Contract: 6-month fixed term contract, full time (42 hours per week)
Salary: £27,973 plus £3,954 London Weighting Allowance
Location: Victoria animal hospital
Closing date: Wednesday 30 September 2026
Interview date: 8 & 9 October 2026
Are you an experienced receptionist who thrives in a busy customer-facing environment? Do you remain calm under pressure, enjoy helping people and have the confidence to support customers during challenging or emotional situations?
We're looking for a friendly, organised and resilient Receptionist to be the welcoming face of Blue Cross. As the first point of contact for visitors, clients and callers, you'll play a vital role in ensuring every interaction reflects our commitment to providing compassionate support to pets and their owners.
As a Receptionist, you will provide a professional and welcoming reception service, supporting a high volume of visitors, customers and telephone enquiries. Working in a fast-paced environment, you'll balance front-of-house responsibilities with administrative tasks while ensuring customers receive a positive experience.
This role can be emotionally demanding at times, as you may support pet owners who are anxious, distressed or facing difficult circumstances. You'll need to be empathetic, resilient and able to communicate clearly while managing expectations professionally.
This full-time, six-month fixed-term contract involves working 42 hours per week. You will work 8.5-hour shifts between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday, plus one weekend in every four.
What you will be doing
- Welcoming visitors and providing a professional and friendly reception service
- Acting as the first point of contact for customer enquiries, both in person and over the telephone
- Managing a high volume of calls and face-to-face enquiries
- Providing clear and accurate information to customers and visitors
- Processing bookings, payments, appointments and administrative requests
- Dispensing medication, admitting and discharging patients under veterinary supervision
- Maintaining accurate records using Microsoft Office and digital systems
- Supporting customers who may be upset, anxious or experiencing challenging circumstances
- Managing competing priorities while maintaining excellent customer service
- Working collaboratively with colleagues to ensure the smooth day-to-day operation of the service
You'll be an experienced customer service professional who enjoys working with people and takes pride in delivering a positive customer experience. You'll be confident managing a busy reception environment, balancing multiple demands and communicating with empathy and professionalism.
You'll have strong organisational skills, be comfortable using digital systems and have the resilience to work effectively in an environment where conversations can sometimes be emotional or sensitive
Essential Qualifications, Skills, and Experience
- Experience in a busy reception or front-of-house customer service role
- Experience handling a high volume of telephone and face-to-face enquiries daily
- Experience dealing with challenging, sensitive or emotionally charged customer interactions professionally and empathetically
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and remain organised in a fast-paced environment
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to adapt to different people and situations
- Good administrative and IT skills, including experience using Microsoft Office and digital systems
- Demonstrable resilience and ability to work effectively in an emotionally demanding environment
- Able to demonstrate and apply Blue Cross values
Desirable Qualifications, Skills, and Experience
- Experience with appointment booking systems
- Experience working in animal welfare, veterinary, healthcare, charity or care environments
- Understanding of animal welfare issues and the challenges faced by pet owners
The first stage of the recruitment process will be a competency-based interview. Candidates who are successful at this stage will be invited to attend a second-stage taster session, providing an opportunity to gain first-hand insight into the role and what it involves.
How to apply
To apply for this role, please submit your application through our careers site and answer the application questions, demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive a high volume of applications.
Our people are the most important part of delivering our purpose. If it were not for their amazing efforts and commitment, we would not be able to make the difference that we do today.
In return, Blue Cross wants to ensure we provide you with the best working environment we can. We want you to be happy working for us and will do everything we can to make sure you are.
Our generous benefits package includes:
- Full time equivalent of 38 days holiday rising to 43 with service (including Bank Holidays)
- Programmes for physical and mental wellbeing support
- Free access to GP via MetLife- 24/7 GP services, private prescriptions and more for you and your family
- Health cash plan
- Unlimited access to an employee assistance programme
- Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution
- Professional fees paid with Continuing Professional Development and personal development support.
- Life assurance
- 20% discount on Pet Plan pet insurance
- Enhanced family friendly policies
- Recognition scheme
- Annual volunteer days
- Charity worker discounts across a variety of retailers
To read more about the benefits Blue Cross has to offer, please visit the
'why work for us' page on our website.
