45109 - Accelerator Prisons Project - Operational Lead
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Directorate
Reducing Reoffending, Partnerships & Accommodation
Job Title
Accelerator Project Operational Lead
(Secondment, loan or fixed-term appointment until 31 March 2022)
Band
Provisional Band 9
Please note: The Directorate is undergoing a review of the ‘RR Accelerator’ posts. The responsibilities, activities and duties, within the job will be reviewed and refined over a 12 month period before final JES.
Overview of the job
Reoffending is costing society approximately £18bn per year and almost half of all prisoners reoffend within 12 months of release. As part of a refreshed approach across Government, HMPPS have launched a new Reducing Reoffending Directorate charged with galvanising collective efforts across the Agency and with our public, private and third sector partners to turn the dial on these statistics.
This is a challenging role within the HMPPS Reducing Reoffending Directorate that will shape and progress the work of the Reducing Reoffending Accelerator Project.
As part of this project we are trialling a number of new prison-based roles focused at supporting efforts to reduce reoffending. Roles have been grouped into themes, with each theme testing two new roles. The project has been split into the following 3 themes:
- Education
- Accommodation & Employment
- Health & Substance Misuse
The directorate is looking for talented and enthusiastic individuals to join the project. This is an exciting opportunity to lead work in a high-profile ministerial priority project, working in collaboration with Accelerator prisons to test, shape and refine future education roles and workstreams.
This is a temporary post available on loan, secondment of fixed-term until March 31st 2022.
Travel to prisons will be expected on a regular basis. If not based in 102 Petty France, travel there on occasion will also be expected. Remote working is acceptable beyond this, using MOJ hubs and home working.
Summary
The reoffending rate has remained broadly static at around 29% since 2010, and during the 12 months ending March 2019, 81% of offenders convicted or cautioned had at least one previous conviction or caution. Reoffending is costing society approximately £18bn per year and almost half of all prisoners reoffend within 12 months of release.
We recently announced £70m worth of funding to help keep prisoners off the streets, cut crime and reduce reoffending. As part of this package of funding, we are looking to launch a new project seeking to trial a number of potential new prison and community-based roles focused at supporting efforts to reduce reoffending. Work has been split into three broad themes: Education; Employment and Accommodation; and Substance Misuse. Each theme will be tested across a number of prisons, with sixteen prisons selected in total.
To drive the work forward, a team of up to eight Design and Delivery Managers have been recruited, to support the prisons as part of the project. The team is constructed of a mixture of internal and external secondments, with a broad range of expertise and knowledge. Design and Delivery managers will work closely with the prisons to identify key reducing reoffending barriers and opportunities, establish a network of prisons within each theme, and design/refine future roles.
The Operational Delivery Manager is a band 9 post responsible for overseeing the team of Design and Delivery managers, to ensure their work reflects the vision of strategic leads whilst also fitting the operational setting of a prison. Furthermore, they will have oversight of the design, introduction and refining of up to six new reducing reoffending roles, and will support plans as part of the upcoming spending review to bid to extend and expand these roles should success be demonstrate. This is an ideal post for someone seeking to develop knowledge and skills working between policy and operational delivery.
Responsibilities, Activities and Duties
The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:
- Jointly lead a team of up to seven Design and Delivery managers across sixteen prisons, providing a helicopter view of them all, making sure they deliver on time and to standard. This to include working with the Strategic lead to ensure delivery reflects the project/policy vision.
- Work with Design and Delivery managers to set/design products, including prison diagnostic reports, delivery plans for future roles and implementation toolkits. Ensure these products are consistent in format whilst also capturing thematic nuances, and are delivered on time and signed-off by appropriate individuals
- Line Management responsibility for 3 of the 7 DD managers (band 8s), including detailed understanding of their work, supporting diagnostic assessments and setting their direction accordingly, identifying barriers and solutions. The post holder will also be expected to support development of staff, particularly those on secondment.
- Provide constructive challenge on work strand and priorities, ensuring work responds to genuine identified and tested need.
- Establish a series of Governor networks within each of the project’s key themes, so that solutions are collaborative and apply to each prison within the respective theme.
- Oversee testing and refinement of future job descriptions, ensuring they align with priority work strands and reducing reoffending solutions, and to support work feeding into the role banding and mapping. Support Design and Delivery managers, HR Lead and prisons to prepare for, recruit and refine these roles.
- Oversee the governance and reporting for the Design and Delivery managers. This to include work stream templates for all themes and priority areas, the drum beat and forward look for Governor sessions (work with HR Operational Role), setting and commenting on papers etc. Support broader project governance and reporting.
- Lead on evaluation planning, working with analysts, Design and Delivery managers, and prisons to develop and deliver the analytical approach.
The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.
An ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English.
Behaviours
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
- Working together
- Leadership
Experience
- Experience working within prisons is desirable but not essential.
- Leading work on one of the following reducing reoffending pathways is also desirable:
· Education, Training & Employment
· Accommodation
· Substance Misuse
Working Arrangements & Further Information
Some of MoJ’s, including HMPPS, terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.
Standard working hours for this post are 37 hours per week excluding breaks which are unpaid.
If you are a current NPS employee, this vacancy may be available on a Loan basis for up to 2 years. Applications are invited from suitable qualified staff.
The Loan/Secondment is subject to the approval of the selected candidate's Business Unit, which should be obtained before confirmation of appointment.
Benefits
Annual Leave
-The holiday year runs from 1 March. If you work a non standard work pattern your leave entitlement may be expressed in either hours or days as appropriate. Leave entitlement is calculated on a pro-rata basis and you will be advised of your actual entitlement on appointment. If you were appointed internally and your leave was previously calculated in days, this will continue to be the case.
Bank, Public and Privilege Holidays
You are entitled to 9 days (66 hours 36 minutes) in recognition of bank, public and privilege holidays. These hours are added to your annual leave allowance. There is a requirement to work some public and bank holidays subject to your shift pattern and the operational needs of the establishment
Pension
-The Civil Service offers a choice of two pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.
Work Life Balance
-HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) is keen to encourage alternative working arrangements. Work life balance provides greater opportunities for staff to work more flexibly wherever managers and establishments can accommodate requests to do so. HMPPS offers flexible working subject to completion of a satisfactory probationary period and NVQ
Season Ticket Advance
-After two months’ service, you’ll be eligible to apply for a season ticket advance to purchase a quarterly or longer-period season ticket for travel between home and your place of work
Childcare Vouchers
For any moves across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to carry on claiming childcare vouchers
Training
-HMPPS is committed to staff development and offers a range of training and development opportunities, including areas such as Equality and Diversity, Dealing with Challenging Behaviour, Suicide Prevention and Anti Bullying Programmes
-There are opportunities to access promotion programmes and HMPPS provide a variety of training appropriate to individual posts
-All staff receive security and diversity training and an individual induction programme into their new roles
Eligibility
-All candidates are subject to security and identity checks prior to taking up post
-All external candidates are subject to 6 months probation. Internal candidates are subject to probation if they have not already served a probationary period within HMPPS
-All staff are required to declare whether they are a member of a group or organisation which HMPPS considers to be racist
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity.
There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
01/07/2021, 23:55 hours.
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We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for completing your application form, and to advise of what will be assessed following this, if you successfully pass the application stage.
Application form stage assessments
Interview stage assessments
A Great Place to Work for Veterans
The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit : https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans
Redeployment Interview Scheme
Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.
MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidate's will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
· UK nationals
· nationals of the Republic of Ireland
· nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families
· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
· individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
· Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules
This Vacancy is closed to applications.