Dispensing qualification takes Specsavers leader from shop floor to director of NHS operations
14 September 2026
A professional qualification gained at 21 has underpinned Angela Dawson’s rise from optical assistant to director of NHS operations at Specsavers.
Ms Dawson joined Specsavers at 18 while waiting to start a retail management programme elsewhere. Just two weeks later, her store partners offered her the chance to train as a dispensing optician, giving her the opportunity to earn a qualification while combining her interests in retail and science.
'I really cherished having a professional qualification and then going on to become a further clinician in contact lenses,’ she says. ‘Even though my role today doesn’t involve being a clinician, I always make sure I bring up the fact that I’m a registered clinician because I’m so proud of it.’
Ms Dawson qualified as a dispensing optician after three years before completing further management training and becoming a store manager at 22. She later qualified as a contact lens optician, combining clinical responsibilities with store management.
She spent 25 years working in stores, including managing a large practice, before moving into Specsavers support offices in 2019 to lead its NHS auditing and compliance team. She subsequently led the NHS audiology team, became head of contact lens trading and was appointed director of NHS operations. She now also sits on the Specsavers audiology board.
Why she has stayed at Specsavers
Although Ms Dawson has remained with Specsavers for 32 years, she regards her career as seven or eight substantially different jobs rather than one long-held position.
That variety was accompanied by the flexibility to work part time when her children were young, while maintaining her professional standing and continuing to develop her career.
‘Working for Specsavers meant I could be not only the career person I wanted to be, with growth and development, but also the mum, wife and daughter I wanted to be,’ adds Ms Dawson. ‘I could pick my children up from school, drop them off and go to football and dancing. I haven’t had to sacrifice.’
The effect has extended to the next generation. When Ms Dawson’s daughter decided against a university mathematics place and chose an accountancy and audit apprenticeship, others assumed she had followed her finance director father.
Instead, she told her mother that she had been inspired by seeing how an early professional qualification had supported Ms Dawson in taking on many different roles. Her daughter has since qualified as a chartered accountant at 22.
Ms Dawson says careers should not be treated as a choice between university and professional training. She advises young people to consider the environments and subjects they enjoy, then make the most of the opportunities available.
‘Find a place where you enjoy the work and feel comfortable, then take the opportunities that are there, even if at the time you think you are giving more than you are getting,’ she adds. ‘You will get where you are meant to be, regardless of the starting point.’