A bit about us
Do you want to help create a better world for animals?
At the RSPCA, we believe animal welfare is everyone's welfare. Join us in creating a better world for every animal. We can do it if we work together — everyone for every animal. Choose a career with us and make a difference.
We are looking for a proactive, compassionate and experienced Cattery Supervisor to support the daily operation of our busy cattery at our Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre.
Working closely with the Cattery Manager, you will play a key role in providing day-to-day leadership to the cattery team, ensuring high standards of animal welfare, team performance and customer care.
This is an important leadership role within the cattery. As there is no deputy position between the Cattery Manager and the wider team, we are looking for someone who can take significant day-to-day responsibility, confidently lead others and use their own initiative to make decisions when required.
This is a full-time, permanent role, working 8am-4pm on a three-week rolling rota, including one in three weekends off.
Our recruitment journey - key dates for you to note
Here's what the process looks like, no surprises, just a friendly guide:
1. Application
You'll be asked to answer a few questions to give us a sense of your experience, skills and potential. Don't worry if you don't tick every box — what really matters is what you can bring to the role and the team.
2. In-person panel interview and cattery tour
If your application is successful, you'll be invited to an in-person panel interview with the Hiring Manager, which will also include a tour of our cattery.
This is a chance to:
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Share more about what you've done and what you're proud of
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Talk through your experience of leading and supporting people
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Explore how you would approach animal welfare and behavioural scenarios
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See our cattery and get a better understanding of the environment you'll be working in
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Ask questions about the role, the team and the impact you could make
Interviews are a two-way conversation, and we recognise that any career move needs to feel right for you as well as for us.
If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, just let us know — we're happy to support you.
We think this role is going to be popular and are expecting to attract high interest, so we strongly encourage early applications to avoid missing out.
What a day might look like for you
This is a hands-on leadership role where you will combine animal care expertise with strong people management.
You will lead and support a team of Animal Care Assistants and volunteers, taking responsibility for the effective running of the cattery on a day-to-day basis. You will delegate work, provide coaching and feedback, monitor performance and help create a collaborative, supportive team environment.
The Cattery Manager is responsible for the overall management of the cattery but is also very busy, so you will be trusted with significant day-to-day responsibility. We need someone who is comfortable taking the lead, stepping up, making decisions independently and knowing when to escalate issues.
You will need to be confident in managing people, including dealing with different levels of experience, supporting performance and ensuring that agreed standards are consistently met. We are looking for someone who can provide strong leadership rather than simply oversee tasks.
Animal welfare will remain at the heart of everything you do. You will carry out non-veterinary health assessments, monitor the wellbeing of cats in our care and work closely with veterinary colleagues to ensure treatments are delivered correctly.
You will also provide and oversee high-quality husbandry, including feeding, grooming, cleaning, behavioural support and socialisation to prepare cats for successful rehoming.
The cats coming into our care can present increasingly complex behavioural needs, including challenges associated with multi-cat households. You will therefore need to be confident recognising behavioural concerns, responding appropriately and supporting colleagues in delivering consistent, welfare-focused care.
You will play a key role in the rehoming journey, acting as a main point of contact for public enquiries, assessing potential adopters and providing guidance to support responsible ownership.
The role can involve difficult and emotionally challenging animal welfare decisions, including situations where euthanasia may need to be considered. You will need to be comfortable working professionally and compassionately in these circumstances, while always keeping animal welfare at the centre of your decision-making.
Alongside this, you will maintain accurate animal records using our systems, follow financial procedures where required and ensure that health and safety requirements are consistently followed.
Maintaining excellent hygiene and disease control standards is essential, including overseeing cleaning and disinfection routines across all areas of the cattery.
What will help you succeed in this role:
Proven experience in animal care and husbandry, ideally gained within an animal rescue, shelter or welfare environment, with a strong understanding of the needs of cats in care.
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People Management & Leadership:
Strong experience of leading, supervising and developing people. You will need to be confident delegating, giving feedback, managing performance and creating a collaborative team environment.
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Animal Welfare & Behaviour:
A strong understanding of animal welfare and the ability to respond appropriately to health, welfare and behavioural concerns, including more complex behaviours associated with multi-cat households.
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Teamwork & Collaboration:
A genuinely collaborative approach, with the ability to work effectively with colleagues, volunteers and veterinary professionals while maintaining clear standards and expectations.
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Experience within an animal rescue or shelter environment is highly desirable. However, we will also consider candidates with strong people-management experience and a solid background in cat care who can demonstrate the judgement, initiative and commitment required to succeed in this environment.
Successful candidates for certain RSPCA roles will need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK as we are unable to sponsor visas.
Final note from us & good luck with your application!
We want to ensure we do all we can to give you a positive candidate experience through our recruitment. Whilst we do try to give feedback where we can, sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible
Our vision is a world where all animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion. Our purpose is to inspire everyone to create a better world for animals. We are building the future of a diverse Society, and our priority is to support animal welfare by finding people from all backgrounds who are committed to our purpose. For this reason we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications - in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities - as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA. Your transferable skills & lived experiences could make you a valuable addition to our RSPCA Family!
We're here to support you and encourage you to let us know if you need any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or 0300 123 0685 so we can ensure the process works for you.
