202604: Prison Officer - HMP Deerbolt in Barnard Castle

Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working

Location: Darlington

Starting salary: £35,875 (for a 39 hour week inc 20% unsocial)

An extraordinary job. Done by someone like you. Prison officers protect the public and help make an impact on prisoners' lives. If you have the integrity, skills and strength of character we’re looking for, this fast‑paced role could be the start of a successful career.

There’s no such thing as a typical prison officer. Our officers come from different walks of life, just like the offenders they work with. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, have worked in retail, the armed forces, or just feel like you’re a natural people person, you’ll have the empathy, self‑confidence, great communication skills and resilience we want. No matter the challenge, you’ll take the time to build constructive, positive and professional relationships with prisoners who could be at the lowest point in their lives. Teamwork plays a vital role in this environment, so you’ll need to be fully committed to supporting your colleagues and understand the importance of acting as one team to keep the prison—and everyone who works here—safe. You will be required to work various shifts and some weekends.

In this unique career, you’ll have the opportunity to carry out many different roles in any one day. One minute you’re a peacekeeper, the next you’re a counsellor or a teacher. You’ll work directly with prisoners in a unique environment, helping to protect the public and make a positive impact.

To become a prison officer, you will need to:

• be at least 18 years old at the point you commence employment
• meet the Civil Service Nationality requirements
• pass a medical and fitness assessment as part of the application process
• meet the required eyesight standard in both eyes (both with and without corrective lenses)
• have a suitable standard of hearing (without the use of hearing aids)
• ensure tattoos are not deemed offensive, discriminatory, violent or intimidating
• for high security prisons (category A), have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years

Some prison establishments are situated in rural locations with limited public transport options; therefore, a driving licence and own transport is beneficial but is not an essential requirement of the role. Please note that shift start and finish times are fixed, and it is your responsibility to get to and from your place of work on time for the start of your shift. Please carefully consider the location of this vacancy and your transport options before applying.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• 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 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

Successful applicants must ensure they have and maintain the legal right to live and work in the Civil Service and in the United Kingdom.

Essential skills: You don’t need qualifications to become a prison officer. Personal qualities are more important. You need to show:

• communication and influencing skills
• commitment to quality care and understanding

The initial training is 37 hours a week. After training, you can choose to work 37, 39 or 41 hours a week. Your annual salary will reflect your weekly hours:

• 37 hours a week = £33,746 a year
• 39 hours a week = £35,875 a year
• 41 hours a week = £38,003 a year

All salary figures quoted include any additional allowances that are applicable to the role/location. Prisons operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means you will have to cover various shift patterns that will include evenings, some nights, weekends and public holidays (these days are added to your holiday allowance). Most prisons work with a changing shift pattern of 39 hours a week. You may also have opportunities to work additional paid hours.

25 days’ annual holiday (rising to 30 days after 10 years’ service), paid time off for public holidays and 1 extra privilege day, Civil Service pension with employer contributions of 28.97%, cycle to work scheme, travel loans and other benefits.

Once we identify a vacancy for you, we will invite you to complete a medical and fitness test. This will cover an eyesight test, hearing test and basic health screening, including a blood pressure check. Please note we are not able to facilitate medical and fitness assessments outside of the UK. Applicants will be required to attend a UK based medical and fitness assessment centre to progress their application.

During the recruitment process you will be assessed on the behaviours, strengths and abilities you need to become an effective prison officer. These include:

• communicating and influencing
• managing a quality service
• caring

Your natural strengths are assessed to find out what motivates and energises you. We will also assess your numerical, written English and spoken English abilities. Once you have completed your initial application form, you will be invited to complete stage 1 of the online test, to see if you have the basic judgement and numerical skills expected of a prison officer. If you are successful, we will invite you to the stage 2 online test (values‑based assessment). We use this assessment to understand how well you demonstrate the values needed to be an effective prison officer. The online assessment centre (OAC) will assess you against the key criteria to become a prison officer and determine suitability for appointment as an operational support grade (OSG). If you are unsuccessful in becoming a prison officer, you may be offered an alternative OSG role. This is a pass job vacancy. If you are successful at the online assessment centre you will be offered a job immediately if there is a position available. If there are no vacancies, you will be placed on a reserve list and will be offered a job as soon as there is a vacancy. Your successful pass from the assessment centre will be valid for 12 months if you want to apply for vacancies at other prisons. If your application is unsuccessful at the sift/assessment stage, a six‑month waiting period will be applied during which time you will not be allowed to submit any further applications for prison officer positions.

As a Disability Confident employer, the Ministry of Justice is committed to ensuring that everyone can demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities. Reasonable adjustment support is provided to candidates when requested in advance of assessments. The 'Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans' initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme for eligible former Armed Forces members.