Access Assistant

You’re someone who takes pride in supporting others to do their best work and enjoy a role that’s varied and people-focused where no two days look the same.

As an Access Assistant, you'll provide essential one-to-one support that enables a colleague with sight loss to carry out their job effectively and confidently. Whether you're offering sighted guiding in unfamiliar environments, supporting with administrative tasks, or ensuring safe and reliable travel across the region, your role will be key in helping someone work independently.

You’ll need to be confident using Microsoft Office tools like Word, Excel and Outlook, as you’ll help with tasks such as calendar management, data input, and accessing digital and printed information. You’ll also provide practical support during meetings, including notetaking, and act as a trusted partner, handling sensitive information with professionalism and care.

A full, clean UK driving licence is essential for this role, as you’ll be responsible for driving a colleague across the East Midlands and occasionally further. To succeed in this role, you’ll need excellent communication skills, a high level of organisation, and the ability to work both independently and flexibly. You'll build a close working relationship based on trust and understanding, supporting not by doing, but by enabling.

An understanding of confidentiality, safeguarding and awareness of sighted guiding techniques is highly desirable.  This is a role where empathy, patience, and a person-centred approach really matter.

No two people with sight loss are the same, and none of our people are either. So, we are proud to offer a range of person-centred benefits that can support each member of staff in ways that really mean something to them – and show them how much they mean to us. We offer a flexible benefits package, discounts and cashback scheme, a generous holiday allowance and matched contributory pension scheme to care for our people.  

Ideally the successful candidate will be based around the High Peak/ Manchester area as this role will be based from home with regular travel across the East Midlands and occasionally further afield. Working hours are Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm with an occasional need to work outside of standard business hours and spend a night away from home.

Interviews for this role will take place at our Nottingham office and are planned for W/C 19 May 2025.

For high volumes of applications, we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than advertised.

How to apply 

Further details on the full role are attached below. When you are ready to apply, submit an online application form via this page.

If you would like to have an informal conversation about the role before applying, or require any accessibility support to apply, our friendly recruitment team is ready and waiting to help. Call them on 0118 3540345 or drop an email to [email protected].

As part of your application ensure you provide evidence and examples of how your skills & experience meet the criteria as set out in the attached job description. You’ll also be asked to complete a few job-specific questions as part of this application process, so please be prepared to write your answers to these questions. 

If you want to know more about the teams who work at Guide Dogs, you can find it on our Careers Page

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Guide Dogs welcomes applications from all sections of the community and actively encourages diversity to maximise achievements, creativity and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or nationality. 

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are proud, whenever possible, to offer an interview to all candidates that meet our selection criteria, and who indicate they wish their application to be considered under our Disability Confident interview commitment. For more details, visit our careers site.

If you are successful you’ll need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK via our digital ID checking supplier; in addition, we cannot offer visa sponsorship at this time.

Every day is different at Guide Dogs. And no person with sight loss is the same. We work side by side, on our sites and in the community, in schools and on our streets, supporting people to live the life they choose. Our staff therefore also work in different ways to support the delivery of our life changing work.

Safeguarding

Guide Dogs is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk of harm with whom we work. We expect all our employees and volunteers to fully share this commitment.

 At Guide Dogs, we believe in fair and equitable hiring practices. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify an applicant from consideration for a position. Each case will be evaluated individually, taking into account the nature of the offense, its relevance to the role, and the time that has passed since the incident. We encourage all candidates to disclose relevant information, and we assure you that it will be handled confidentially and fairly.

Guide Dogs follow Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding the vulnerable people we work with. As part of this, we require a full work history with any gaps accounted for & a minimum of 2 professional referee details fully covering the past 5 years. If you are applying for a disclosure role, please note that you’ll be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check and sign up to the DBS update service.