Dispensing Optician

SeeAbility; Leatherhead; On-site; GBP 30,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a leading charity as a Special School Dispensing Optician, offering critical eye care services to young people in a non-commercial environment. This full-time role requires managing a caseload across multiple schools in London, ensuring high-quality support in complex situations. Competitive salary, professional development opportunities, and a commitment to wellbeing provided to aid work-life balance and employee support.

Benefits

Fully paid essential training

Annual excellence awards

28 days holiday increasing with service

Enhanced Family-Friendly Pay

Cycle to Work scheme

Life assurance of 2x annual salary

Free eye test

Paid DBS and renewals

Refer a friend and receive £600

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• Experience providing complex support with spectacles for children.
• Ability to collaborate with educational staff and clinical teams.
• Experience operating within a non-commercial healthcare setting.

Responsibilities

• Manage own diary and ensure efficient care for children.
• Dispense spectacles and follow up on casework.
• Liaise with schools for clinic bookings and consent.

Skills

Ability to attend multiple schools

Full driving license

Education

Registered as a Dispensing Optician

Job description

Join our Team as Special School Dispensing Optician

Location	London school sites/ home
Salary	£30,000 per annum with SeeAbility benefits + all professional fees + travel expenses
Hours	Full Time (37.5 hours)
Contract	Permanent
Start Date	September 2025
Essential	Ability to attend multiple schools in your London region is required, as well as a full driving license and regular access to a car

About You

This is an exciting opportunity for a full-time dispensing optician to work in a non-commercial, clinically challenging setting providing complex, creative and often life-changing support with spectacles to young people as part of our NHS special school eyecare service. You will have your own caseload of London schools and will work collaboratively with our established eye care team, as well as the school staff teams, and under the guidance of the special schools service manager and dispensing optician clinical lead. Ability to attend multiple schools in your London region is required, as well as a full driving license and regular access to a car.

What will you be doing?

The successful candidate would be expected to work 4-5 school days (20-25 hours) in the school setting during term time. You will be responsible for ensuring the smooth running of clinics across your defined school caseload. This will include managing your own diary, under the supervision of the service manager and dispensing optician clinical lead, to ensure efficient, timely, high-quality care for all children under our care. You will be responsible for providing spectacle dispensing, repairs, replacements and follow ups to your caseload.

Your responsibilities for the remainder of your FT role and school holidays will be to support the special schools service manager in ensuring the smooth running of the service. The service manager will have overall responsibility for the planning of clinics, and you will support by liaising with schools to book clinic rooms and gain consent from parents, book appointment diaries for yourself and the optometrists, respond to parent and school enquiries and offer and provide teaching staff inset training on eye care and vision.

*Please see the attached job description for detailed information involving the role

About us

Registered as The Royal School for the Blind, SeeAbility is one of the oldest disability charities in the UK. This year we are celebrating our 225^th anniversary, having pioneered specialist support across multiple generations since 1799!

We specialise in supporting people who have learning disabilities, autism, complex needs, who may also have sight loss. Our support ranges from providing person-centred support across our many supported-living and residential care provisions. Furthermore, we provide specialist eye-care services to children and adults alike and assists people with a disability to find paid employment for the very first time.

SeeAbility provides the resources and expertise that make this possible, we support people to live ambitious lives and achieve things they never thought possible.

#INDSJS

Your development and appreciation

• Fully paid essential training inc. Care Certificate
• Funded professional qualifications –QCF levels 2-6 available (valued at £3,000+)
• Annual excellence awards
• Long service awards every 5 years and recognition
• Development Discussions: Opportunity to discuss your progress and your future
• Leadership development academy for the next steps in your career

Your work-life balance

• 28 days holiday (incl. bank holidays), increasing to 36 days with long service ( 1 extra day for each year of service )
• Life events : Time off when you need it most
• 2 weeks Organisational Sick Pay after 6 months service, increasing to 12 weeks over your first 3 years
• Enhanced Family-Friendly Pay
• Paid Fertility Leave
• Carers Leave available
• Flexible Working : We are up for anything that works for your team and the wider organisation

Your money goes further

• £500 monthly bonus scheme for two lucky colleagues
• Enhanced overtime rates for working bank holidays and weekends
• Eligible for Blue Light Card discounts
• Discounts and cashback at hundreds of shops, restaurants and activities
• Access to Tickets for Good
• Pay reviews and commitment to pay competitive rates
• Employer contributory pension scheme: Support and tools to help you make the right decisions about your future
• Refer a friend and receive £600
• Paid DBS and renewals
• Season ticket loans
• Your wellbeing counts
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Life assurance of 2x annual salary
• Free 24/7 employee assistance programme for advice and support
• Free eye test
• Discounted Gym Membership
• Dedicated in house Wellbeing Coach for your team

SeeAbility is committed to safe and fair recruitment practices, safeguarding and protecting those who we support. It is a condition of employment that prospective employees will be subject to the following:

• A criminal background check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (where appropriate).
• Documentary evidence to confirm your identity, current address, and the right to work in the UK.
• Health Declaration to ensure that you are medically suitable for the role you have been offered.
• References will be obtained to ensure satisfactory evidence of conduct in current or previous employment concerned with the provision of services relating to (a) health or social care, or (b) children or vulnerable adults.

These checks will be carried out and completed prior to offering a date to start employment at SeeAbility's expense.

Diversity

SeeAbility is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from individuals of all identities, including those from underrepresented groups and those who have a disability or neurodivergent condition. We believe a diverse workforce drives innovation, creativity, and success. Everyone's unique experiences and views are appreciated, and their opinion valued. We are happy to offer any reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process or the role itself to ensure a fair and equitable experience for all candidates. In exceptional circumstances, the exempt from the Equality Act 2010 (Schedule 9, Part 1) which provides for the application of a genuine occupational requirement.