The Donkey Sanctuary is an international animal welfare organisation, offering care and protection to donkeys worldwide. Our vision is a world where every donkey has a good quality of life, and our mission is to improve the lives of donkeys every day. We will achieve this by transforming the lives of donkeys in need worldwide by fostering greater understanding, collaboration and support, and by promoting lasting, mutually life-enhancing relationships. 

We are seeking an inspiring and capable Supervisor with proven experience in a land‑based, agricultural, or farm environment to lead and coordinate a small operational team across our farm portfolio. Ensuring team compliance in Health & Safety, administrative and financial processes while maintaining high standards of animal welfare, land management and infrastructure.

About you:

• Proven experience working in a land-based, agricultural or farm environment.
• Demonstrable leadership or supervisory experience ideally in multiple sites operations.
• Strong organisational skills with experience in task planning, resource allocation, and workload management.
• Confident and competent in operating farm machinery and vehicles, including tractors.
• Sound understanding of health and safety legislation and the ability to develop, review, and implement risk assessments.
• Experience in ordering materials, managing budgets, processing invoices, and maintaining accurate records.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to liaise effectively with internal departments and external stakeholders.
• Ability to use IT systems (e.g., Microsoft Office, SharePoint).
• UK full valid driving licence.

About the role:

Your principal duties and responsibilities will include –

• Lead and supervise the Farm Support Team, including direct oversight of the internal fencing team, providing day‑to‑day direction, support and performance management.
• Liaise with Farm and Site Managers to plan and prioritise fencing and farm support requirements across all sites.
• Plan and allocate resources, including internal fencing staff, external fencing contractors and farm support workers as required.
• Oversee delivery of farm support activities, including fencing, hauling of manure and dirty water, donkey care support, hay making assistance, pressure washing, equipment movements, general farm work and light farm maintenance.
• Develop and manage the annual fencing budget, monitor spend and ensure accurate cross‑charging to departments for fencing works completed.
• Place orders with approved suppliers and track expenditure in line with financial procedures.
• Ensure all operations comply with health and safety legislation and charity policies, including maintaining task‑specific risk assessments.
• Provide regular updates to the Farms Admin Manager on progress, resourcing and financial position.

What we offer in return:

Based at our Weston farm, this is a permanent role, working 37.5 hours per week, 5 days over 7, with weekend work as part of the team rota.

Benefits:  

Competitive pension.

Life assurance.

31 days holiday (including Bank holidays), rising to 34 with each full year of service.

Wellbeing team.

Recorded Pilates and Yoga classes.

Long service awards.

Healthshield plan –

• Reimbursement of some medical expenses up to the specified limits per membership.
• Offers, discounts and cashback on shopping, travel and entertainment from participating outlets.
• Access to a 24/7 GP and counselling service.

Free parking.

Subsidised restaurant and shop.

Closing date for completed applications: Tuesday May 2026.

The Donkey Sanctuary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable people (children and adults), and expects all staff and volunteers to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to safer recruitment processes, including an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where required for the post.

The Donkey Sanctuary also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and, for relevant posts, may request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.

Please note: The Guaranteed interview scheme is only applicable to candidates who consider themselves to have a disability applying for roles based within the United Kingdom.

NOTE TO APPLICANTS: We look forward to receiving your application, but we do ask you to complete this in your own words, and not to employ an Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tool or assistant. Applications that are considered not to be an applicant’s own work may not be shortlisted for interview.