Work with us
Whether you’re with us for a day, a few weeks or for the long-term, Tilgate Zoo is a fantastic place to work. We aim to provide our visitors with a welcoming, accessible park and zoo that offers an affordable day out and celebrates the great outdoors and nature. As well as job vacancies that come up occasionally, we offer the chance to gain valuable work experience or volunteering opportunities in the park and zoo. Come and work with us!
Job vacancies
From time to time, we advertise job vacancies at the zoo. Visit the Crawley Borough Council jobs page where current vacancies are listed.
Work experience
Are you looking to pursue a career with animals? Working with animals is a competitive field and having experience is the best way to stand out. We offer placements to those on animal care courses to support their coursework with direct experience working with animals in a zoological collection. These placements are one day a week (Wednesday to Saturday) for a maximum of eight weeks, or as a single block week.
If you are currently on an animal-based course and are interested in a placement at Tilgate Zoo, please complete the application form below.
Due to the volume of demand, we are unable to offer placements to school students.
Volunteering
There is a tremendous amount of work to do to keep Tilgate Zoo functioning and well maintained. As well as a space where animals can live happily and healthily, it is a recreational space where all generations come to relax, be inspired and be immersed in beautiful natural surroundings.
We have a dedicated team that look after the animals to the strict standards expected, oversee our conservation and education activities and run the zoo. But there is always more that can be done to keep the site attractive and a haven for wildlife. So, we are always keen to welcome those who share our interests and our sense of responsibility towards one of Crawley’s greatest hidden gems.
If you have a few hours to spare each month and want to give something back to the community, or you are a local company that wants to organise a fun and worthwhile team-building day, then we have some fantastic volunteering opportunities.
Individual volunteering
We are looking for people with a flair for gardening and grounds maintenance, who can commit to regular sessions to help look after Tilgate Zoo.
There is always plenty to do, all year-round. There’ll be weeding, clearing undergrowth, keeping pathways clear of fallen leaves and trimming shrubs right through to painting fences and buildings, simple repair work and landscaping. Besides this you’ll work alongside our staff and other volunteers to encourage wildlife through the installation, maintenance and monitoring of bird and bat boxes and habitats that encourage biodiversity. The workload and tasks vary from season to season but what we can guarantee is a sense of satisfaction and the benefits of physical work in the fresh air in the company of some amazing animals and dedicated zookeepers.
If this is something that appeals to you, you can apply online using our Tilgate Zoo volunteering form.
Corporate volunteering
If your company offers employer-supported volunteering and you want to incentivise your colleagues, then we can help. The fresh air and natural surroundings of Tilgate Zoo represent the perfect environment to bring teams together and give something back to the community.
We offer opportunities for group activities that will keep your team active, improve relationships and offer respite from the day-to-day. From large-scale gardening tasks, to landscaping animal enclosures and from activities to support local biodiversity, through to deep cleaning animal houses, there is always plenty to keep your team engaged. During the day you’ll have a chance to work close to our animals.
We can provide a secure indoor space for large groups.
If you think this is right for your company, or you want to discuss the opportunities that Tilgate Zoo has to offer, then please email tilgate.placements@crawley.gov.uk or call 01293 521168.