Eligible Veterinary Assistant / LVT Candidate

Seaport Animal Hospital | New York, NY

Seaport Animal Hospital is looking for an experienced Veterinary Assistant who is currently enrolled in or has recently completed an accredited Veterinary Technology program and is working toward becoming a Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT).

This is an excellent opportunity for an LVT candidate who already has a strong clinical foundation and is ready to continue developing their technical skills in a supportive, hands-on environment. Our goal is to help you build the confidence, consistency, efficiency, and technical competency needed to transition successfully into an LVT role once licensed.

At Seaport, our Veterinary Assistants are an integral part of the medical team. We are looking for someone who is comfortable taking ownership of patient care and appointment flow, anticipates the needs of our doctors and patients, and is excited to continue advancing their technical abilities.

What You'll Do

As an Eligible Veterinary Assistant / LVT Candidate, you will work closely with our veterinarians, LVTs, and clinical support team across appointments, diagnostics, procedures, surgery, dentistry, anesthesia, and hospitalized patient care.

Responsibilities include:

• Provide excellent canine and feline patient handling using Fear-Free and low-stress techniques, including recognizing fear, anxiety, stress, pain, and changes in patient condition.
• Support appointments from start to finish, including reviewing medical records, obtaining thorough histories, preparing patients for examinations, assisting with diagnostics and treatments, preparing discharge instructions, and completing room turnover.
• Assist with hospitalized patient care, including comfort, hygiene, feeding, walking, warming, monitoring, treatment-sheet documentation, and patient handoffs.
• Prepare and process blood, urine, fecal, cytology, culture, and other diagnostic specimens.
• Operate and maintain IDEXX in-house blood analyzers, including proper sample preparation, testing, routine cleaning, maintenance, and recognition of sample or analyzer errors.
• Perform Seaport's URICULT in-house urine culture workflow and properly prepare, label, store, and package specimens for outside reference laboratories.
• Assist with radiology, including patient preparation, positioning, radiation safety, image quality, and preparation of studies for radiologist review.
• Accurately fill veterinarian-authorized prescriptions and demonstrate appropriate medication calculations, labeling, storage, handling, inventory management, and pharmacy organization.
• Prepare surgical and dental patients, procedure areas, sterile supplies, instruments, monitoring equipment, airway supplies, emergency supplies, and recovery areas.
• Develop competency in anesthesia monitoring, including HR, RR, SpO2, ETCO2, blood pressure, temperature, ECG, anesthetic depth, warming, documentation, and recognition of abnormal trends.
• Set up, safety-check, leak-test, clean, maintain, and break down anesthesia equipment.
• Assist with dental procedures and develop competency in dental charting, dental radiographs, scaling, polishing, anesthesia monitoring, and dental equipment maintenance as legally permitted.
• Safely operate, clean, and maintain clinical equipment including patient warming systems, oxygen equipment, fluid and syringe pumps, Doppler/BP equipment, multiparameter monitors, centrifuges, microscopes, autoclaves, dental equipment, and other hospital equipment.
• Maintain clean, organized, fully stocked and patient-ready exam, treatment, surgery, dental, laboratory, pharmacy, kennel, and recovery areas.
• Participate in inventory management, including monitoring stock levels, expiration dates, backstock, and Seaport's reorder-tag system.
• Communicate clearly and professionally with doctors, LVTs, fellow assistants, management, and clients while maintaining accurate medical records and appropriate patient handoffs.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who:

• Is currently enrolled in or has recently completed an accredited Veterinary Technology program and is actively working toward LVT licensure.
• Has prior hands-on veterinary clinical experience.
• Has a strong foundation in veterinary patient care and is eager to continue developing advanced technical skills.
• Is comfortable working with both dogs and cats and is committed to Fear-Free/low-stress patient handling.
• Is organized, dependable, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple patients and priorities in a busy hospital environment.
• Can anticipate routine next steps and take ownership of responsibilities without requiring constant direction.
• Is receptive to coaching and committed to continued growth in technical ability, efficiency, time management, communication, and clinical judgment.
• Understands the importance of working within their current legal scope and asking for assistance whenever unsure.
• Is preparing for the VTNE and New York State LVT licensure, where applicable.

Your Development at Seaport

This position is specifically designed to help bridge the gap between Veterinary Assistant and Licensed Veterinary Technician.

Eligible team members will receive hands-on training and competency development in areas including anesthesia, dentistry, radiology, laboratory procedures, patient nursing, pharmacy, equipment safety, and surgical support.

We believe in developing strong technicians, not simply checking boxes. You'll receive structured training, feedback, and opportunities to demonstrate your skills as you progress toward licensure.

Training to an LVT-level competency does not independently authorize an employee to perform duties restricted by law. Prior to active LVT licensure, all duties must be performed within the employee's current legal authorization and under the level of veterinarian supervision required by applicable New York State law.

Compensation

• Base hourly rate of $24.00 - $26.00 DOE
• Eligible for periodic bonus, where applicable
• Eligible for commission, where applicable
• Sign-on bonus, where applicable

Benefits

Eligible team members may have access to benefits including:

• Medical, Vision, and Dental insurance
• 401(k)
• Health Savings Account
• Paid time off
• Employee discounts
• Allowances

Benefit eligibility and availability may vary based on employment status and applicable plan requirements.

Join the Seaport Team

We're looking for someone who wants more than simply a Veterinary Assistant position. We want someone who is excited to grow into their career as an LVT, become an increasingly skilled member of the medical team, and provide exceptional care to our patients and clients.

If you're currently pursuing your LVT and looking for a hospital where you can continue learning, practicing, and building confidence alongside an experienced veterinary team, we'd love to meet you.

Seaport Animal Hospital is an equal opportunity employer.