Lead Veterinary Surgeon - Village Vet Berkhamsted

Lead Veterinary Surgeon

Location: Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
Hours: 42 hours per week across 4 days, including weekends. Choose between a consulting weekend rota (1 in 3 Saturdays and 1 in 12 Sundays) or a hospital weekend rota (1 in 6 full weekends), with appropriate time off in lieu and overtime arrangements.
Practice: Village Vet Berkhamsted & St Albans Hospital, part of Linnaeus
Salary: Up to £75,000 per annum, depending on experience

Relocation support available for direct candidates.

More clinical influence. Your opportunity to shape what comes next.

You love being a vet. You enjoy working up cases, making clinical decisions and building relationships with clients. But perhaps you're ready for a greater say in how a practice runs, the standards it sets and the direction it takes next? At Village Vet Berkhamsted, you can bring those ambitions together.

We're looking for a Lead Veterinary Surgeon who wants to remain hands-on clinically while taking an active role in shaping an established first-opinion practice. Whether you're an experienced leader or a confident Veterinary Surgeon ready to take that first step into leadership, this is an opportunity to put your ideas into practice, help colleagues thrive and make a meaningful difference to the care we deliver.

You'll have the opportunity to build on the practice's strong local reputation, with the wider Village Vet network and St Albans Hospital providing a broader clinical community around you. It's a role for someone who wants to influence what happens next, without losing touch with the clinical work they enjoy.

Why join us?

• Lead with purpose, not just a title. Influence clinical standards, contribute ideas and help shape the future direction of the practice, with the opportunity to make a genuine difference to how care is delivered.
• Keep doing the clinical work you love. With an approximate 60% consulting and 40% surgery split, you'll enjoy a varied first-opinion caseload alongside your leadership responsibilities.
• Practice medicine with confidence. A loyal, affluent and highly insured client base supports thorough investigations, considered treatment plans and evidence-based clinical decision-making.
• Work with facilities that support your clinical judgement. The practice is equipped with ultrasound, digital radiography, digital dental radiography, a dedicated operating theatre, separate dental suite, kennel facilities and vivariums.
• Benefit from a wider clinical network. Collaborate with colleagues across Village Vet and St Albans Hospital, with access to additional expertise, advanced facilities and clinical support when cases require it.
• Choose a working pattern that suits you. Work across four days per week, with two weekend rota options to choose from and appropriate time off in lieu and overtime arrangements.
• Make the role your next career step. Develop your leadership experience, support colleagues and explore your professional interests within Linnaeus. You don't need to have held a Lead Vet title before to be considered.
• Explore your clinical interests. If exotics is an area you're passionate about, there is an existing caseload that could offer scope to develop this further, although an interest in exotics is absolutely not essential.

The practice & team

Village Vet Berkhamsted has built a strong reputation within its local community, with established client relationships and a commitment to providing high-quality first-opinion care. It's an opportunity to take a leading role in the continued development of a practice where clinical standards, client trust and the quality of care matter.

You'll work alongside a close-knit support team of 3 Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) and 4 Client Care Assistants, whose contribution is central to the day-to-day running of the practice and the experience we provide to clients and their pets. Collaboration is important here, and we're looking for someone who values the contribution of their colleagues and wants to help create an environment in which people can do their best work.

As Lead Veterinary Surgeon, you'll have the opportunity to influence clinical standards, encourage good clinical practice and help shape the way the practice develops. You'll bring your own experience and ideas, support colleagues in their professional growth and help foster a positive team culture. If you're moving into leadership for the first time, you'll have the opportunity to build your experience and develop your leadership skills, with support from the wider Village Vet network.

Clinically, the practice offers a varied first-opinion caseload with an approximate 60% consulting and 40% surgery split. You'll have access to ultrasound, digital radiography and digital dental radiography, alongside a dedicated operating theatre, separate dental suite, kennel facilities and vivariums. The client base is loyal, affluent and highly insured, providing opportunities to investigate cases thoroughly, discuss appropriate treatment options and make clinical decisions with the patient's best interests at heart.

The relationship with St Albans Hospital is another important part of the opportunity. Rather than working in isolation, you'll be part of a wider clinical network where collaboration with experienced colleagues and access to additional facilities can help support more complex cases and ongoing clinical development. You can retain the continuity of first-opinion practice while benefiting from the expertise available across the wider group.

There is also scope to pursue your own clinical interests. The practice has an existing exotics caseload, which could be an opportunity for someone who enjoys this area and would like to develop it further. However, this is entirely optional; we're primarily looking for a strong all-round small animal clinician with the motivation and ability to lead.

Beyond the practice, Berkhamsted offers an attractive place to live and work. Set on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, the town combines historic character with independent cafés, restaurants and green open spaces. Excellent schools and direct rail links to London, taking around 30 minutes, make it an appealing option for those who want access to the capital alongside a more relaxed setting outside the working day.

What we're looking for

• At least five years of small animal veterinary experience, including substantial UK first-opinion practice experience.
• Confidence in managing routine medical and surgical cases independently.
• Strong clinical judgement and a commitment to evidence-based medicine and excellent patient care.
• An interest in companion animal medicine and surgery, particularly dogs and cats.
• The communication skills needed to build trusted client relationships and work collaboratively with colleagues.
• A supportive, approachable leadership style and an interest in helping others develop.
• The motivation to influence clinical standards, contribute ideas and take an active role in the practice's future.

Previous leadership experience is welcome, but it isn't essential. You might already be a Lead Vet looking for a new challenge, a senior clinician who wants greater influence, or an experienced first-opinion vet who feels ready to take that next step.... What matters most is your clinical capability, your approach to working with people and your desire to make a positive difference.

If you're looking for a role where you can continue to grow as a clinician while having a genuine say in the future of a practice, we'd love to hear from you.

What we offer

• 5 weeks holiday plus bank holidays and Birthday Leave

• RCVS and VDS fees paid

• External CPD funded

• Extensive free online Linnaeus CPD program

• Career progression opportunities

• Staff discount schemes

• Life Assurance

• Enhanced sickness pay

• Enhanced equal family leave

• E-car salary sacrifice scheme

• Employer contribution pension scheme
• Wellness program including:

• Employee assistance program

• Eyecare voucher scheme

• Free annual Flu jab

• Cycle to work scheme

About Us

Village Vets is part of Linnaeus and Mars Veterinary Health, the largest family-owned veterinary company in the world. Being privately owned, we can truly be driven by our purpose, to create a better world, and think long-term as opposed to being focused solely on short-term profits.

At Linnaeus, A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS starts with a better world for our people. Our Associates are over 6000 strong and empowered to speak up, step up and deliver quality services. You’ll have access to a huge network of specialists, worldwide development opportunities and an easily accessible, comprehensive wellbeing package that prioritises your physical and mental health, allowing you to focus on what you do best – care for pets.

We are committed to fostering a culture that is inclusive and diverse, we care about you and want you to be authentic, with everything you need to perform at your best. We are all individual but two important things bring us together: a commitment to excellence and our passion to achieve our purpose.

If you would like to apply for the role or for an informal chat to discuss it further, please get in touch with Joanne in the recruitment team [email protected]

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