Lifeguard
Lifeguard
- Location:Ongar Leisure Centre (CM5)
- Salary:£13.45 per hour
- Employment Type:Casual
- Hours per Week:0
- Grade:6
- Closing Date:9 November 2026

- Leisure - Operations
image placeholder
Places Leisure is part of the Places for People Group, we're changing lives by creating active places and healthier people for communities to thrive. As one of the UK's leading Social Enterprises, Places for People believes it's people who make a community, which is why we build homes, deliver services and create opportunities that help communities flourish.
At Places for People, we hire People, not numbers. We're looking for individuals who share our values, do the right thing, support their communities and are motivated to grow. We apply the same philosophy to our colleagues as we do to our communities, ensuring everyone feels valued, supported and empowered to succeed. Here, you're more than just a colleague, you're part of our cause. Join a community that cares about you.
So, what are you waiting for? Join a community that cares about you!
More about your role
As a Placemaker, you'll play a key role in creating a friendly, welcoming and supportive environment for all customers. You'll help showcase our products and services, supporting customers to find the right membership, activity or programme to achieve their goals. You'll proactively follow up enquiries, use our membership systems and sales tools, and support membership growth and participation across the centre.
You'll also contribute to secondary spend opportunities including retail and catering sales, manage transactions in line with procedures, and ensure all activities are completed in accordance with data management policies. Working collaboratively with colleagues, you'll help create a positive atmosphere where customers feel a genuine sense of belonging to the centre, activities and the Places Leisure brand.
Essential Criteria
- Experience working in a customer-facing or customer service role.
- Ability to follow up customer enquiries and prospects using digital systems and technology.
- Experience supporting sales, membership, enrolment or customer retention activities.
- Experience handling cash and processing transactions accurately.
More about you
You're passionate about delivering outstanding customer experiences and enjoy helping people find activities and services that meet their needs. You are organised, confident using technology and motivated by working towards targets. You'll be comfortable working in a busy environment, managing multiple priorities and maintaining high standards of service.
You'll bring customer service experience and ideally have experience of cash handling and till operations. Any customer service or food handling qualifications would be an advantage, although not essential. A positive, team-focused approach and a commitment to creating a welcoming environment for every customer are key to success in this role. A criminal records check is not required for this position.
Benefits
We are a large diverse and ambitious business, which will give you all the challenge you could wish for.
We know that there's always more we can do to make you smile, that's why we offer a comprehensive benefits package with each role, yours will include:
- We pay the Real Living Wage as a minimum
- Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
- Bonus scheme for colleagues up to 2%
- Option to buy or sell annual leave days
- Healthcare cashback plan for everyday medical costs, with private GP and health support services available
- Comprehensive wellbeing support including counselling, flu jabs, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and access to our Wellbeing Hub, supporting your mental, physical and financial wellbeing
- Access to Our Place Rewards, offering discounts and savings on groceries, travel, shopping, home products and other lifestyle purchases
- Ongoing training, professional qualifications, internal development programmes and career progression opportunities
- Recognition programmes including Star Awards and Colleague Awards, celebrating achievements and recognising great work
- Strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing and colleague engagement
- Free membership to Places Gyms
- Life Assurance to provide financial security for your loved ones, alongside access to will writing services to help you plan for the future with confidence
What's next?
If you meet the criteria and are ready to make the next step in your career then apply following our simple 5 minute application process, upload your CV which demonstrates how you meet the requirements of the role.
Please note that we may bring the closing date forward, if we receive a large number of quality applications. If you are interested in this role we would advise applying immediately to avoid disappointment.
If you are using a mobile device such as an iPad then ensure your CV is stored in the cloud, we currently support Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox.
At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect.
We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment.
By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities.
Armed Forces - We are proud to support the Armed Forces Covenant. Places for People will guarantee an interview for any candidate who is serving or has formerly served in the Armed Forces, as a reservist, armed forces veteran (including the wounded, injured and sick), cadet instructor and military spouse/partner and who meets the essential criteria for the vacancy.
Disability Confident - We are proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme certified as Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. This helps us to successfully employ and retain people with disabilities and health conditions. Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for a vacancy will be guaranteed an interview. The Equality Act 2010 (Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for NI) defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has sa substantial and long-term negative effect on their ability to do daily activities.
Neurodivergent – Neurodiverse individuals have highly valuable skills, and we recognise that a traditional interview process sometimes works against them and doesn’t allow them to self-advocate. Neurodiverse applicants who meet the criteria for a vacancy will be guaranteed an interview.



