Veterinary Practice Manager Job Description Template
A copy-paste template, plus the one line every version of this posting gets wrong: whether the hire has authority over your associate veterinarians.
This is a free, copy-paste job description template for a veterinary practice manager posting — role scope, day-to-day functions, qualifications and a compensation block you fill in. Before you publish it, resolve the line every version of this hire gets wrong: whether the position has authority over your associate veterinarians, because "manages the team" reads as one job to one candidate and a completely different job to another.
At a glance
office manager vs. practice manager vs. hospital administrator
Authority over DVMs
State it in line one
the only senior veterinary role without one
State licence required
None exists
3 yrs experience + 18 semester hours + exam
Optional credential
CVPM (VHMA)
no BLS occupation matches this title
Salary benchmark to post
VHMA 2023 survey
What to include
Put the authority line first, before the bullet list of duties. "Reports to the owner; manages non-clinical staff" and "manages the hospital, including performance of associate veterinarians" describe two different jobs, and a posting that leaves this implicit will draw applicants who assume the wrong one.
See practice manager vs. hospital administrator for how to tell which one you're actually hiring, and the full hiring guide for why this is the single most common mistake in these postings.
Name the functions the role actually owns — staffing and scheduling, inventory and vendor relationships, billing and payment plans, compliance recordkeeping, and P&L reporting if the role includes it.
A posting that says only "manages the practice" reads as unscoped to the experienced candidates you most want applying.
State the credential question plainly rather than staying silent on it.
No state licenses this role, so there's nothing to require — but say whether CVPM (Certified Veterinary Practice Manager) is required, preferred, or not a factor. Is the CVPM worth requiring? covers what the credential actually verifies before you decide.
If this is genuinely a fractional or part-time engagement rather than an employee role, get the worker classification right before you post it — control over how, when and where the work happens is what decides W-2 versus 1099, not the label in the posting.
Last, check your state's job-posting rules before you publish, separate from anything above: some states require a posted salary range regardless of role, and a few protect specific job titles by law. What may I call my staff in a job posting? covers both, state by state.
The template
Copy the block below into your job board or ATS, and fill in the bracketed sections — starting with the authority line, since it decides which candidates should even apply.
[Practice Name] is seeking a Veterinary Practice Manager ABOUT THE PRACTICE [Practice type — e.g., single-location small animal practice, multi-doctor mixed-animal hospital] in [city, state], with [X] veterinarians and [X] support staff. [1–2 sentences on setting, ownership structure, and growth stage.] THE ROLE - Reporting line: [Reports to the owner/veterinarian(s) — OR — manages the hospital, including performance of the associate veterinarians] - Scope: [Office manager — front-of-house only / Practice manager — business operations, associates report to the owner / Hospital administrator — practice-manager scope plus authority over associates] - Direct reports: [front desk, technicians, kennel staff, etc. — list who reports to this role] RESPONSIBILITIES - Staffing and scheduling for non-clinical and support staff - Inventory management and vendor relationships - Billing, payment plans, and accounts receivable - Compliance recordkeeping [specify: controlled-substance logs, radiation-safety program, OSHA — only if this role owns them; clinical judgement and controlled-substance authority stay with the licensed veterinarian regardless] - [P&L reporting and budget ownership — include only if the role is scoped this way] - [Marketing, client experience, or other functions specific to this practice] QUALIFICATIONS - [X] years of veterinary or medical practice management experience [or: healthcare/operations management experience outside veterinary medicine] - CVPM (Certified Veterinary Practice Manager): [required / preferred / not required] - [Any software, PIMS, or financial-reporting experience required] COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS - Pay structure: [salary / hourly] - Salary range: [$X–$Y — see this page's note on what to budget before filling this in; check whether your state legally requires you to publish one] - Benefits: [health insurance, PTO, retirement, CE/management-training allowance, bonus structure] TO APPLY [Instructions, contact, or application link]
After you post
Once applications start coming in, ask the authority question directly in every first-round interview, out loud, even though the posting stated it: "Will the associate veterinarians report to you, or to the owner?" A candidate who hesitates or answers the way you didn't intend has caught a mismatch worth resolving before an offer, not after one.
Before you publish, compare your draft against current veterinary practice manager listings to see how other veterinary employers word the authority line and the function list.
On CVPM claims, ask to see the certificate rather than take the letters on a résumé at face value — it's a real, tested credential (three years of documented practice-manager experience, eighteen semester hours of management coursework, and a passing exam through the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association), and confirming it costs you one email.
What to budget: VHMA's 2023 survey put the median practice manager salary near $65,000, with office managers nearer $48,000 and hospital administrator roles at $80,000 or more — no BLS occupation covers this title specifically, so treat that survey, not a government wage table, as your primary benchmark.
See the full hiring guide's pay section for how the adjacent BLS management occupations cross-check against it.
Before the offer goes out, revisit whether this is really an employee role or a contractor engagement, and whether your posting needed a published pay range under your state's law — both are covered above and are easier to fix before an offer than after one.
This template is general guidance, not legal advice. Worker classification, job-posting title rules, and pay-transparency requirements vary by state and change often — confirm current requirements with an employment attorney before finalizing a posting or an offer.
Ready to fill this role?
Post your veterinary practice manager opening on VeterinaryHires, or read the full hiring guide for how to scope authority, verify the CVPM, and budget pay correctly.