Who are we?

South Western Railway (SWR) operates over 1,500 services each weekday across the network and employs more than 5,000 people. We provide easy and convenient mobility, connecting people and communities in South West London, southern counties of England and the Isle of Wight.

Join our team and help us continue to improve quality of life, by bringing people together to get the most out of life.

SWR is part of FirstGroup, the largest rail operator in the UK and second largest bus operator in the UK outside London. FirstGroup operates services throughout the UK and Ireland, with over 30,000 employees providing services that make travel smoother and life easier.  FirstGroup works hard to reduce its impact on the environment, introducing cleaner and more environmentally responsible methods of transport. 

About the job:

As a Customer Ambassador, you are essential to our customer's travel experience. Customers look to you for advice and information for buying the best ticket for their journey. You're knowledgeable and personable, which enables our customers to start their journey effortlessly and with a smile.

Often the first port of call for our customers, whether that be for information, or to buy a ticket, your job is to make sure the customer has everything they need to travel confidently by train.

Your main responsibilities will be:

• You will be approaching customers in the station concourse offering help with purchasing tickets, as well as recommending best routes to those that need assistance.
• Proactively assist customers with the self-service machines ensuring they purchase the appropriate ticket for their journey while coaching and educating them on how to use the machine.
• This role will involve using several types of technology as well as performing routine maintenance to ticket vending machines.
• 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 and safety standards our customers expect. Whether this be checking everything is working and safe, to clearing up rubbish, or providing a helping hand to a customer, you are the face of SWR and can make a difference to someone's day.
• To help you deliver great customer service we will give you the tools for the job. These will range from the smart technology you will need to offer the best possible up to the minute information about our services to the outstanding training programme that will give you the knowledge to provide customers with the correct ticket for their journey.

As a minimum, you will need to be:

• Organised, proactive and able to efficiently prioritise tasks.
• Able to cope with repetitive tasks under pressure.
• A great communicator that enjoys working with people.
• Confident and happy to approach and talk to new people.
• Passionate about doing the right thing – nothing is too much trouble.

Applicants who require a visa must have 6 months remaining at the time of their appointment. Training is full time and you must be able to commit to this.

Working pattern:

Our customers need us all day, every day (except Christmas day) and as part of the stations team, you'll need to able to work shifts at all times of the day and on every day of the week.

On average you will work 37 hours per week over 5 days, including early, late and weekend shifts.

Shift times:
Sunday; 0750-1850
Monday to Friday; 0535 - 1259 / 0636 - 1400 / 1331 - 2055
Saturday; 0600 - 1324 / 0800 - 1524 / 1331 - 2055

The Reward:

Training:              £26,753 pro rata plus £1,093 regional allowance pro rata per annum. 
Fully trained:      £28,572 pro rata plus £1,093 regional allowance pro rata per annum.

There may on occasions be the opportunity to work on rest days or to do overtime.  This may give the possibility of your overall pay being approximately £32,000 per annum plus regional allowance.

As well as a competitive salary, we offer 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
• Full training and support with development
• Large range of exclusive retail offers
• Excellent pension scheme

We all belong at SWR. FirstGroup's vision is to provide an inclusive environment for all colleagues, across its group of businesses, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment.

We value our differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA+, ethnicity, religion, and disability. We maintain a zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers, and future talent.

We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive.

We review all roles and job descriptions to ensure they are accessible and, where possible, we support and provide flexible working options; we recommend that you refer to each vacancy description for further details.

If you require additional support to complete your application due to a disability or neurodivergent condition, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism, please follow the links below.  We encourage you to share any additional needs you may require so we can provide a fair and equal process for all who apply.

https://exceptionalindividuals.com/neurodiversity/

https://www.healthassured.org/blog/neurodiversity/