Victim Liaison Officer

Job summary

Service to victims is a priority for the CPS, with a key focus on improving the experience of victims through the Criminal Justice System. This role will support the delivery of the CPS’ service to victims of crime.

The purpose of this role is to provide a high-quality service to victims of crime through effective verbal and written communications, in particular: handling telephone calls, writing letters/emails to victims arranging and, in some cases, supporting meetings between victims and the CPS. As a victim liaison officer, you will need to manage sensitive and challenging communications with victims and engagement with internal/external stakeholders. The ability to be empathetic, communicate information clearly, be sensitive, and professional are essential to the role – and to act in line with the CPS values and Victim Service Standards.

You will need to engage and communicate with key Criminal Justice Partners on a regular basis to maintain effective and productive partnerships, and ensure victims experience a joined-up criminal justice system. This will also include signposting victims to the appropriate contacts or service support providers so that their needs and welfare remain central to the process.

You will be responsible for helping victims of crime to understand the role of the CPS and the wider criminal justice system, including the legal procedures and their rights within the system and Victims’ Code of Practice.

In this post you will be working within the Rape and Serious Sexual offences case work division and working under the Bereaved family Scheme.

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role. There’s no guarantee that we will grant this approval.

You must be aged 18 starting in this role. The expected start date is approximately 8–12 weeks after the application closing date. Candidates are expected to commence employment as soon as possible following the expiry of their notice period. Requests for significantly later start dates may not be accommodated.

Job description

Your roles and responsibilities:

• Draft well written communications to victims of crime, addressing all relevant issues in “plain English” without the use of jargon. Correspond with victims within the prescribed timescales.
• Manage own case load, ensuring that victims entitled to an enhanced service are appropriately prioritised.
• Brief staff leading meetings with victims to ensure that they are fully aware of all relevant issues enabling effective engagement.
• To attend meetings with victims and capture notes of the meeting where applicable.
• To support the needs of the victim, the VLO will communicate sensitively, effectively and without jargon, to respond to victims’ queries, making sure each caller has the information they need. The VLO will answer telephone calls and respond to contact within a reasonable timeframe, and if the VLO is unable to help the caller, they will signpost them to an appropriate contact point.
• The Victim Liaison Officer (VLO) will be an excellent communicator - in person, over the phone and in writing. They will demonstrate and role model our communication and service standards with victims and embody our values of openness and honesty, professionalism, and integrity.

A copy of the full job description is attached.

Person specification

To be eligible to apply, you need to have:

• Customer service experience

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,110, Crown Prosecution Service contributes £9,302 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Join the Crown Prosecution Service and find your purpose.

The Crown Prosecution Service is passionate about ensuring that we're a top performing organisation and a great place to work. We're a committed equal opportunities employer, creating a culture where you can bring your whole self to work, and individuality is truly appreciated.

This culture of inclusion is underpinned by our staff networks covering disability, faith and belief, LGBTQI+, race, social mobility alongside our mental health first aiders programme and wellbeing sessions.

The Crown Prosecution Service commits to offer its employees the following experience.

• You can do impactful, purposeful work that’s making a difference to your local communities.
• You are able to learn and grow, with access to the right opportunities and resources.
• We care about your wellbeing.
• We want you to feel valued, trusted and included.

We also offer the following range of benefits:

• Civil Service contributory pension of up to 28.9%
• 25 days’ leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years
• £350 each year to spend on personal development
• lawyer training programme for all new prosecutors
• an extra privilege day to mark the King's birthday
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• flexible working including flexitime, and a family friendly approach to work
• Cycle2Work scheme, employee savings.

Diversity at the Crown Prosecution Service is about inclusion, embracing differences and ensuring our workforce truly reflects the communities we serve. We want you to feel that you belong and can thrive, whatever your background, identity or culture. As a Disability Confident employer, we're happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments and improve your recruitment experience. If you'd like any reasonable adjustments made to our recruitment process, let us know within your application or contact [email removed].

The Crown Prosecution Service has fixed rates for its Executive Officer grade – a developing rate (the starting salary) and a spot rate (the maximum salary). Applicants typically join us on the developing rate and, after completing a 15-month development period, move to the spot rate if your line manager confirms you’re performing the role to a satisfactory standard.

If you’re joining the Crown Prosecution Service on a lateral transfer from another government department, you should contact us about the impact on your salary and the implications of any time you’ve already spent at that grade before applying or accepting an employment offer. Your salary may be adjusted if your location changes when you join us. This adjustment also takes into account any existing allowances that may have previously been consolidated into your basic pay – there’s no guarantee that you can retain these when you transfer.

We want to ensure our employees can thrive at work and home and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment. We offer a hybrid working policy. You must spend at least 40% of your contracted hours over a four-week period at court, in an office or another official workplace depending on business need and the kind of work you're doing.

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