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2026 INTAKE CLOSED.
Thank you to everyone who applied for this trainee role. Applications will re-open in Summer 2027.
Weโre recruiting a Training Development Manager
People make the difference.
Help us build the team behind the team with this permanent full-time role in South Brent, Devon.
SA Safety Ltd is a specialist rescue and safety company based in South Devon.ย We deliver life-critical training, standby rescue services, and safety solutions to some of the most demanding industrial environments in the UK.ย Our work matters – and so do our people.
Weโre growing fast, and weโre building the infrastructure to match our ambition.ย That means investing in the right foundations – and right now, the most important foundation is our people function.
The Role
This is a newly created, standalone People Manager role reporting directly to the Managing Director.ย Youโll have genuine ownership: building our HR function from the ground up, shaping how we recruit, develop, and retain the talented people who make SA Safety what it is.
This isnโt a tick-box HR role.ย Itโs a strategic and hands-on position at the heart of a business thatโs going somewhere. If you want to see the direct impact of your work, youโll find it here.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Building and delivering a people strategy aligned with our 3-5 year growth plan.
- Establishing the HR policies, procedures, and frameworks weโll scale with.
- Owning the full person lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding through to development and offboarding.
- Acting as a trusted adviser to our leadership team on all things people-related.
- Driving employee and contractor engagement, wellbeing, and a culture of high performance.
- Introducing HR systems and reporting that support smart business decisions.
- Building manager capability and helping our team leaders get the best from their people.
- Ensuring compliance with UK employment law and best practice across the board.
What We’re Looking For
- Proven experience in a standalone or lead HR / People Manager role.
- ย Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
- Experience building and implementing policies, processes, and people initiatives.
- A confident, hands-on approach – youโre comfortable with both strategy and the detail.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to build trust at every level of the business.
- Self-motivated and organised, with the ability to manage competing priorities independently.
- CIPD Level 5 or above (or equivalent experience) โ desirable but not essential.
Weโre recruiting a Training Development Manager
You just finished your formal education.ย Now the world is asking what youโre going to do with it.
Hereโs an idea: stop someoneโs worst day from becoming their last.
At SA Safety, we provide the rescue teams and support to make that a reality.ย From confined spaces under our cities, to power plants and industrial sites across the South West, our work keeps working people alive.
Weโre looking for go-getters with fire in their belly and steadiness in their hands to join us, and learn a trade that actually matters.
What Youโll Actually Do
Forget fetching coffee. From week one youโll be learning alongside instructors who have done the real thing, emergency service and military rescue veterans, working-at-height rope access specialists, medics and confined-space rescue technicians. Youโll get your hands dirty, your boots muddy, and your brain full.
Who Weโre Looking For
We donโt care which courses you have completed. We care how you show up.
- You finish things. Boring admin, a 50-metre rope coil, undertaking a full kit inventory, a tough module.ย You donโt quit halfway.
- You like people, and people tend to like you back. Our job is rescue, youโll need patience, humour and clear communication.
- You are a team player but can also work independently, remaining motivated and on task.
- You are reliable, passionate, willing to work hard, and committed to being the best version of you: for yourself, and for the team.
- Youโre physically capable and willing to get fitter. Heights, confined spaces, inclement weather, early starts, late finishes, it comes with the territory.
- Youโve got a driving licence (or are actively working toward one).
- You care. Genuinely. About the welder going home to his kids. About the rope tech finishing her shift.ย About doing the job right, even when no oneโs watching.
Bonus points (not required, but weโll raise an eyebrow and smile): outdoor pursuits background, cadet or scouting experience, lifeguarding, mountain leadership, military service, climbing, kayaking, diving, or any volunteer role where youโve had to keep calm when someone else couldnโt.
What we offer
- Competitive starting salary with structured pay rises as you clock qualifications and experiences.
- Fully funded training pathway: every certificate you earn, we pay for.
- You’ll end your first year more employable than most people finish a career.
- A mentor. A real one, whose job is to make you brilliant.
- Work that changes shape every week. Sewerage farm one day, training centre the next, gas fired power station the day after.
- A small, tight team where your voice is heard and your ideas get tried.
The Honest Bit
This isnโt a desk job. You will be cold. You will be wet. Occasionally you will carry heavy things up hills in February. Youโll work weekends when a client needs. Youโll meet people on the worst day of their working life and be calm for them when they canโt be.
In return, youโll never sit in a cubicle wondering whether your work mattered.ย It did. Someone went home.
Ready? Hereโs How to Apply
2026 intake is now closed.ย We look forward to hearing from you in the next application window: Summer 2027.ย
Skip the 400-word cover letter. We donโt read them. Instead, send us:
- Your CV (one page is plenty, we care about what youโve done, not the font).
- A short video or written note, three minutes max, answering one question: tell us about a time you helped someone when you didnโt have to.
- Your availability to start and whether you drive and have the drive.
Send it to: [email protected]
Interviews held on site in South Devon. Expect to get your boots on.ย Part of your interview will be practical. Please bring a waterproof.
