19390 - Operational Support Grade - Advance Into Justice (North East)

Job summary

Job description

**PLEASE NOTE** These positions are being offered on a Fixed Term Contract for a period of 2 years.

Descriptions & requirements
Advance into Justice is a recruitment scheme targeted at supporting those who have served in the Armed Forces and their families into employment within operational roles within HMPPS.

Advance into Justice is open to Armed Forces; Service Leavers, Veterans, Spouses/ Legal Partners & Reservists.

Eligible applicants who pass our assessment processes will be offered a 2 year fixed-term appointment within the option to convert to permanency, subject to approval, after 12 months, under Exceptions to the Civil Service recruitment principles.

All provisional offers will be held for a period of 12 months from the point of offer, to allow service leavers to plan for their exit from the Armed Forces.’

For further information please visit our websiteAdvance into Justice

Job description

An extraordinay job. Done by someone like you.
As part of our prison support team, your work will be varied and help to keep the prison moving.
This is an active role where you will be doing a range of physical tasks. These can include lifting and carrying, plus long periods of standing and walking. There will also be periods of lone working whilst undertaking tasks on both day and night shifts.
You will not always be in contact with prisoners, it depends on the prison you work in. You will have full training and a supportive team by your side.

Your location preference will be captured on the on-line application form and you will be able to select a maximum of three prison locations.

Please be advised that some prison locations will require higher-level vetting checks (CTC, see further information below). Candidates who select a location that requires a higher level of clearance may have an extended vetting process to obtain the higher-level clearance required to access these locations. Candidates will be advised during the recruitment process.

Travel to Work – 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 unless specified. 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.

Accommodation is not provided.

Life as an OSG

Your job can include:

Gate duties

• ensuring the secure entry and exit of staff, visitors, vehicles.
• carrying out searches of staff, prisoners, visitors and vehicles
• walking around the prison site to escort vehicles and contractors
• issuing and collecting staff keys and radios
• walking around the prison site patrolling and searching perimeter fence areas

Control room

• operating the prison radio system
• monitoring CCTV, ensuring all suspicious activities are reported.

Visits

• welcoming visitors on their arrival
• escorting them if needed

Correspondence

• monitoring and logging mail coming into the prison
• reporting any contraband items, preserving evidence where needed

Night duties

• ensuring cell doors are locked and all prisoners are safely accounted for.

Reception

• photographing prisoners
• processing prisoners’ property and parcels coming into the prison.

Prisoner supervision

• sometimes supervising prisoners
• exchanging clothing and property
• helping prison officers escort prisoners around the prison

Food delivery

• walking around the prison delivering and collecting food trollies, or sometimes using an electric tug vehicle

Driving duties

• collecting mail from the local sorting office, which may involve lifting heavy sacks.

Phone calls

• monitoring the prison’s Personal Identification Number (PIN) phone system
• maintaining the log of PIN phone requests from prisoners
• completing relevant records

Procedures and protocol

• understanding and conforming to national and local policies, responding appropriately to incidents and emergencies
• You do not need any qualifications to do this job. Helping to keep a prison running smoothly and safely requires good judgement, common sense, responsibility and, above all teamwork.

Salary- £30,491 - £36,752
Inner London - £36,752, Outer London - £34,609, Other locations - £30,491

The salary figures quoted are for a 37-hour working week inclusive of 20% unsocial hours working allowance which is included in the salary to reflect the requirement to work nights, evening, and weekend shifts.

In addition to your base pay, you will receive:

• annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after 10 years’ service (calculated on a pro-rata 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.

Hours

You will work an average of 37 hours per week, and this will include working night shifts, evenings, weekends, and Bank/Public holidays on a rolling shift pattern (these days are added to your holiday allowance) The frequency of night shifts will vary for each Establishment and can be discussed at interview. For an example of the shift times that you could be working please visit our website

How to apply

Stage 1
Tell us about yourself
Click apply and fill in your personal details on our application form

Online test

Take a short online test
When you apply, you will receive an email with detailed instructions on how to take our online test. This online test is a values-based assessment (VBA). We use this assessment to understand how well you demonstrate the values needed to be an effective OSG. On average, if completed in one sitting, the assessment takes up to 20 minutes to complete, but everyone is different and there is no time limit so please complete it at your own pace. The assessment contains a variety of questions styles using different formats. Before you complete the assessment, we recommend you familiarise yourself with the format of the question styles by completing the example questions.

If you were unsuccessful at the online test stage in the last 6 months, you can now re‑apply. You will be invited to complete the new values‑based assessment.