Adviser

Adviser (Trade Union and Professional Body)

Location: RCN Cardiff Gate Office (Hybrid working offered post induction)

Contract: Permanent contracts available (Fixed Term Contract or Secondments available if preferred)

Hours: 21 - 35 hours per week

Imagine being faced with a world of exciting possibilities that could ultimately enable you to support our members and help shape the health policies of the future. As the UK’s largest trade union and professional body for nursing, we support over half a million members with unwavering loyalty and total commitment. We represent and develop them, support their practice and lobby on their behalf to make a positive difference to their working lives.

We're accredited with Investors in People Silver Standard. Our people are our greatest asset, and we want people who can contribute to our purpose in line with our values.

As an adviser, you’d be making a real difference to RCN members. Every day of the year, our contact centre provides telephone and written (email and live chat) support on a wide range of work-related topics. We empower our members by ensuring they understand their rights and responsibilities in the workplace. You can see the breadth of our advice at http://www.rcn.org.uk/get-help.

The role is demanding and would particularly suit those from a contact centre, trade union, HR, legal, advisory, care, or nursing background.

Advisers receive comprehensive training and resolve around two-thirds of contacts themselves, arranging further support where members need local or specialist RCN services. Calls are not scripted, which gives advisers autonomy to help our members.

You will be required to work in the Cardiff Gate office for approximately six weeks to undertake your induction training. Following this, you will work in the office for a minimum of two days a week to allow us to fully support you in your journey as an adviser.

The adviser role involves evening (until 8:30pm) and weekend work, but because we know that work-life balance is important, the rota is published at least four weeks ahead. Currently, advisers work up to one weekend in four on a predictable rotation.

We are a very friendly team, highly supportive of one another, and we make a huge difference to the lives of our members.

To join us you’ll need:

1. A proven record of excellent customer service skills
2. To excel at verbal and written communication
3. Strong problem-solving and reasoning skills
4. Be technologically proficient
5. Be a quick learner; this is a dynamic environment so you’ll need to be able to keep up.
6. Be emotionally resilient; as well as having the ability to empathise, you will be helping those in professional and personal difficulty. This is not a signposting role.
7. Be committed to self-directed learning

You don't necessarily need a clinical background or university education to be a successful candidate. Instead, we require people who have insight and relevant life skills and experiences.

Those applying should ideally have knowledge of employment law, workplace relations, and professional issues facing RCN members, as well as the ability to build rapport quickly. The issues that advisers deal with can often be distressing, so candidates who can maintain personal resilience and demonstrate professionalism in challenging circumstances will be more successful.

Our pay is highly competitive with annual leave up to 43 days including bank holidays. We offer an impressive range of benefits, a broad range of development opportunities, and an award-winning health and wellbeing programme. Balancing work and life commitments is important to us as a diverse organisation, and we understand everyone has different needs.

Advisers are based at Cardiff Gate since in-person interaction within the team is important for development and wellbeing; however, hybrid working is available following induction.

Our selection process:

Please click the ‘apply now’ button to submit a CV and answer the supporting questions online demonstrating how you meet the criteria for this role. You may not be shortlisted if you don’t. Please ensure your CV is in a simple format with minimal tables and sections. Any identifying information in your application will automatically be anonymised for shortlisting purposes. Please see more information on our recruitment journey here: http://www.careers.rcn.org.uk/Vacancies/Recruitment-journey.

Please state in your supporting statement what your preference of hours would be. All applications will be based on merit.

We want your experience applying for a job with us to be the best it can be. We may offer interviews and assessments held by Microsoft Teams video call. If you foresee any problems with accessing a computer, webcam, or internet connection for this, please do let us know in your supporting statement.

Equal opportunities for everyone:

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are a priority for us and we aim to foster an inclusive environment so our people can bring their authentic selves to work. This is integral to our mission to enable you to support our members and ensure their voice is heard by all UK governments to get the best outcomes for them and their patients.

As a proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme, we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities.

Contact details:

For more information or for an informal discussion about the role, please contact Nathan Arthur, Team Manager on 01633 744704.

For more information on the Recruitment & Selection process, please contact recruit@rcn.org.uk.

Opening Date: 16th December 2024

Closing Date: 11.59pm on 26th January 2025.

If we receive many applications after a week of advertising, this vacancy may close earlier.

Assessment Centre Dates: w/c 03/02/2025.

If shortlisted, you may need to attend on 2 separate dates, only one of which would be in person at the Cardiff Gate Office.

You will be invited to select a time within these date periods.

Interview Dates: w/c 10/02/2025 (TBC).