22436 - Probation Services Officer - Greater Manchester - Approved Premises

Please note: The PSO role is Approved Premises based with no option for hybrid working. Greater Manchester Approved Premises locations and specialisms are listed below, please use this information when selecting your Approved Premises location preferences:

• Ascot House AP - SK4 2PB - Enhanced Security AP
• Bradshaw House PIPE AP - BL9 5DE - PIPE AP
• Chorlton AP - M21 9LJ
• St Josephs AP - M30 8PF
• Wilton Place AP - OL9 7QW - Enhanced Security AP
• Withington Road AP - M16 8JN

All appointable candidates from this campaign who cannot be offered immediate positions will be held on a merit list for 12 months. This will be used to fill future Probation Services Officer vacancies at the Approved Premises.

Helping to keep the public safe. Giving people the chance to turn their lives around. Building a rewarding professional career. There are many reasons to join the Probation Service. What will yours be?

We’re looking for empathetic, patient, and organised people to join us in this varied role, which offers the chance to make a difference, gain new skills and build a rewarding career within the Probation Service. If this sounds like you, apply now.

If you are successful in the recruitment process to join the Probation Service, your starting salary will be £28,064 (Pro-rata for Part-time roles). The Probation Service offers the opportunity for annual pay progression through a Competency Based Framework (CBF), which if eligible, will see your pay increase. CBF is designed to enable you to move up through the pay band range as your competence grows. New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. Probation Service also increase their pay band ranges annually in line with Civil Service Pay guidance, which will also apply an increase to band pay ranges where applicable.

The job holder will undertake the full range of work with people on probation before and after sentence. This will include assessment, sentence implementation, offender management and producing reports. The job holder will provide case management support to a full range of people on probation utilising service procedures and practice directions that underpin professional judgement.

You must have the right to work in the UK. This role is not eligible for a new Skilled Worker visa. If you have held a Skilled Worker visa continuously, please raise this during your pre-employment checks and your eligibility will be assessed in accordance with the immigration rules and transitional provisions in place.

Probation services officers can help make a real difference to peoples’ lives. It’s not always easy to help someone turn their life around, but it can be immensely rewarding. Probation services officers are required to work within a variety of settings. There may be opportunities for positions within Probation Delivery Units (PDU), Courts, Prisons, Approved Premises etc. depending on business requirement.

We’re looking for empathetic, patient and resilient people to join us as probation services officers. As well as making a difference to others, the role offers plenty of on-the-job training and a real chance to build a career in the Probation Service.

As a PSO, you’ll have a similar job to a fully qualified probation officer. The main difference is you’ll work with medium and lower risk people of probation. That’s not to say it’ll be easy. There’s no doubt this is a challenging role.

Day-to-day, you’ll manage a caseload of offenders before and after sentence. We’ll look to you to assess and manage risks, provide information to courts and work closely with agencies throughout the justice system. You’ll also do everything you can to support offenders. This could involve everything from providing practical advice about housing and employment to simply listening and empathising.

You don’t need a degree for this role. We’re much more interested in your personal qualities. Ideally with experience of working with people who have social or personal difficulties, you’ll be empathetic, patient and resilient. Good writing skills are also essential. You must be able to produce clear and accurate reports to tight deadlines.

Approved Premises (AP) provide critical community-based service to accommodate and closely supervise high-risk offenders on release from prison, for the purposes of public protection. AP are staffed 24 hours per day, with staff enforcing an overnight curfew, and other monitoring and reporting requirements. Probation Services Officers lead on the key interventions and rehabilitative activities with the resident group, working regular hours Monday to Friday but also covering at weekends as required. The provision of suitable accommodation on release is a key factor in reducing reoffending and supporting transition into the community.

Where applicants provide multiple location preferences, reserve lists will be managed in accordance with location preference/s, as indicated in your application. We will appoint in merit list order for each location outlined in the vacancy and hold a separate locational reserve list for each of these locations.

Once you have accepted an offer for a role, you will be withdrawn from any other live applications for the same role and will no longer be considered for those vacancies.

The addresses listed in the job advertisement are not an exhaustive list of potential base locations, they give an indication of some of the potential locations you could be based at. We will therefore endeavour to offer you a vacancy within a 60-minute commute of your home location.

New entrants to the Civil Service will be expected to join at the entry point salary for the advertised band. Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Departments pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.

The post is currently advertised without VISOR Vetting to enable appointment to take place as soon as possible, however, VISOR vetting will be required to be completed in post offer.

Some PSO roles require the completion of an apprenticeship as part of the required learning and development. You will be advised on commencement in role if you are required to complete it.

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas).

Benefits include annual leave, pension, training, and access to employee-run networks.

All candidates are subject to security and identity checks prior to taking up post.

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.