Trainee Optical Assistant

Trainee Optical Assistant – Retford, Nottinghamshire

Are you a passionate, people focussed optical assistant looking for an environment in which to grow your career, surrounded by an award winning team? If so, Specsavers Retford might just be the home for you…

Based in north Nottinghamshire, with the train station a 5 minute walk away and A1 within touching distance, Retford is easily accessed from many surrounding towns, including; Worksop, Doncaster, Mansfield, Newark and Lincoln. Retford opened its doors over 30 years ago and has become known locally for its first-class service, highly professional and knowledgeable team and dedication to supporting the local community. The store has just finished a major £350,000 expansion and refit at the end of 2025, so it’s looking factory fresh! We may be biased, but with the double glass fronted unit, illuminated frame displays and generous internal space, I’d say we’re the standout shop in Retford!

In 2025 we were delighted to win the Specsavers award for Excellence in the Community, for our work on community engagement, marketing and support for local charities. Alongside Retford the directors run another highly successful sister store in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, and if variety appeals, the option is available to work across both stores, however this isn’t a requirement.

Our team

We’re a successful business and its all because of our amazing team. A shared passion for great service and doing right by the customer guides our journey. We’re looking for a Customer Assistant that shares the same ethos, someone who thinks going above and beyond to impress our customers is all in a day’s work, someone who is committed to perfecting the customer journey and upskilling themselves.

Your career

We have a proven track record of looking after our people and developing their talents. With most of our Optical Assistants gaining their level 3 & 4 dispensing qualifications and some going on to study to become qualified Dispensing Opticians, Contact Lens Opticians and even Optometrists. For those who do not have a clinical passion, our management development offer, which includes in house training as well as courses and qualifications accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), has seen many colleagues progress into leadership roles both in store and the wider Specsavers group. In fact, our current assistant manager, store manager and one of our partners, all started in the business as an optical assistant! Your future is in good hands in Retford.

What’s on offer

• Salary – £12.91 per hour
• 37.5 hours per week to include 1 weekend day or alternate weekends
• 28 days holiday plus your birthday off!
• A private medical and dental cash plan
• Specsavers Perks - our discounted benefits scheme
• A paid “volunteering’ day each year
• WeCare – a confidential employee support service, that includes free; counselling, virtual GP service, legal and financial help, plus more
• Outstanding clinical and professional development opportunities
• Additional annual leave for long service

What we’re looking for?

If Retford is starting to sound like a store you could call home, here are some of the skills we are looking for:

• Previous optical experience as an Optical Advisor or Dispensing Assistant- dispensing both single vision and multifocal lenses, including high index lenses
• A strong baseline level of knowledge of dispensing and optics
• A people person, who loves to chat to customers and work with a friendly team
• Great teamwork, we do our fair share and help each other out
• Confidence in technology, you don’t need to know how to use our operating system, but general IT skills are a must
• A desire to develop and learn, not everyone who joins us wants to complete further professional training, this is no issue, but optics is a changing world and continuous development and improvement in role is essential
• Excellent communication skills, talking to customers is what we do!

Still interested? Does this sound like you? Please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.