Helpline advisor (fixed-term contract)

Closing date: Wednesday 12 August 2026

Location: Based in Andover, Hampshire, with hybrid working available (1–2 days per week in the office)

Salary: £29,000 - £31,000 pro-rata - Full time - 35 hours per week - 6 month fixed-term contract

Join us in Beating Macular Disease

Are you an experienced helpline or patient information professional? Do you want to use your skills and knowledge to help Beat Macular Disease? If you're passionate about providing calm, reassuring information and advice, and want to use your knowledge of macular disease to support people living with progressive sight loss, we'd love to hear from you.

About the Macular Society

Macular disease is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK, with around 300 people diagnosed every day. We're the only UK charity determined to beat the fear and isolation of macular disease through:

• World class researchto find new treatments and a cure
• Practical supportfor people affected by sight loss
• Trusted advice and support servicesthat empower those living with macular disease

About the role

As part of our dedicated and supportive helpline team, you'll provide information, reassurance and practical guidance by phone, email and online. You'll help people navigate diagnosis, treatment and everyday life with sight loss.

This is a parental leave cover role, so we're looking for someone who can quickly become a trusted source of information and support for people living with macular disease.

As one of our helpline advisors, you will:

• Answer telephone calls, email and online forum enquiries from people affected by macular conditions.
• Deliver high-quality, accurate and helpful responses to enquiries.
• Professionally and empathetically handle enquiries from people who may be angry, emotional or distressed as a result of their condition.
• Refer service users to appropriate Macular Society services such as peer support groups, befriending and counselling services.
• Maintain accurate records of telephone calls, emails, forum entries and other correspondence on the Society’s database.
• Keep up to date with developments in research and treatments for a range of macular conditions.

About you

Our ideal candidate will have:

• Experience working on a helpline, or providing information and advice to service users e.g. in a clinical context.
• Understanding of macular disease, the impact of living with sight loss and available treatments.
• Demonstrable ability to learn complex information quickly and become productive within a short timeframe.
• Ability to work independently under own initiative and cooperatively as part of a team.
• Excellent communication skills, empathy and supportiveness in interacting with service users.
• Emotional resilience and the ability to remain calm and professional when supporting distressed callers.

Why join us?

In return, we provide a great working culture – we do something worthwhile and are proud to work together to Beat Macular Disease.

Benefits include:

• Flexible working options
• 27 days annual leave plus public holidays
• Option to buy or sell annual leave
• Supportive family-friendly policies
• 6% pension contribution

To read about our benefits in more detail, see link below.

Inclusion and diversity

We are an equal opportunities employer and a Disability Confident Employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons, particularly people with lived experience of sight loss.

• Guaranteed interview for disabled applicants who meet the minimum (essential) criteria and disclose their disability in their application
• Opportunities to request reasonable adjustments for interviews and the role

We aim to be an inclusive employer reflecting the communities we serve.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. If you have a disability and require additional time to complete your application, up to and including the closing date, please let us know.

How to apply

For a full job description and person specification, please see below.

To apply: Please email your CV with a covering letter to recruitment@macularsociety.org 

In line with our value of “Showing we care”, we ask that the covering letter is written in your own words and not heavily reliant on AI-generated content.

Questions? Please address any questions by email to jessica.kirby@macularsociety.org

Closing date: Wednesday 12 August 2026, 9am

Interviews: Week commencing 17 August 2026