Job description
South Western Railway is committed to equal opportunities employment, and your application will be reviewed by the hiring panel with personal information removed. In order to assist this process please ensure that any attachments such as CV's or covering letter have personal details removed. Any other attachments such as professional qualifications can be left unedited. Applications not following this guidance may be rejected.
As a Meet & Greet Assistant, you are the face of South Western Railway's customer assistance at London Waterloo.
Who are you?
You love working with people and helping them get to and from their trains. You will enjoy helping customers who need a helping hand. You are a great communicator, can talk to anyone and are passionate about doing the right thing – nothing is too much trouble. You can use technology and your own experiences to provide the most up to date travel information for your customers.
You must be alert and flexible in your approach to tasks and have the confidence to engage with our customers.
Main things you'll deliver
You will provide all kinds of assistance to our customers:
- You will assist people with visible and non-visible disabilities, and others who choose to request customer assistance at Waterloo to and from their trains. To do this successfully you will drive our customer assistance buggies and use our station wheelchairs, or any other suitable means.
- You'll carry items of luggage around the station, and use our station ramps to allow people who need help with the step to board or alight our trains. So you'll need to be physically fit.
- When not providing individual assistance you will provide excellent customer service and help to answer customer queries.
- As your experience grows, you will become the font of all knowledge about not only the customer's SWR journey, but about key destinations, attractions, and London transport.
You will need to be flexible in your approach and not afraid to get stuck in with a variety of tasks as you are responsible for your station and making sure it meets the quality, cleanliness and safety standards our customers expect. You are the face of SWR and can make a difference to someone's day.
Working hours
Working an average of 37 hours per week
Monday - Saturday: 7hours 24 minutes shifts between 0630 and 2239
Monday to Saturday 06:30-13:24,07:30-14:54,08:30-15:54,10:00-17:24,13:00-20:24,14:00-21:24,15:15-22:39
Sunday 07:00-15:00 & 14:30-22:30
Colleagues should note that they should be able and willing to work longer shifts (up to 9:30) and start work at 0600 and finish at 2359. A review of the roster is expected in 2023.
Other important information
Because we always need to be alert, we have very strict requirements around drugs and alcohol, and you will need to pass a medical checking your general health.
You will also need to be able to complete a number of assessments that make sure you are the right person for this varied yet demanding role in delivering great journeys for our customers.
This role involves driving our customer assistance buggy across the station. A full UK driving licence is preferred, but not essential.
The role involves some manual handling. You will also be assisting customers with their luggage, assisting wheelchair users, and lifting ramps to help customers on and off trains. You should be physically fit and able to undertake these tasks.
There is some multitasking, and you should have excellent time management skills.
Please Note: For new entrants to South Western Railway, training for this position will be up to 4 weeks on a full-time basis, office hours, without exception. Please ensure you are able to commit to this before applying. Applicants who require a visa, must have at least 6 months remaining at the time of their appointment.
In return we offer a competitive salary and a variety of valuable benefits including free duty and leisure travel on SWR services for employee, free leisure travel for spouse/partner and dependants (criteria dependant) , 75% discount on many other train operating companies, a range of retail benefits and an excellent pension scheme.
At SWR we believe our people are our greatest asset.
Our vision is to recruit and retain the best talent from most diverse pool of candidates across our regions.
We are committed to establishing a sense of inclusion for all and to value each person for the unique contribution they bring.