Part time | Saturdays and Sundays | £13.45/hour | Closing date: 19th October 2026
The Role
Award-winning animal charity, Pet Blood Bank UK, is recruiting for a Donor Assistant to work at venues across the (Northeast). As part of the collection team, this role involves working at donation sessions where lifesaving blood is collected from dogs. As a Donor Assistant, you are responsible for helping to run the session, including holding our donors while they give blood, tidying and resetting the donation room for the next donor, running blood tests, assisting with paperwork and the potential to meet up to 23 potential donors and their owners at each session. The role is key to ensuring successful donation sessions and providing a positive experience for all our donors and their owners.
We are looking for a Donor Assistant to cover Newcastle, Morpeth, Stockton, Teesside, and Durham. A willingness to travel is essential as there may be times you are asked to work across the entire region.
Background
Launched in 2007, Pet Blood Bank UK is the only charity that provides a blood bank service for all vets across the UK. As part of our charitable remit, our aim is to advance animal health and welfare and to relieve suffering by providing quick and convenient access to blood. Every unit of blood helps save up to four other lives, saving thousands of lives every year.
Our values
Caring. Pioneering. Real. These are the values Pet Blood Bank UK is built upon. Our values bind us together as a charity and guide everything we do. We expect every team member to know, understand and embody our values, helping to build our reputation as a pioneering, caring and practical charity. Read more about our values.
What you’ll do
- Assist the Veterinary Surgeon and Veterinary Nurse with all donors to ensure health check, donation and post donation tasks are carried out.
- Assist with paperwork and running blood tests.
- Help to hold our donors during the donation process.
- Assist with monitoring donors throughout the donation process.
- Build a rapport with donors and their owners to ensure they feel valued and involved - provide a positive donation experience from start to finish.
- Maintain a good relationship with our host venues.
- Communicate with Pet Blood Bank staff, including your regional collection team, Regional Coordinator, Area Supervisor and office staff.
- Attend events to promote Pet Blood Bank and recruit donors and volunteers
What we need
We’re looking for someone who is:
- An excellent communicator with strong customer care skills.
- A team player.
- Experienced in animal care, ideally with a qualification but not essential, and have a love of working with dogs.
- This is an ideal role for a student/newly qualified veterinary nurse/student vet/person with animal experience.
- Organised and proactive.
- Availability on Saturdays and Sundays
- Holds a full UK driving licence and has access to their own transport.
- Applicants should be located within approximately one hour of Newcastle to meet the requirements of the role.
- To ensure you can complete the required training we may arrange for you to attend some sessions outside of the region, mileage allowance and accommodation will be organised where required.
What’s in it for you
In return, we offer full training and a great team working environment.
The rate of pay is £13.45/hour and a mileage allowance of 35p/mile offered for travel to and from venues.
Recruitment Process
We want to make sure this is the right opportunity for you, just as much as we want to ensure you're the right fit for our team. Our recruitment process consists of three stages:
The closing date for applications is 19th October 2026.
Stage 1 – Telephone Interview
Week commencing: 26 October 2026
You'll have an informal telephone conversation with the Regional Coordinator for your area. This is an opportunity for us to get to know you, discuss your previous experience, tell you more about the role, and answer any questions you may have. It's also a chance for you to decide whether the position is the right fit for you.
Stage 2 – Taster Session
Available dates: 24 October 2026 at Wear Referrals / 1 November 2026 at Westway Consett / 8 November 2026 at Copeland Vets
Candidates who progress to the next stage will be invited to attend one of our Donation sessions. This gives you the opportunity to see the role in action, meet the team, and experience what it's like to work with us. Please note that you must be able to attend one of the advertised taster session dates to be considered for the role.
Stage 3 – Values-Based Interview
Available dates: 11 and 13 November 2026
The final stage is a values-based interview with the Regional Coordinator and Area Manager conducted on Microsoft Teams. This interview focuses on your values, behaviours and approach to supporting others, helping us understand how you would fit within our team and organisation.
Training Commitment
Successful candidates will be required to complete our induction and training programme before working independently.
The training consists of:
- Online training, which should be completed within one month of receiving access. Please note that this online training is currently unpaid.
- Practical training, where you'll attend four sessions over a three-month period. These sessions are designed to give you the experience, confidence and support needed to become fully trained in the role.
Once you have successfully completed your training, you'll have the flexibility to choose when you work, based on the sessions available.
To ensure you maintain your skills, ideally you will work a minimum of 12 donation sessions per year, however more are encouraged. We understand availability can vary over time and advise you to speak to your regional coordinator if you have any concerns surrounding your availability.
Ongoing training and development
Once you are fully trained and working independently, you’ll continue to receive regular training and updates to help you keep your knowledge and skills up to date and feel confident in the role.
This includes:
- Quarterly online training updates to keep you up to date with any changes and developments.
- An annual training review, which provides an opportunity to refresh your knowledge, review your skills and make sure you feel confident and supported in your role. This annual review is a paid training commitment.
- Occasional additional online updates where an urgent or important change needs to be shared between the regular quarterly updates.
These updates are designed to be straightforward and accessible, helping you stay informed and confident in your role while ensuring we continue to provide a safe and consistent experience for our donors.
Further details
Sessions are approximately 8 hours in length and flexibility is essential as start and finish times will be dependent upon the travel time to and from the venues. Own transport is required to get to venues - please note not all venues are accessible by public transport.
Before applying, please read our Guidance for Candidates.
For more information or to request a full job description, please email recruitment@petbloodbankuk.org.
To apply, please complete our application form and email it to recruitment@petbloodbankuk.org.
