Helpline advisor jobs

We have an exciting opportunity for Helpline Advisors to join the growing National Contact Centre team in Cardiff, working 37.5 hours a week over a 24/7 rota. These positions are offered on a fixed term basis until 31 March 2027.

Do you want to make a difference every day? Do you want to contribute to change & improvement for those who need it?

Do you have resilience & adaptability? Can you work effectively with a focus on customer service and care? If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…

What we offer:

At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:

• 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays (pro rata)
• An extra day off for your birthday & options to buy or sell annual leave
• Pension with 5% employer contribution
• Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
• High Street, retail, holiday, gym, entertainment & leisure discounts
• Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
• Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
• Access to EDI networks and colleague cafes
• Cycle to work scheme & season ticket loans
• Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression

About the role:

This role is based at our National Contact Centre in Cardiff. There will be an initial induction period that will run Monday to Friday 9am-5pm for a 4 week period. After successfully completing your induction, you will move to your fixed rota hours.

As a Helpline Adviser you will:

• Able to respond to victims of and those affected by crime by providing emotional support, information and referrals on to Victim Support services and other agencies
• Providing immediate support, advice and trauma first aid referrals to victims of and those affected by major incidents and terrorism.
• Seamlessly working across multiple services with different processes, procedures and recording mechanisms.
• Managing and responding appropriately to competing priorities, services and needs.
• Responsible for taking disclosures and responding appropriately by either escalating the safeguarding concern to the 'Designated Safeguarding Officer' or to respond immediately to life threatening situations.

You will need:

• Experience of working in challenging and changing environments with the emphasis on excellence in service delivery.
• Experience of organising and prioritising a complex workload.
• The ability to deal sensitively with challenging and emotionally charged situations, demonstrate empathy and control own emotions.
• The ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in written form, including telephone skills
• Knowledge and understanding of:
• Relevant agencies and resources
• Importance of confidentiality and safe working practice
• Diversity issues and principles
• The impact of crime

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.

About Us:

Victim Support is an independent charity dedicated to supporting people affected by crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales. We put them at the heart of our organisation and our support and campaigns are informed and shaped by them and their experiences.

Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.

At Victim Support, we're proud to celebrate diversity and create a workplace where everyone feels they belong. We're committed to being an antiracist organisation, and we actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those from Black and Asian and other minoritised communities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet all essential criteria for a job where it is practicable to do so. We are also happy to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment and selection process.

How to apply:

To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date. If you have already registered & started an application, then we will contact you to advise of the amended closing date wherever possible.

You will be responding to helpline calls, which can cover wide-ranging and multifaceted issues. You will be using helpline skills to listen to callers’ concerns and draw on your expertise to provide tailored guidance to service users. You will need to ensure that you follow helpline safeguarding and data protection procedures and accurately record information into our Parents Helpline database. And, above all, you will have a strong passion for helping parents and carers to support themselves and their child in the best way they can.

Please note that our Helpline currently works within a hybrid model, with members of the team coming into the office 1-2 days per week. Our position concerning working arrangements may change in the future. 

The part time position will consist of 28 hours (4 days per week), with core working days being Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. 

In this role you will be required to work one evening shift per week until 6.45pm or 8.45pm, depending on the operational requirements of the service.

We are considering piloting extended helpline opening hours later in the evening and/or at the weekend in the future, so this role will require occasional out-of-hour work.