Control Room Operator

Whether you drive on motorways or major A-roads the staff in our Regional Operations Centre up and down the country are looking after you. Our trained Operators are the first point of contact when people ring an emergency roadside telephone, or if they breakdown or get into an accident and need assistance. They also set signs and signals, respond to alerts and urgent road defects, and make sure our road workers get on the network safely to conduct maintenance and upgrades. We do all this with great pride and passion, connecting businesses and families up and down the country. It is safe to say that no day is the same in our Regional Operations Centres.

We’re looking for people to join our diverse and energetic team to manage our road networks in the South East region, where you’ll be based at our Regional Operations Centre in Godstone.

You’ll be working with emergency services personnel, recovery companies, our very own Traffic Officers, our highways works personnel, and even motorists who have broken down or been involved in incidents. We expect you to be professional at all times yet highly motivated in providing a friendly and positive service.

Our Regional Operations Centre operates 24/7, 365 days of the year, so our operators work 6 days on, 3 days off and consists of a variety of shifts.

The starting salary for this role is up to £34,887.50 (made up of base salary plus 25% shift allowance and £1500 RRA) increasing to up to £36,262.50 (made up of base salary plus 25% shift allowance and £1500 RRA after 9 months probation.

What you’ll be leading on

Answering emergency roadside calls
Mobilising On Road teams, such as Traffic Officers, Inspectors and Maintenance Contractors, to emergencies and other requests
Transmitting and receiving messages via the radio to Traffic Officers and Emergency Services
Instructing our contractors to repair urgent defects and damage from incidents
Informing other emergency services and utility companies where required.
Monitoring and managing incidents from start to finish
Maintaining accurate incident logs by recording information gathered from multiple sources
Carrying out other administrative duties as required to help the safe running and operation of the network and the Regional Operations Centre

To be successful

We are looking for people to join us who are positive, compassionate, be IT literate, and good at communicating. If you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation

Some skills and requirements we are looking for include:

• GCSE Maths and English (Grade C/4 or above), or equivalent. However, if you do not have these qualifications, we’re still likely to accept applicants who have relevant work experience or similar level qualifications.

• Excellent communication skills and telephone manner

• Strong administration skills

• Ability to work calmly under pressure

• A high level of typing proficiency, preferably a minimum of 32 words per minute

• Be prepared to work shifts as part of a 24/7 cover

training beyond your probation with opportunities to get involved in projects across the business

• Annual leave entitlement is 26 days which increases by 1 each year until you reach 31 days of leave plus typically an additional 8 days due to Bank Holidays.

• Generous pension scheme with the employer putting up to 10% contributions to your 5%.

• Access to a 24/7 employee assistance programme that offers support for mental health, counselling and a range of other advice and information services available to you

About Us

Why you should join us

At National Highways we believe in a connected country. We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues feel connected, included and enjoy greater wellbeing to achieve this. We’re proud that as an organisation we are continually striving to do better and actively encourage and support our colleagues to do the same with their careers.

So, if you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation.

Our benefits package

Our total reward package includes basic salary, plus shift allowance.
Contributory pension scheme with employer contribution of up to 10%
Annual Leave starting at 192.4 hours increasing 1 days every year up to 229.4 hours, plus 8 days in replacement of bank holidays
Life assurance of 4 times annual salary
Health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7 365 days and network of mental health first aiders. Plus access to a wellbeing app to enhance your self-care 24/7, Occupational health service and flu vaccines
A cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
Significant investment in your career development, through learning and development, talent management, coaching, mentoring and on job experience

And we are

Family friendly with enhanced maternity leave and pay, paternity leave (15 days), shared parental leave, adoption leave. Plus access to financial support for holiday play schemes and paid special leave (up to 5 days pa), eg for caring responsibilities
Money friendly with access to a discounts platform including over 3000 discounts for supermarkets, eating out, leisure, holidays. Alongside a financial wellbeing programme
Community friendly – offering paid leave to volunteer, 3 days basic/year plus an extra 3 days to support the national Covid effort

If you are successful, it is key to know all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment checks which include:

Right to work check
3 year employment history references
DBS criminal record check
Social media and adverse journalism check
Driving licence check (if applicable)
Fit to work questionnaire (for all), followed by a medical check (if applicable)

And finally

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