11257 - Operational Support Grade - HMP Lowdham Grange (Prison Support Role)

As an Operational Support Grade, you will look after the day‑to‑day running of a busy prison, working in a close‑knit team to carry out a range of support services – everything from patrol and gate duties, to managing deliveries, supervising visitors, and monitoring phone calls and CCTV. You will work shifts, nights, evenings and weekends to keep things running.

Salary and Benefits: Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after 10 years’ service (calculated on a pro‑ratio basis). 9 days bank, public and privilege holidays. Access to a paid Level 2 apprenticeship in customer service. Access to the generous Civil Service pension scheme. Season ticket loans, retail discounts, an Employee Assistance Programme and a Cycle to Work scheme. Base salary £29,432 (inclusive of a 20% unsocial hours working allowance for nights, evenings, weekends and bank/public holidays).

Hours: You will work an average of 37 hours per week. This includes working night shifts, evenings, weekends and bank/public holidays – which are added to your holiday allowance – on a rolling shift pattern. The frequency of night shifts will vary for each establishment and can be discussed at interview.

Responsibilities, activities and duties are likely to include:

• Gate/portal duties: ensure the secure entry and exit of staff, visitors, and vehicles; carry out searches of staff, prisoners, visitors, contractors and vehicles; issue and collect staff keys/radios.
• Control room: operate the establishment radio system and monitor CCTV, ensuring all suspicious activities are reported.
• Visits: book visits; identify and process visitors on their arrival, escort them if required.
• Censors/correspondence: monitor/log mail and report any illicit or contraband items, maintaining the preservation of evidence.
• Night duties: ensure cell doors are locked/secure and all prisoners are safely accounted for.
• Reception: assist in supporting appropriate tasks in reception; photograph prisoners; collate documentation for the property process; search/x‑ray incoming prisoner property and parcels; receive items for prisoners and check all seals are intact on property storage.
• Prisoner supervision: supervise prisoners as required; undertake prisoner clothing/property exchange and assist officers with free‑flow movement.
• Food delivery: food trolley delivery and collection, which may involve the use of an electric tug vehicle.
• Driving duties: transport prisoners and their escort to their destination in the cellular vehicle; collect mail from local sorting office.
• Phone calls: monitor the Personal Identification Number (PIN) system, maintaining the log of PIN phone requests from prisoners; complete all relevant paperwork keeping an audit trail of conversations; check that legal numbers are registered solicitors.
• Procedures and protocol: understand and conform to national and local policies, responding appropriately to invoke emergency procedures and the actions required in relation to incidents.

Interview: At the interview, we will assess you against the following Success Profile behaviours – Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service. The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of behaviours and experience. The interview is the ideal opportunity to tell us more about yourself, your work history or personal experiences, so we can get to know you better and assess how you will be suited to prison work.

Language Requirement: The job holder must be able to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English or, when specified in Wales, Welsh.

Merit List: This is a ‘merit’ job vacancy. If you are successful at the interview you will be added to a merit list based on your score. When all applicants have completed the assessment, the prison will make job offers to those with the highest scores first when positions become available. You can stay on the merit list for 12 months; after this, you’ll need to apply again.