Gas Operative - Special Operations in Houghton Le Spring

Gas Operative – Special Operations
Located across our network
Starting salary of £31,980 per annum, plus incentive scheme (additional earnings of up to £3,000 per annum)
Start date June 2025
Please note, a full UK Driving licence is required for this role

Here at Northern Gas Networks our Gas Operative – Special Operations (GO-SO) have a huge part to play in ensuring the areas in our Network have hot water and heating throughout even the very coldest of Northern winters! This is therefore a career opportunity that is truly at the very heart of our organisation.

It is important to be aware that this role requires only hardworking, dedicated, and committed individuals as our GO-SO will need to be flexible to work early starts, throughout the day or into the evening. Our GO-SO sometimes work in adverse weather conditions, so this is another important consideration before you apply. The reward however being that what you do, really does make a difference to our customers and communities.

Key accountabilities and responsibilities will include
• Working along-side the Special Operations team and helping perform tasks such as repairing escapes, camera surveys, digging and shoring excavations up to 6mtrs deep, large diameter flow stopping on low pressure mains, fit test and drilling under pressure tee\’s and branch saddles with an outlet size of up to 300mm, cold cutting and window cutting on live and dead mains
• Whilst carrying out mains and service replacement work, repairs to public reported gas escapes and other related aspects of gas distribution work, you will assist the Team Leader in the excavation, pipe laying, pipe jointing, connection and repair activities which are required to ensure the integrity of the gas network
• With the appropriate training provided, you will operate and use mobile plant, mechanical lifting and handling equipment, tools and other equipment in a safe and competent manner ensuring that they are correctly maintained and stored, e.g., mini excavator, pneumatic tools etc
• At all times, you will operate in accordance with relevant HSE Legislation, Company Standards and Codes of Practice
• You will communicate with colleagues, customers and members of the general public in order to request and process information
• You will be required to carry out driving duties as part of their role or be primarily assigned to driving for the purpose of collecting or delivering materials and equipment

What we are looking for in our GO-SO
• You will be a self-starter and understand the importance of a zero-tolerance safety culture and delivering excellent customer service every time
• Dynamic thinker
• Available for the 4-week period after your start date so that you can complete your training with 100% attendance
• Adhere to the clean-shaven policy as part of our Health & Safety policy
• Fit enough to meet the physical demands of the role
• You will be a champion for providing an excellent customer-service and will place the customer at the heart of what you do and be considerate and polite in all situations
• You will be fully trained for the role; however, we ask that you have eligibility to work in the UK, you are willing to work the variable shift patterns and participate in an out of hours\’ standby rota where applicable and enjoy working outdoors in all weathers, rain, or shine

What we offer
• A competitive starting salary of £31,980 per annum
• Incentive scheme – additional earnings of up to £3,000 per annum after a qualifying period
• Full training provided
• 41.25 hours per week over a 7-day variable work pattern, including standby. Rotas are given in advance and will include some night shifts although this would not be expected on a weekly basis
• Free onsite parking
• 25 days annual leave (plus recognised bank holidays and 2 half days over the Christmas period)
• SSP for first 7 calendar days then occupational sick pay
• A generous stakeholder 5/10 pension scheme
• Flexible benefits and salary sacrifice options… from discounts on a variety of UK attractions, gym membership, restaurant discounts, experience days…and much more!
• An array of fantastic family- friendly policies such as 6 weeks\’ paternity leave (for eligible employees) and 6 months\’ full pay for employees on maternity leave (for eligible employees), as well as shared parental leave and many more!

We are … Northern Gas Networks. We deliver gas to 2.7 million homes and businesses in the North East, Northern Cumbria and much of Yorkshire. That\’s around 6.7million individual customers. We don\’t generate or sell the gas, but we transport it to homes and businesses in our region through a vast network of underground pipes. In fact, we own and maintain more than 37,000km of gas pipes – enough to stretch from Leeds to Sydney and back again. We cover large cities like Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds, York, Hull, and Bradford, and our work extends to rural areas like North Yorkshire and Cumbria.

Our Values are at the heart of what we do. In addition to your key responsibilities, you will incorporate these into the daily life of your role. We are … Trailblazing, Empowered, Heartfelt, Community Focused, Intellectually Curious and most of all we are Happy!

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion culture at NGN is embedded in everything that we do. We will be delighted to hear from a diverse range of applicants, so we can continue to grow our great team of people. We are proud to support the Armed Forces Covenant, helping ex-services personnel back into employment, as well as being members of WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) and we are committed to delivering our ‘Opportunity Action Plan\’ having signed the Social Mobility Pledge campaign, whereby we will establish our business as a ‘force for good\’ in the communities that we serve.

Next Steps. Please apply by clicking apply and uploading your CV. We love to see how your experience and skills are transferable to this role so please ensure these are all included in your application. Once the advert has closed, we will be contact within one week to let you know if you have progressed to the next stage. We are looking to hold interviews for this role on the 29th April 2025. We look forward to receiving your application for the role.

If you require adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process, we want to hear about how we can help. Any applicant that requires reasonable adjustments from initial application through to interview are asked to contact the Recruitment Team at