Wild Connections Zoo Keeper

Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Leatherhead Road
Chessington, SURREY, KT9 2NE
United Kingdom

We are Chessington World of Adventures Resort and we are part of the magical Merlin Entertainments!

We are currently recruiting for an experienced Zoo Keeper to join our “Wild Connections” team. As a member of the team you will be responsible for delivering highest standards in the daily care and husbandry of the animals across the section. These include; California sea lions, a wide range of birds, reptiles and small mammals. Daily duties include cleaning, diet preparation, record keeping and enclosure redesign/maintenance. Other duties will include planning, evaluating and executing environmental enrichment for the animals under your care and delivering first-class animal presentations, shows, meet and greets, commercial activities and memorable experiences to our Adventurers. You will be required to use positive reinforcement to train a wide variety of species for husbandry, guest interactions and presentations. To excel in this role you will need good initiative to come up with new ideas to help move the section forward and to increase revenue and minimise costs, whilst maintaining standards.

As a member of the Wild Connections team you will be required to work alongside the wider zoo team as well as employees from all over the resort and mentor, coach and supervise work-experience students and interns.

We are looking for the following skills and experience;
Minimum of 2 years paid and relevant experience within a zoo environment
Ideally has an animal based qualification
Practical experience working with a wide range of species
Exceptional presentation skills
The ability & passion to interact with the public
Enthusiasm to learn & develop in the role
Good level of understanding of animal behaviour and the care of animals
Strong communication & computer skills
Efficient time management and organisational skills
Experience with training through the use of positive reinforcement is advantageous

This role is permanent working full time 40 hours; 5 days out of 7. Shifts include weekdays, weekends & bank holidays, evenings; flexibility is required to meet the needs of the business.

Alongside a competitive annual salary up to £17,333 and 28 days holiday (including bank holidays) you can look forward to enjoying a great benefits package  including a Group Personal Pension Plan, Merlin Magic pass, Employee Assistance Programme, Life Assurance, 25% discount in our retail shops and restaurants, 40% discount online off of LEGO, and much more!