Veterinary Surgeon - Cutting Edge
The Vacancy
A structured and supported route into emergency and critical care
Vets Now is the UKs leading provider of emergency pet care, treating diverse emergency cases from our out-of-hours clinics. We are committed to developing vet surgeons, so we invest heavily in our CPD-led training programmes. Cutting Edge is designed to prepare Vets for an emergency and critical care role in one of our 60+ locations spanning the UK, by equipping you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to thrive in these settings.
300 hours of CPD delivered by world renowned experts
Cutting Edge is a 10-week training programme comprised of lectures, interactive seminars and practical training four weeks of the programme are spent in your clinic with a senior clinician, learning to manage the caseload, getting to know your new team, and developing your skillset. You will spend some time in our central support hub in Scotland (accommodation is provided) participating in practical sessions, seminars, and lectures. You will have the opportunity to build a network with your fellow Cutting Edge participants.
A wide range of both professional and clinical topics are covered including how to approach
- Recognising and managing Shock
- Fluid Therapy
- Respiratory emergencies
- Cardiac emergencies
- Neurological emergencies
- Surgical emergency wet lab
- Blood gas analysis
- Point of care ultrasound (POCUS)
- Transfusion therapy
- Trauma
- Clinical reasoning and decision making in ECC
- Teamworking and pet-owner communication
- Adjusting to nightwork
The work-life balance you deserve
After the Cutting Edge programme, you will work full-time in one of our ECC clinics. The rota is comprised of an average of 40 hours per week which includes a fair share of weekends and weeknights. The rota is developed with your work-life balance in mind, with no more than three nights in a row and downtime for the things you enjoy. Our Vets typically work an average of 3 shifts per week.
Upon completing the Cutting Edge programme, you will join your selected clinic on a permanent contact. While our standard full-time contract is 40 hours per week, we can offer flexible options ranging from 30 to 40 hours per week, giving you some flexibility to choose what best works for you.
You will be paid a training salary of £42,250 for the first ten weeks, with a substantial increase up to £65,000 depending on your chosen clinic in week 11.
Our employees are our greatest asset which is why we offer a first-class benefits and rewards package that includes:
- Private medical insurance
- Membership of employee wellbeing programme
- Enhanced sick pay
- Enhances maternity policy, including 6 months full pay
- Family-friendly policies including paternity and adoption pay schemes
- Seven weeks pro rata annual leave
- Your birthday as a paid day off
- Paid volunteering days
- £1500 CPD allowance plus 35 paid hours pro rata
- RCVS fees, VECCS membership and VDS cover
- Vets Now For You – reward gateway giving discounts and cashback with 100’s of retailers
- UK Standard Pension contributions – 5% Employee/3% Employer
- Death in service of two times annual salary
Expansion, innovation, and opportunity
To reflect our commitment to the Cutting Edge programme and developing the next generation of veterinary surgeons, we have opportunities across the UK via Cutting edge in the following clinics:
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To qualify for Cutting Edge, you should have a minimum of six months small animal experience and be confident consulting and performing routine surgical procedures sole charge.
The next Cutting Edge intake is 18th August 2025.
To discuss the Cutting Edge programme in more detail and for further information on our clinics please get in touch with Jess in our Edge and Emerging Talent team; Jessica.allcock@vets-now.com.
The Company
As the UK’s leading pet emergency service, we have a route to an exciting career in emergency and critical care for veterinary surgeons and registered veterinary nurses, no matter where you are in your career.
Vets Now was founded by Richard Dixon, a veterinary surgeon who understood the pressures of being on-call which also trying to maintain a good quality of life.
Today, almost two decades since Richard did his first out-of-hours shift, we’re still just as passionate about emergency and critical care and our clinics are all managed by people who have worked as frontline vets or vet nurses.
In an emergency, pet owners want to know they’ve got the experts on board. And so do we.
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