Veterinary Surgeon – Essex

£50,000–£64,000 including allowances | Full-Time or Part-Time | Flexible Working Options

Looking for a Veterinary Surgeon role where you can genuinely make a difference every day, while working as part of a supportive and experienced team?

GVC are delighted to be assisting a well-established veterinary charity with the recruitment of a Veterinary Surgeon to join their modern, purpose-built hospital in Basildon, Essex.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a vet who enjoys a varied first opinion caseload, is confident with routine consultations and surgery, and wants to develop their clinical skills within a collaborative and supportive environment.

You'll join an established veterinary team with a wide range of experience, supported by a strong nursing and reception team. The practice sees a varied mix of medical and surgical cases and offers a genuinely rewarding environment where your work makes a positive difference to pets and their owners.

What's on Offer?

• £50,000–£64,000 salary including allowances, depending on experience
• Full-time: 37.5 hours per week
• Part-time options available – ideally 4 days per week, with flexibility around which days are worked
• Modern, purpose-built veterinary hospital
• Varied first opinion medical and surgical caseload
• Supportive and experienced clinical team
• Excellent diagnostic and surgical facilities
• Opportunities to further develop your surgical skills
• Flexible shift patterns
• Strong nursing and support team
• Excellent benefits package
• A rewarding opportunity to work for a well-established veterinary charity

The Veterinary Team

You'll be joining a supportive veterinary team of 5 practice-based vets, alongside approximately 0.75 FTE of remote veterinary support across the week.

The team offers a great mix of clinical interests and experience, including:

• Soft tissue surgery
• Orthopaedics, with ongoing development and training within the team
• Emergency and critical care, with strong emergency experience
• General practice and first opinion medicine
• Developing surgical skills and clinical confidence

You'll be surrounded by colleagues who are keen to share knowledge, support one another and continue developing their clinical skills.

Surgical Development

If you're confident performing basic neutering procedures and are looking to progress your surgical skills, the practice can support your further development.

You will need to be comfortable with:

• Routine consultations
• 15-minute appointment slots
• Routine surgical procedures
• Basic neutering procedures

There is scope to build your confidence and experience in surgery as you develop within the team.

Please note: the practice does not currently support certificate training.

Working Hours & Rota

A range of shift patterns are available, including:

• 8:00am – 4:30pm
• 8:30am – 5:00pm
• 9:00am – 5:30pm
• 9:30am – 6:00pm
• 10:30am – 7:00pm

The current weekend rota is expected to be 1:4 in the short term due to team changes, so some flexibility will be required.

Weekend shifts are 9:00am – 6:00pm, with 18 hours of stand-down time provided around the weekend worked. This is typically arranged as a Thursday off before the weekend, followed by a half day on Thursday and Friday off after the weekend.

The team generally covers one bank holiday per year, although additional bank holiday cover may occasionally be required during periods of short staffing.

Excellent Facilities

The hospital is modern, well-equipped and designed to support high standards of patient care, with facilities including:

• Separate dog and cat wards
• Digital radiography
• Ultrasound
• Endoscopy
• Piped anaesthetic gases
• Comprehensive orthopaedic equipment
• Modern surgical facilities
• Excellent diagnostic equipment

Strong Nursing & Support Team

You'll also benefit from a well-established nursing and support structure, including:

Nursing Team

• 1 x Head Nurse
• 2 x VNTLs
• 7 x Veterinary Nurses, many working part-time
• 5 x VCAs, most working part-time

Reception Team

• 1 x Client Service Manager
• 1 x remote team member
• 6 x on-site reception team members

The wider support team provides a strong foundation for the vets, allowing you to focus on delivering excellent clinical care.

About You

We're looking for a Veterinary Surgeon who:

• Holds MRCVS registration or is eligible to register
• Has experience working in a first opinion small animal practice
• Is confident with routine consultations and basic surgery
• Can comfortably manage 15-minute consultations
• Is confident performing routine procedures, including neutering
• Has a compassionate and patient-focused approach
• Communicates well with clients and colleagues
• Enjoys working as part of a collaborative team
• Is keen to continue developing their clinical and surgical skills
• Is adaptable and comfortable working as part of a flexible rota

Benefits

• £1,000 annual CPD allowance
• 5 days paid CPD leave
• Full RCVS fees paid
• Extensive internal CPD and funded learning opportunities
• Discounts for BSAVA Congress and London Vet Show
• 25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays
• Option to buy or sell up to 5 additional days' holiday
• Three additional paid wellbeing, volunteering and celebration days each year
• Generous pension contribution of up to 10%
• AXA Health Employee Assistance Programme
• Private medical cover
• Life assurance at 4x annual salary
• Enhanced family leave
• Retail, travel and lifestyle discounts

Interested?

If you're looking for a role where you can enjoy a varied first opinion caseload, work alongside an experienced and supportive team, and have the opportunity to develop your surgical skills, this could be an excellent next step.

Full-time and part-time applications are welcome, with part-time hours ideally across 4 days per week and flexibility around the days worked.

Apply today or contact GVC for a confidential conversation about the opportunity.

Stephanie Hellier
📧 Stephanie.Hellier@gvcvets.com
📞 01392 793069