Are you passionate about health, fitness, and wellbeing? This is an exciting opportunity to do what you love. THRIVE with Durham Leisure Centres. We have a number of Leisure Assistant positions available. These are exciting roles that present an opportunity for you to engage with all remits of our centres. Across our leisure centres, permanent full and part time posts are available, along with casual as and when required posts. WHAT IS INVOLVED? As a Leisure Assistant, you will be an advocate for physical activity, proactively encouraging and supporting customers to live a healthy, active lifestyle. You will be responsible for supporting the full remit of the centre, including lifeguard duties and encouraging children and young people to be more active. Overall, you will provide a high-quality service to our customers that is safe, efficient, and enjoyable. No two days will be the same. We encourage you to contact Dean Wade, Leisure Operations Manager at dean.wade@durham.gov.uk to arrange an informal discussion about the role. WHAT WILL I NEED? You must have relevant experience in a customer focused environment and/or leisure centre and/or gym, together with effective communication skills. Level 2 gym instructor or equivalent and /or National Pool Lifeguard qualification First Aid Certificate or ability to work towards within an agreed time scale. In line with the pre-employment checks required for posts at facilities with a swimming pool where lifeguarding is part of the role, confirmation of appointment will be subject to the satisfactory completion of an in-house pool water competency assessment in respect of ability against the lifeguarding criteria. Please refer to the attached person specification for the full criteria. If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure. Our commitment to safeguarding Durham County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore if successful in your application, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be sought inclusive of a check of the Children’s Barred List due to the position working in regulated activity. Applicants should be aware that the DBS check will disclose both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings, in line with current legislation and will confirm whether an individual is barred from working with children. INTERVIEWS Interviews will be held on week commencing 11th May 2026 We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran. OUR OFFER TO YOU We offer a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years’ continuous local government service), membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme, and a range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working (home and office) where applicable. Explore the full range of rewards and benefits on our website Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions. EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION We are a proud equal opportunities employer and believe a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas and drives service improvement. We welcome applications from everyone and make employment decisions based on skills and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled and neurodivergent people and offer support throughout the recruitment process. HOW TO APPLY Please note, we do not accept CVs. All applications must be submitted online via the Northeast Jobs portal. Use the ‘Person Specification’ section of the form to clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential (and where possible, desirable) criteria. Applications that do not evidence the essential requirements will not be shortlisted. Please visit our website to understand our position on using AI to support your application and for guidance on completing your application. If you require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27(option 5) or via email RecruitmentREG@durham.gov.uk All correspondence relating to your application will be sent from donotreply@northeastjobs.org.uk. Kindly check your spam/junk folder regularly to ensure you don’t miss any updates. CONNECT WITH US Follow us on Instagram Like us on Facebook Visit our website VPRS/161