General Operative
Location: Belfast
Salary: £29,370.90 per annum plus commercial vehicle and fuel card
Contract Type: Permanent, Full-Time
42.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm
Mears provides temporary accommodation to asylum seekers whilst their claim is being assessed in three regions: Northeast, Yorkshire and Humber, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. At the end of May 2021 Mears had over 19000 service users across the three regions. Mears work in partnership with central and local Government, registered providers, tenants, landlords and investors to find solutions to homelessness, provide more social and affordable housing and create specialist housing for people with care needs.
About the Role
We are seeking a skilled and dependable General Operative to join our Repairs and Maintenance team. This role will be mainly lone working within both occupied and void properties.
This is a hands-on role requiring a mix of practical ability, customer service, and teamwork. You’ll be responsible for a wide range of tasks that help maintain our properties to a high standard.
The role as a General Operative is to carry out property inspections and complete a wide range of general maintenance and repair tasks. Duties include changing light bulbs, fitting and adjusting blinds, applying silicone, securing doors, and completing other minor repairs as required. The role also involves checking smoke alarms as part of routine property inspections and working through a structured checklist to ensure all properties meet required standards. Attention to detail, a practical approach, and the ability to work independently are essential.
Role Criteria:
- Basic DIY skills including ability to re plumb a washing machine, putting up blinds, refixing door handles and siliconing a bath
- Customer service experience
- IT literate
- Good communication and customer service skills where required
- Ability to provide own hand tools including spirit level, screw drivers and hammers
- Full UK driving license
- Reliable
- Excellent time keeping
- Can do attitude
- Happy to travel across the region
Benefits we can offer you
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- Annual Mears Fun Day - Our annual Fun Day is organised as a massive thank you from the Executive team for all the hard work!
- Volunteering Leave - Mears supports employees to undertake paid volunteering in the community, in support of our social value commitment.
- Staff perks with Mears Rewards - discounts of up to 10% weekly groceries, holidays, eye test vouchers, Share save scheme, plus much more
- Family friendly policies
- Access to EAP Counselling sessions
- OOH rota available 1 in 6 weeks. Monday to Monday covering 24 hours a day
All our roles require candidates to have the entitlement to work within the UK, Mears does not currently offer visa sponsorship.
To drive a Mears vehicle, you must be aged over 21 have held your licence over 3 months and have less than 9 points.
As part of the recruitment process for this role, we will carry out a Background, Identity, Security clearance & BPSS check. For these checks to be completed, we will require from you the relevant identification, including Proof of Address, References, a valid passport and proof that you have lived in the UK for the last 5 years.
Apply below or to discuss your application further; contact:
Beth Dunford ([email protected])If you need any help with your application process, we are here to support you. We will be accessible every step of the way.
At Mears Group, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, we are a Disability Confident employer, valuing individuality and ensuring equal opportunities for all.
We proudly support the Armed Forces Covenant and are honoured to have achieved the Gold Award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) to coincide with this, we hold an Endorser Award for the Career Transition Partnership, recognising our commitment to veterans transitioning into civilian careers.
In our continued effort to promote social mobility, we invite applicants to voluntarily share their background information during the application stages to help us better understand the diverse experiences of our candidates. This is to ensure we are committed to improving social mobility. We use the Social Mobility Index to assess and enhance opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds. These questions are optional and will not impact your ability to apply.
Skills Required
- Basic DIY and minor property maintenance skills, including replumbing washing machines, installing blinds, refixing door handles, and applying silicone
- Customer service experience
- IT literacy
- Good communication and customer service skills
- Ability to provide personal hand tools, including a spirit level, screwdrivers, and hammers
- Full UK driving licence
- Reliable and punctual
- Willingness to travel across the region
- Entitlement to work in the UK without visa sponsorship
- At least 21 years old, held a driving licence for more than three months, and fewer than nine licence points to drive a Mears vehicle
- Successful completion of background, identity, security clearance, and BPSS checks
Mears Group Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Mears Group and has not been reviewed or approved by Mears Group.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — 25 days’ holiday with the option to buy additional days, plus paid volunteering time, signal a comparatively generous time-off offering. Flexible working available in many roles further supports practical time-off and balance.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Retail discounts, Cycle to Work, an employee assistance line, volunteering days, and company family events add tangible non-cash value. Access to training and UK‑recognised qualifications reinforces the broader wellbeing and development offering.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — A stated commitment to pay at or above the Real Living Wage and the publication of pay-related reports indicate governance and baseline fairness focus. Independent snapshots also suggest many roles meet living‑wage thresholds.
Mears Group Insights
What We Do
Mears Group is a market-leading housing and care company that provides bespoke services to our clients. We provide and manage 11,000 homes for local and central Government and are also responsible for keeping 750,000 of all social housing in the UK in good repair. Mears has 6,500 employees and a footprint across the country
