Aquarist

SEA LIFE London Aquarium

The UK’s largest SEA LIFE site has a new opportunity to come and work in this iconic London location. Sat facing the Houses of Parliament and next to the London Eye, we also work closely with The London Dungeon and Shrek’s Adventure, as well as the SEA LIFE aquariums across the UK.

We’re looking to recruit a new Aquarist to join our team! We have a wide variety in our collection of animals to work with from Sharks, Stingrays, Sea Turtles, the longest live coral reef exhibit in the UK, as well as the largest Jellyfish collection too, a diverse Rainforest as well as a colony of Gentoo Penguins.

NEW for 2023 - a structured progression plan for our display teams is now in place across the UK, which means we can now offer a role that will give you the opportunity to develop through five levels of Aquarist. You can join us between levels 1 and 5 and will be compensated accordingly, as you progress to the next tier. At our London site successful performance can lead to you developing into a Senior Aquarist and with so many attractions across the world, the opportunities are endless.

What we are looking for

• Experience within public aquariums involving maintenance, plumbing and operation of large life support systems
• Strong demonstrable experience of animal husbandry with freshwater, marine animals, and reptiles
• An understanding of the fundamentals of water chemistry as applied to an aquarium environment
• A keen eye for detail and analytical approach in necessary record keeping in line with SSSMZP
• A practical ability to create ‘wow’ displays with a working knowledge of the correct use of theming, lighting, and water movement
• Skills in animal training and enrichment
• A qualification in animal care, marine biology or equivalent
• A dive qualification is also advantageous

You’ll play a vital part in caring for our animals, ensuring consistently high levels of animal health and welfare as well as looking after and carrying out routine maintenance of the filtration and life support systems, crisis management equipment and environmental alarms. Other duties include back washing main filters, water changes, water quality checks, water parameters, health checks, plus training and enrichment.

You’ll prepare suitable diets and feed all livestock, as well as provide medication and treatment of animals under direction. You will also provide 24-hour alarm cover on a rota basis and maintain strict codes of practice for the use, storage and record keeping of all medications and chemicals according to HSE, COSHH and SSSMZP regulations.

This is a full-time, permanent role, working any 5 days out of 7. This will include weekends and bank holidays on a roster basis.

What’s in it for you

Alongside becoming an expert in washing up, you’ll also receive:

• A salary of £25,500 (level 1) to £27,500 (level 5) per annum for the Aquarist role
• Call out fee paid, transport to and from site for call outs. Working rota pattern adjustment post call outs where needed
• 25% discount in our retail shops and restaurants and 40% off LEGO online
• Merlin Magic Pass - giving you free tickets to all our attractions worldwide for you, your family, and friends every year
• Discounted rates at Merlin hotels all over the world
• Employee pricing up to 55% off cinema tickets