Senior Vet - £55,000-£70,000 South Wales Independent Hospital

Vets Ltd; Bridgend; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A veterinary practice in South Wales is seeking an experienced Senior Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon. In this role, you'll play a senior clinical presence, mentoring junior vets, and providing high-quality medical and surgical care. You'll work a 4-day week with reasonable on-call commitments and receive numerous benefits including a competitive salary and professional development support. If you are ambitious and enjoy a supportive team environment, this position is a great fit.

Benefits

33 days holiday

CPD allowance of £1500

RCVS, VDS and one professional membership paid

50% staff discount

Qualifications

• Confident in emergency medicine and surgery.
• Comfortable acting as a senior decision-maker.
• Passionate about supporting and developing less experienced colleagues.
• VetGDP Adviser training completed or nearing completion.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Senior Vets and Directors for mentorship and leadership.
• Deliver high-quality general practice medicine and surgery.
• Support colleagues while maintaining emergency skills.

Skills

Emergency medicine and surgery

Decision-making

Mentorship

Leadership

Education

Veterinary degree

Job description

Independent RCVS-accredited hospital & ESC. Bridgend, South Wales

Shepherds The Vets is seeking an experienced, confident veterinary surgeon to join us in a Senior Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon position.

Salary (dependent on experience)

• £55,000 - £70,000 FTE

Higher salaries considered for Advanced Practitioners.

The Role

This role is ideally suited to a vet who enjoys being a senior clinical presence within a hospital setting. You’ll work closely with our Senior Vets and two Directors, contributing to mentorship, leadership and case support for recent graduates, alongside delivering high-quality general practice medicine and surgery.

We’re looking for someone:

• Confident in emergency medicine and surgery
• Comfortable acting as a senior decision-maker
• Passionate about supporting and developing less experienced colleagues
• VetGDP Adviser training completed or nearing completion

For the right individual, this position also offers the long-term scope to be supported in buying in to the business. We welcome applicants who are motivated and aspirational about making Shepherds their permanent home.

Working Pattern

• 4-day week
• 1 in 4 weekend mornings, caring for hospital inpatients
• A share in the second-on-call OOH

Shifts are varied and include consulting, operating, hospital care and training. There is also considerable scope to tailor your rota to your strengths and interests.

Our Out of Hours – A Senior, Supported Role

We are proud to run our own in-house OOH service, which allows true continuity of care for our patients and meaningful clinical involvement for our vets.

• RVN and SVN on site 24/7
• A dedicated first-on-call vet who attends all emergencies and inpatient needs

As second-on-call, your role is that of senior clinical support.

• Providing guidance and reassurance by phone from home in most cases
• Attending only when genuinely needed for complex or high-level cases

This structure means OOH work is manageable, purposeful and professionally rewarding, allowing you to support colleagues, maintain emergency skills, and see cases through.

Our vets achieve fantastic case exposure due to our setup which facilitates completing postgraduate studies and maintaining Advanced Practitioner Status.

Package & Benefits

• 33 days holiday, with the option to purchase up to 5 additional days
• CPD allowance £1500 and 5 days (£2000 and 7 days for APs)
• RCVS, VDS and one additional professional membership paid
• Proper 1-hour lunch breaks
• Admin/phone call hour on consulting days
• 50% staff discount

The Team

Shepherds is a diverse, close-knit team with a broad range of interests both inside and outside work. Clinically, we have strong interests across surgery, exotics, imaging, ECC and feline medicine.

We are VetGDP-approved practice and place real value on providing support, time and backup—at all levels.

The Practice

Our purpose-built hospital offers:

• Separate cat, dog and exotic inpatient facilities
• Cat only consult room
• Bereavement room
• DR x-ray, Doppler ultrasound, endoscopy
• Dental suite with dental radiography
• Comprehensive in-house lab
• On site accommodation
• Ample on-site parking

We’re supported by well-equipped branches in Pontyclun and Port Talbot, plus a consult-only branch in Porthcawl.

Our Ethos

Our current focus is on job satisfaction, sustainability and quality of care.

We believe vets should feel valued, listened to and fairly rewarded, with real input into how a practice is run.

Our Directors work as part of the team both daytime and out of hours so that we never lose sight of what the practice and team needs.

Contact

If you’d like an informal conversation, please feel free to make contact with the Directors Nicola Rolph or Rachel Davies.

Alternatively, reach out to our Practice Manager, Julia Collins, at [e-mail] with your CV.