Station Assistant

Who are we? GWR is the proud custodian of Brunel's railway - one of the most prestigious networks in the world. We have some of the newest trains in the country and exciting plans to extend our services. With more than one hundred million passenger journeys each year, we carry people to over 275 stations in the South West, from Cornwall and South Wales to London, passing through beautiful country and some of the UK's top tourist destinations. We are transforming the way people think about train travel, empowering our team of over 6,000 people from all different backgrounds to make it a great experience for our customers. Together, we will revalue rail as a very special way to travel – relaxing, fast, efficient, friendly and fun.

About the team: The stations team delivers a wide range of services to our customers, from being the first and last point of contact in a customer's journey, selling and checking tickets, making sure our customers know where to go, helping them to board and alight services, providing information and help to make the customer experience one to remember. The team is responsible for providing a safe and secure environment, delivering the safe and efficient dispatch of trains and ensuring that all the services provided at the station deliver to the highest standards. Working in a busy and challenging environment, the stations team work tirelessly to ensure a great customer experience is delivered, even when things go wrong.

About the Job: As a Station Assistant, you will cover a variety of stations in the South Devon Area, which could include working at Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Totnes, Torquay and Paignton. You will work alongside Station Colleagues providing information and assistance to customers and ensure that the station environment is kept to a high standard. To be successful in this role you will need to have a flexible approach due to the nature and variety of the role. As a seasonal colleague, we are looking for people who can work during the busy holiday periods. South Devon attracts huge numbers of tourists during the Easter, Summer and Christmas Holiday Periods, and we are looking for flexible staff to work on a part time basis during these busy periods. Full training is provided, and we are looking for people who can help year on year during these busy holiday periods.

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Delivering a high level of service to customers
• Maintaining high standards of station presentation by undertaking cleaning duties
• Being proactive in seeking out customers who require assistance
• Answer customer queries and provide assistance with luggage, prams and wheelchairs
• Operate the local public address system when required
• Ensuring the safety of customers, staff, visitors and contractors is given the highest priority

You’ll need to be:

• Able to deliver extraordinary front line customer service
• Able to understand customer requirements and expectations
• A self-starter with a can do attitude
• Confident when decision-making
• Calm yet directive in a crisis
• Able to work to strict procedures

As a minimum you will need to have:

• The ability to work as part of a team or independently
• Evidence of numerical ability
• Attention to detail
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• An ability to multitask well

Location: South Devon Stations are busy hubs for market towns within the region. It has good transport links to the surrounding areas. During the busy holiday periods due to the area's proximity to many popular tourist locations and venues will see large numbers visit this area.

Working pattern: The role requires shift working, 7 days a week including Sundays and Bank holidays during the busy holiday periods (Easter, Summer and Christmas school holiday periods). During less busy times you may not have any rostered hours. There is a guarantee of a minimum of 240 hours per annum.

Additional information: Applicants successfully short listed will be invited to an interview. Interviews will take place 24th and 25th March. The successful candidate will be required to meet the medical standard for the role, including a drugs and alcohol screen. A Basic DBS is also required for this role. Full training is provided which takes place at our training centre in Swindon, and lasts up to three weeks.

The Reward: As well as a great team environment and comprehensive training, all GWR colleagues enjoy a range of benefits including on-going development, defined benefit pension scheme, free rail travel across the GWR network for you and your family, company-sponsored health care plan, discounted shopping and gym membership and an employee assistance programme.

We all belong at GWR. This is our vision for providing an inclusive environment for all our colleagues, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment. We value our differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA, ethnicity, religion and disability. We maintain zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers, and future talent. We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive. We review all roles and job descriptions to ensure they are accessible and, where possible, we support and provide flexible working options; we recommend that you refer to each vacancy description for further details.