Guide Dog Trainer Supervisor

Pawsome Careers - Behind Every Guide Dog Is Someone Like You

Come and join us as a supportive and confident Guide Dog Trainer Supervisor, and be part of something life‑changing - helping people with sight loss live the life they choose

As a Guide Dog Trainer Supervisor at Guide Dogs, you’ll lead and inspire a team of Guide Dog Trainers, ensuring the highest standards of dog training quality, guiding them to reach the required standard for successful partnership training. Our Guide Dog Trainer Supervisors play a huge part in ensuring everything we do enables us to deliver on our purpose and exceed expectations.

This role is based at our Atherton office. You’ll be working 35 hours per week, worked 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. 

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible for the day-to-day line management of a team of GDT staff working across the geographical area/site location. Providing technical supervision, development, coaching and support.
• Ensure that staff under your direction act in compliance with relevant policies, procedures, and quality standards, including safeguarding and health and safety.
• Contribute to the achievement of the local business plan either directly or indirectly through the management and development of staff.
• Work with the Operations Manager on dog flow, ensuring the seamless intake of dogs from puppy raising.
• Identify issues and risks in resources to the service delivery plan and work with the Operations Manager to find solutions.

You

You’ll have a proactive, people-focused and quality-driven approach to team leadership, dog training and performance management. You’ll enjoy working in a hands-on, collaborative and outcome-focused environment, with a dedicated focus on developing your team, ensuring high training standards and progressing dogs to successful partnerships. You’ll act with integrity and honesty in everything you do.

Skills and Competencies

• Qualified Guide Dog Trainer or Guide Dog Mobility Specialist or an IGDF equivalent qualification, with substantial experience in the sector.
• Current valid EU Driving licence; or demonstratable evidence of alternative in fulfilling the need to transportation guide dog stock to and from different locations.
• Experience of guide dog training to ‘Match/Class ready’ standard, using approved methods and techniques in canine behaviour.
• Able to practically apply theoretical knowledge.
• Previous experience of supervising/mentoring others (staff or volunteers) or willingness to train and develop managerial skills.
• Able to undertake the physical demands of the role including walking long distances (daily in excess of 8-10 miles), unaided, in all weather conditions. Able to handle and walk with a range of dog breeds, ages and temperaments.

Benefits

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

• 26 days annual leave. After three years of continuous employment, this increases to 28 days plus bank holidays.
• Real Living Wage Employer
• Flex pot - equal to a proportion of your annual 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 your pension contributions plus 2% up to a maximum of 9% employer contribution)
• And lots more!

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

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

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

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.  Please note - If you are successful you will need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK via our digital ID checking supplier.  We cannot offer visa sponsorship at this time.

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 will also be asked to complete a few job-specific questions, so please be prepared to write your answers to these questions.

If you choose to use AI tools to assist in completing your application, please use them appropriately.  We value authenticity. If you want to stand out, using a generic AI-generated response isn’t going to separate you from the crowd. This is your time to shine and showcase your unique skills, personality, and thought processes!  You can find our full statement on the use of AI to complete applications on our careers website.

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].

Safer recruitment

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 will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check and sign up to the DBS update service.

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. We encourage all candidates to disclose relevant information, and we assure you that it will be handled confidentially and fairly.