Sighted Guide Training Officer

Guide Dogs; Newcastle upon Tyne; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days annual leave

Real Living Wage Employer

Flex pot - flexible benefits

Annual leave purchase option

Discounts and cash-back scheme

Excellent pension scheme (employer +2%

Job summary

Guide Dogs in the United Kingdom is seeking a Sighted Guide Training Officer to deliver training and awareness sessions across local organisations, Friends and Family groups, and corporate partners. You will build and manage community and corporate networks, and lead a team of volunteer trainers to ensure high-quality sessions tailored to diverse audiences.

The role requires travel within the North East region and occasional UK travel, with 35 hours per week in a home-based setting.

Qualifications

• Experience in delivering training and building community networks.
• Experience in supporting volunteers and engaging diverse groups.
• Willingness to travel across Newcastle, County Durham, Northumberland and UK as needed.
• Strong presentation and facilitation skills.

Responsibilities

• Deliver Sighted Guide training to local organisations, Friends & Family groups, and partners.
• Build and manage networks with community and corporate organisations to develop partnerships.
• Lead and mentor a team of volunteer trainers to deliver sessions.
• Coordinate training referrals and ensure alignment with Guide Dogs services and objectives.
• Collaborate with Service Marketing to target outreach effectively.

Skills

Training delivery

Volunteer management

Community engagement

Presentation skills

Facilitation skills

Relationship building

Education

Level 3 Award in Education and Training

Train the Trainer qualification

Level 3 Assessor Award

Job description

About The Role

This is a home-based role, working 35 hours per week and candidates will need to be based within Newcastle upon Tyne, County Durham or Northumberland as this role requires regular travel across this region with travel across to Cumbria. Further occasional travel and overnight stays around the UK may also be required, so you’ll need to be flexible to work outside of standard hours to meets the needs of the community and deliver training where required. Expenses for travel within the region will be covered, however if you live outside of this area commuting costs will not be paid.

In person interviews for this role are planned to take place W/C 7th December.

You’re passionate about creating a more inclusive society for people with vision impairment. You have experience in delivering training, building community networks, and supporting volunteers.

As Sighted Guide Training Officer, you’ll play a crucial role in supporting customers through their journey by delivering training and awareness sessions to local organisations, Friends and Family groups, and corporate partners. You’ll work to create a more inclusive environment for people with vision impairment by equipping individuals and organisations with essential Sighted Guide skills.

You’ll be responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of Sighted Guide training to a range of audiences, engaging and inspiring participants in every session. You’ll work closely with the Vision Rehabilitation Team to support customers in achieving their mobility goals and provide tailored Friends & Family Sighted Guide training to their support networks.

A key aspect of your role will be building and managing networks with community and corporate organisations, developing training partnerships, and delivering high-quality awareness sessions. You’ll work closely with Service Marketing to ensure outreach efforts are targeted and effective.

You’ll also lead a team of volunteer trainers, ensuring they are highly trained, engaged, and supported in delivering sessions. This includes managing a pipeline of new volunteers, mentoring their development, and ensuring all volunteers meet the high standards required for training delivery. In addition, you’ll handle local training referrals, ensuring sessions align with Guide Dogs’ services and objectives, while maintaining contact with community networks and training partners.

You’ll thrive in this role if you have experience in training delivery, volunteer management, and community engagement. Strong presentation and facilitation skills are essential, as well as the ability to build relationships and engage a variety of stakeholders. You should hold a Level 3 Award in Education and Training or being willing to work towards attaining this. It would be beneficial if you held a Train the Trainer qualification and/or a Level 3 Assessor Award.

You should be confident in delivering training to both small and large audiences, adapting sessions to meet the needs of different learning styles. Your organisational and communication skills will ensure that training sessions run smoothly, and that relationships with partners and volunteers are well maintained.

Benefits

Wewouldn’t be able to change the lives of people with sight loss without ourpeople. That’s why it’s important for us to provide a variety of benefits thatreward our colleagues in a way that suits them and recognises the hard work andcontribution that they make.

• 26 days annual leave. After three years ofcontinuous employment, this increases to 28 days plus bank holidays.
• Real Living Wage Employer
• Flex pot - equal to a proportion of yourannual salary to use on our wide variety of flexible benefits
• The option to buy and sell annual leave
• Discounts and cash-back scheme
• Excellent pension scheme (We will match yourpension contributions plus 2% up to a maximum of 9% employer contribution)
• And lots more!

For highvolumes of applications, we reserve the right to close adverts earlier thanadvertised.

About Us

Trebuchet MS with Updated Inkey Blue

OurCommitment to Diversity and Inclusion

BehindEvery Guide Dog Is Someone Like You - We’re passionate about creating aninclusive workplace that celebrates and values diversity. Bring your whole selfto work regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, maritalor civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, nationality, ethnic ornational origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. We don’t wantyou to ‘fit’ our culture, we want you to enrich it.

Saferrecruitment

GuideDogs follow Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding thevulnerable people we work with. As part of this, we require a full work historywith any gaps accounted for & a minimum of 2 professional referee detailsfully covering the past 5 years. If you are applying for a disclosure role,please note that you will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check and signup to the DBS update service.

At GuideDogs, we believe in fair and equitable hiring practices. A criminal record willnot automatically disqualify an applicant from consideration for a position.Each case will be evaluated individually. We encourage all candidates todisclose relevant information, and we assure you that it will be handledconfidentially and fairly.