Foster Coordinator

Contract: Permanent, 37.5 hours per week

Salary: £24,976 - £27,643

Location: Southampton SO30 2HL

Closing date: Tuesday 2nd June 2026

Interview date: Friday 12th June 2026

We re looking for a passionate and organised pet Foster Coordinator to join our Rehoming & Fostering team in Southampton. This is a rewarding opportunity to play a vital role in helping pets find safe, loving homes while they wait for their forever families.

Our fostering service is central to our mission, supporting more pets by providing temporary homes through a dedicated network of volunteer fosterers. In this role, you ll help grow and support that network, ensuring both pets and people have the best possible experience.

More about the role

As a Foster Coordinator, you ll recruit, support, and manage a diverse network of volunteer fosterers across your local area. Working closely with the Adoptions Coordinator, you ll monitor foster capacity, match pets to suitable homes, and ensure a smooth and effective fostering journey.

You ll also build strong relationships within local communities and with partner organisations, promoting fostering opportunities and attracting new volunteers. Alongside maintaining a high-performing fostering service, you ll ensure fosterers feel valued, supported, and confident in their role.

This is a full-time position, working Monday to Friday, 8:30am 5:00pm, plus one in three weekends (with two days off in lieu during the week).

About you

You re a confident communicator with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with people from all backgrounds. You ll have experience managing or supporting volunteers, particularly in remote or community-based settings and understand how to motivate and guide them effectively.

You re collaborative, proactive, and solutions-focused, with a genuine passion for helping others succeed in their roles. You re comfortable working in a fast-paced, sometimes emotionally challenging environment, and bring resilience, empathy, and sound judgement to your work.

Essential qualification, skills and experience

• Demonstrable experience of supervision or management of volunteers.
• Experience of having worked in an animal welfare environment.
• Good experience of running and marketing recruitment campaigns for volunteer roles.
• Experience of working with local communities and promoting volunteer opportunities
• Good interviewing and recruitment skills
• Experience of working to a high level with minimal supervision.
• Able to prioritise and manage a busy work schedule dealing with complex issues whilst ensuring timely delivery or resolution of issues.
• Good experience of actively managing a bank of clients, volunteers or stakeholders.
• Previous experience in working in a client focused environment where delivering a high level of customer satisfaction is the norm.
• Championing change initiatives, influencing and leading colleagues to embrace the changes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and numerical skills.
• Strong organisational, administration and analytical skills, including use of computerised systems.
• Current full driving licence.
• The ability to demonstrate, understand and apply our Blue Cross values.

Desirable (but not essential)

• Knowledge of animal behaviour and rescue environments
• Understanding of relevant animal welfare legislation
• Experience working collaboratively across teams
• Strong influencing and stakeholder engagement skills
• Awareness of safeguarding principles

Want to know more detail? Great! We have attached the job description which hopefully gives you everything you need.

How to apply

PLease visit our website and complete the online application process before the closing date on Tuesday 2nd June 2026.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response.

Blue Cross benefits

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.