You may be required to perform duties other than those given in the job description for the job. The particular duties and responsibilities attached to jobs may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the duties or the level of responsibility entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and would not in themselves justify the re-evaluation of a job. In cases, however, where a permanent and substantial change in the duties and responsibilities of a job occurs, consistent with a higher level of responsibility, then the job would be eligible for re-evaluation.

Authority to work in the UK

You must have the legal authority to work in the UK. You must have the relevant approval to work in the UK from the UK Border Agency or relevant documentation. Copies of all documents provided by you as proof of identity are retained for our records; by providing these proofs the Trust will treat this as your consent for this to happen.

Person Specification

The person specification details the essential and desirable personal criteria which the job holder should possess in order to be able to successfully perform the job.

	Essential	Desirable
AlignmentWith our values	Commitment to demonstrating the organisationsvalues and behaviours in their work:Teamwork: We hold ourselves and each other toaccount, and are better when we worktogetherCompassion: We act with trust, honesty andkindness in everything we doInclusion: We treat each other fairly and withrespectInnovation: We encourage thoughtful, creativeand aspirational ideasPride: We encourage each other to be proud ofwho we are and what we do
Qualifications orequivalent level ofskill or knowledge	• Demonstrate empathy & respect for animals	Qualifications inanimalmanagement
Experience of	• Caring for animals• Using online recording/tracking systems or bewilling to undertake training
Management ofpeople	·N/A
Skills	• To be self-motivated and enthusiastic• Be proactive and decisive
Personal qualitiesand motivation	• To be honest, trustworthy and reliableHighly motivated and able to work witha variety of colleagues from differentprofessions and backgroundsWillingness to work in a physical roleWillingness to undertake further training
Literacy, numeracy	Proficient and literate in basic English andMaths
Safeguarding	Displays a commitment to the protection andsafeguarding of young peopleTakes action and raises concernsForms appropriate relationships andmaintains professional boundaries at work Works within organisational policies,procedures and guidance at a times	• Up-to-dateknowledge ofrelevant legislationand guidance inrelation to workingwith and thesafeguarding ofchildren andvulnerable adults

Suitability of shortlisted candidates will be assessed at interview using a combination of valuesbased recruitment techniques; a formal interview and/or a supervised observation or practical session where applicable.

Should you require any reasonable adjustments to the application process, please speak to a member of the HR team

The closing date for this post is Tuesday 2nd June 2026 at 09.00am

Interviews will take place on Wednesday 10th June 2026

Please note that we will not accept CVs. We would welcome applications made via the Trust Application Form, available on our website; https://fairfieldtrust.org.uk/jobs/

Whilst we completely understand that AI tools can support hugely in preparing job applications, we really value authenticity. We would encourage you to ensure your application genuinely reflects your own experiences, skills, values and motivations

We reserve the right to close the advert early if sufficient applications have been received.

This job description and person specification updated April 2026