Job Title: Kennel Staff - Dog Training Establishment
Salary: £21,780 to £23,877 plus £984 location allowance. You will receive £21,780 the band minimum. Progress to the band maximum of £23,877 will be via incremental progression.
Location: Keston
The Metropolitan Police has approximately 320 dogs based at 6 key locations in North, South, East, and West London including the Dog Training Establishment.
Approximately 60% of MPS dogs are General Purpose Police Dogs and these are mainly German Shepherd Dogs or Belgian Malinois. The remaining 40% are Specialist Search dogs and these are mainly English Springer Spaniels, Labradors and Cocker Spaniels. Operational Dogs typically reside in the Police Officer handlers’ home.
The role of the Dog Support Unit is to provide 24 hour specialist dog support across the 32 London Boroughs. The MPS dogs perform a variety of policing support roles; dogs are trained to locate suspects and property, giving support to borough colleagues at public order incidents; firearms, drugs and cash recovery, being included in pro-active crime initiatives. They can also search for explosives and human remains.
All dogs are trained at the Dog Training Establishment (DTE). It holds its place as one of the world’s foremost police and service dog training facilities. Its breeding programme has evolved to such an extent that it produces dogs of various breeds, used not only by the Metropolitan Police, but by other police services and agencies from around the UK and around the globe. New and innovative training methods in the world of explosive and narcotic detection are continually pioneered by the instructional staff and the standard of both dog and student is of the highest caliber available anywhere.
Kennel Staff play in essential role within the Dog Support Unit. You will be looking after Operational Police Dogs when handlers take annual leave or are absent for other reasons.
The primary role is to look after the health and welfare of all dogs in your care; you will be working as part of a small team where excellent communication skills are essential.
This is a physical and demanding role and you will be working in sometimes extreme weather conditions.
You will be responsible for the feeding, grooming and exercising of Police Dogs; administrating dog medication as prescribed by the vet; cleaning kennels and surrounding areas; clearing dog excrement from exercise areas and kennels; general housekeeping; assisting in the dog school veterinary consulting room; accurate completion of daily kennel logs and veterinary treatment; whelping of brood bitches. You will also be taking care of our Brood Bitches and young puppies from birth onwards and may be involved in training exercises under the supervision of accredited Instructors.
You will be working shifts, generally 06:30hrs - 14:30hrs or 14:00hrs - 22:00hrs to cover kennel duties 365 days a year. You will be expected to work Bank Holidays including Christmas Day and Boxing Day (depending on how your shift pattern falls each year). There may be occasions when leave is restricted on operational grounds (usually during summer months and school holidays). There is also an expectation that you will be willing to work occasional night duties (22:00hrs to 06:30hrs) when we have a whelping brood bitch.
Please note that the role is based at the Metropolitan Police Dog Training Establishment, Layhams Road, Keston, Kent, BR2 6AR and there is no direct access to public transport.
Your application form will be initially sifted against MPS criteria such as convictions and residency
Following the initial sift your application will be assessed against the role criteria. If successful at this stage we will contact you regarding an interview date.
The interview will be a competency-based interview and questions will be posed around the criteria for the role in question, as set out in the advert and information pack.
If successful at interview you will be required to attend and successfully complete a two day suitability assessment in the kennels at the Dog Training Establishment.
This role is currently under-represented within the black and minority ethic and male candidate and we would welcome applications from these groups. Final selection to the post will solely be based on merit.
An open day will be held at the Metropolitan Police Dog Training Establishment on the 15th July 2019 for prospective candidates.
There will be two sessions held during the day:
First session will be held between 10:00am – 12noon
Second session will be held between 13:30pm - 15:30pm
Should you wish to attend the open day please register your interest by emailing dog.kennels@met.police.uk and stating which session you would like to attend.
To apply, please visit our website to download a role-specific information pack, and complete an online application form with supporting CV and Personal Statement.
Completed applications must be submitted by 23.55pm 21st July 2019.
We view diversity as fundamental to our success. To tackle today’s complex policing challenges, we need a workforce made up from all of London’s communities. Applications from across the community are therefore essential.
www.metpolicecareers.co.uk
