Team Lead (Justice Services) – Maternity Cover

Location: North East England (community and custodial)

Salary: £29,077 – £31,500 + excellent benefits

Hours: 35 hours per week (flexible working)

Status: Maternity Cover, Fixed-Term Contract for 10 months

The Wise Group, in partnership with the Ministry of Justice and third-sector organisations, delivers the Personal Wellbeing service across Cleveland and Durham in the North East of England.

This role is about more than managing a service. It is about leading a team that helps men improve their wellbeing, strengthen relationships, reduce social isolation and create the foundations for lasting positive change.

Working across prison and community settings, you will lead a team delivering one-to-one mentoring to men facing wellbeing challenges and support their integration into the community. You’ll work closely with probation, prison teams and local partners to ensure people can access the right support at the right time.

Using our Relational Mentoring approach, your team will build trusted relationships that go beyond transactional support - helping individuals make meaningful, sustained progress.

As Team Lead, you will play a key role in how this support is delivered - shaping team performance and culture, strengthening partnerships and ensuring we deliver high-quality, person-centred services that make a real difference.

What you’ll lead:

• People and performance: Recruit, onboard and support mentoring staff delivering frontline interventions. Provide regular supervision, support wellbeing and performance, manage caseload allocation and a culture focused on accountability, development and positive outcomes.
• Service delivery: Ensure consistent, high-quality delivery across custodial and community settings. Support your team to address wellbeing and lifestyle issues that impact stability and resettlement.
• Partnerships and stakeholder engagement: Build strong working relationships with prisons, probation, Ministry of Justice partners and third-sector organisations. Strengthen referral pathways and support collaborative delivery.
• Safeguarding, risk and compliance: Ensure safe working practices are embedded, including risk assessment and safeguarding. Manage and upscale concerns appropriately and ensure compliance with all requirements.
• Data, quality and performance: Oversee customer management systems, case recording and performance reporting. Use data and insight to track progress, meet contractual requirements and drive service improvement.
• Continuous improvement and change: Identify opportunities to improve delivery, gather feedback and support the ongoing development of justice services across the North East.

What you’ll bring:

• Experience leading or coordinating frontline teams within criminal justice, social justice, employability or related services.
• Strong people management and coaching skills, with the ability to build trust and accountability.
• Understanding of the challenges faced by people entering or leaving custody, particularly around wellbeing.
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, partnership environment.
• Strong organisational and digital skills, including experience with CRM systems and performance reporting.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the confidence to represent the service with partners and stakeholders.
• A practical, solutions-focused approach and the ability to implement change.
• Experience of working in a custodial setting is advantageous.

Essential requirements:

• Full driving licence and access to a car for daily use.
• Willingness to travel across the North East, including custodial and community locations.
• Successful completion of enhanced Level 1 prison vetting.
• Home broadband to support flexible working.

View the Role Profile for full details about this opportunity.