33177 - Head of Intelligence - Security Order and Counter Terrorism

As the Head of Intelligence, yours will be among the most important roles within Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. Effective collection and assessment of intelligence, and the action taken as a result, is central to our mission to create secure prisons and safe communities. Intelligence is at the heart of security, and security is the foundation on which good order, decency and rehabilitation are established in prisons and probation.

You will lead a National Intelligence Unit of 140 staff across England and Wales and, through them and alongside the wider intelligence community, you will be responsible for HMPPS’ intelligence strategy, policy and operations. By harnessing the full range of tactics and capabilities at your disposal – both overt and covert - your leadership will ensure that the Service is equipped to understand the security threats it faces and the best response to mitigate them.

This is a key appointment at a crucial time for HMPPS. The security threats faced by the Service - from organised crime and extremism, to corruption, violence and disorder – have never been more profound, and in response we have grown and will continue to grow our capacity and capability to meet those threats. The recent announcement by the Government to invest £100m in security in prisons underlines the importance of this priority area, and our intelligence capabilities are a main beneficiary of this investment. You will therefore inherit a diverse, ambitious and growing team, and you will have the opportunity to design and deliver new intelligence services, and play a visible leadership role across the Security, Order and Counter Terrorism Directorate, the Service, and across Government.

This is a demanding and exciting role. You need not have a background in intelligence, but you will have the thirst for learning. You will be a confident leader, able to get the best from a large, geographically diverse team and a network outside of your command. You will be comfortable with detail and big picture alike, and you will understand how to establish the right strategies and systems to drive effective outcomes. Most importantly of all, you will be passionate about making a positive difference to the security of prisons and probation.

Overview of the job

This is a significant leadership post in an expanding capability which is growing in influence within HMPPS, MOJ and the wider intelligence community. Our ambition is to reach all parts of HMPPS and to change the culture of our organisation so that asking for the intelligence picture is second nature. We also aim to operate as trusted and equal partners in the wider intelligence community. As a relatively young function, we bring new thinking, drawing in fresh approaches and skills from specialists both inside and outside the intelligence world.

The post holder will lead the HMPPS Intelligence Unit of 90 staff, comprising a headquarters team with 5 Regional Intelligence Units and staff in two specialist teams at other locations. Staff in the Unit combine a mix of operational and intelligence experience from a wide range of settings. We have unique access to offenders and deep operational knowledge which means we can make the most of intelligence gathering opportunities.

The Unit provides an intelligence service to HMPPS, MOJ policy/strategy and partners to inform decisions on managing and mitigating risks and threats posed by men and women under our statutory supervision as well as external threats impacting on our operations.

Our purpose is to help prisons, probation offices and Approved Premises stay safe and secure. We want to give men and women under our supervision in custody and in the community the best possible chance of turning their lives around. To do this we need to use intelligence so we can take action to make it harder for them to commit crime whilst under our supervision and reduce the likelihood that they will commit further crimes when they complete their sentence.

The Unit has an Agency-wide remit and works with HM Prison Service, private sector prisons, the National Probation Service, Community Rehabilitation Companies, wider Directorate resource in the 'regions'(aligned to threats of Terrorism, Corruption and Serious and Organised Crime), as well as law enforcement partners through national forums, those based in Regional Organised Crime Units (including National Crime Agency staff), Counter Terrorism Units, local forces and the wider intelligence and law enforcement community.

The Unit covers 'all threats', including national security threats of Terrorism and Serious and Organised Crime as well as corruption and operational threats to security, order and control and public protection.  

The Unit is also developing an Agency Intelligence Model (an HMPPS-wide operating model for intelligence) and is responsible for providing professional support, advice, policy and guidance to intelligence managers and analysts in HMPPS operating at local levels. It also provides a 'centre of excellence' for developing intelligence capabilities within HMPPS.

The post holder will be responsible for the management of four B9s and their teams in the headquarters units as well as a Deputy Head (B10) who in turn manages the 5 Regional Intelligence Units (each led by a B9) and two Intelligence Partnership Managers (both B9).

The post holder will report to the Head of National Security Group who reports to the Director for Security, Order and Counter Terrorism.

The post will be based with the headquarters team in 102 Petty France, London. Frequent travel to the 5 Regional Units will be expected, as well as other HMPPS sites and law enforcement partners' offices.

The post has no operational requirement. However, knowledge of prisons and probation operations and/or law enforcement operations is required.

The post holder should also have experience of developing and managing an intelligence service.

Summary

The post holder will be responsible for embedding and further developing the HQ and Regional Intelligence Unit capabilities to service HMPPS operations and inform policy development.

The post holder will need to quickly get to grips with the varied and evolving intelligence capabilities and functions within HMPPS and in law enforcement partners. An ability, therefore, to hold a significant degree of complexity and ambiguity will be required as the Unit and wider Agency Intelligence Model operating model continues to develop.

They will also need to 'market' the function within HMPPS and with partners - to the maximise the value we can offer. The post holder will need to work to overcome both practical and cultural barriers to joint working. The post holder will therefore require excellent communication skills to engage with a wide range of partners at senior levels within HMPPS, with law enforcement partners, and the wider intelligence community.

This is not an operational post, but requires a strong understanding of the operational world.

The post holder must act with the highest levels of personal and professional integrity and champion these qualities in others. They must be vetted to Developed Vetting (DV) standards with a further STRAP accreditation.

Responsibilities, Activities & Duties

You will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

• Seek out and exploit new opportunities for the Unit to demonstrate its value to operational, policy and strategic decision making t marketing the function to a wide range of internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• On behalf of HMPPS and the MOJ, manage the strategic relationship with law enforcement intelligence functions, particularly with the Police, the NCA and the Security Services. The post holder will represent HMPPS/MOJ at NCA national intelligence forums.
• Fully integrate the newly aligned Home Office funded HMPPS Counter Terrorism intelligence analyst network into the Unit, maximising the value from Home Office investment to inform, prevent and pursue activity at operational and thematic/strategic level.
• Build a new corruption intelligence capability which will operate at local, regional and national levels. This is key delivery outcome for the new HMPPS corruption strategy and subject to a successful business case for funding.
• Manage the extension of Project Jupiter (our capability to handle the most sensitive intelligence) to increase capacity to cover 'all threats' as the Unit extends its remit to Counter Terrorism and Corruption related intelligence.
• Extend our existing service to provide increased capacity for the National Probation Service, Community Rehabilitation Companies and the Youth Custody Service.
• Provide an enhanced national assessment capability t with particular focus on moving to intelligence-led security policy to deliver the MOJ Transforming Security agenda and current focus on Drugs Strategy.
• Pursue new sources of funding as capability and capacity gaps are identified.
• Develop new specialist capabilities within the Unit, as well as seek out new sources of information for intelligence and find innovative ways to exploit them. This includes developing our financial analysis capability and our exploitation of digital sources.
• Deliver a new intelligence policy, guidance, information sharing agreements and operating model for the Agency.
• Develop and deliver, with law enforcement partners, new CT-SOC products to inform the Police-led multi-agency prisons national and regional tasking and coordination mechanisms.
• Ensure mechanisms are in place to quality assure the output of national and regional assessment capabilities and manage the performance of the Unit as a whole.
• Deliver HMPPS national and regional tasking and coordination mechanisms to manage activity on wider threats to HMPPS.
• Champion the professional development of intelligence staff in HMPPS, providing opportunities for staff within the Unit and at local levels in HMPPS to learn and practice new skills t including achieving accreditation under the Intelligence Professionalisation Programme.
• Contribute to cross-Directorate activity, as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, as well as wider corporate activity as required.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. These may change and 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.

Competencies

For the purposes of recruitment, the following competencies will be assessed:

• Managing a quality service
• Seeing the big picture
• Engaging people
• Leading and Communicating
• Building capability for all
• Setting Direction
• Changing and Improving