Grade 7 x2 - Head of Resourcing, Operational Delivery (Prisons) Head of
Resourcing Operational Delivery (Probation)
Grade 7 x 2
Location: National
Contract: Permanent
Role Purpose
The Head of Resourcing, Operational Delivery (Prisons) and Head of Operational
Delivery (Probation) provides strategic and operational leadership for the recruitment,
onboarding and resourcing of the prison and probation workforce. The role is
accountable for delivering national recruitment outcomes against workforce
requirements, improving time to hire, enhancing candidate quality and experience, and
ensuring recruitment activity supports prison and probation operational stability.
These are demanding roles and will require close collaboration across People &
Capability Group’s leadership team. You will need to have the skills to lead, manage
and inspire a multi-disciplinary, national team working with agility to meet the flexing and
rapid recruitment demands of the operational business.
Key Responsibilities - Head of Resourcing, Operational Delivery (Prisons)
• Lead national prisons resourcing strategies, translating operational workforce
needs into deliverable recruitment plans.
• Assess and review campaign performance to identify continuous improvements
that drive better candidate experience, reduced time to hire and quality candidate
retention through the recruitment process whilst ensuring compliance with Civil
Service Recruitment Principles.
• Work closely with prison governors, operational leaders and senior stakeholders
to align resourcing activity with regional and local priorities.
• Lead and develop resourcing teams, setting clear direction and performance
expectations.
• Manage delivery risks, dependencies and staffing pressures, escalating with
clear mitigations.
• Use data and insight to inform decisions, track performance, improve outcomes
and provide assurance to senior leaders and ministers.
• Establish clear expectations with outsourced partners, transparently holding them
to account for delivery outcomes, compliance and value for money.
• Represent prisons resourcing in senior governance forums, national trade union
negotiations and ministerial discussions.
Key Responsibilities - Head of Resourcing, Operational Delivery (Probation)
• Lead probation resourcing and recruitment strategies aligned to workforce
demand and service delivery priorities.
• Oversee end-to-end recruitment performance, including attraction, selection,
vetting and onboarding.
• Work in partnership with probation regions, senior leaders and workforce
planning colleagues.
• Lead and support teams through periods of change and operational pressure
• Provide high-quality advice and assurance to senior leaders on recruitment risks
and mitigations.
• Leverage data and organisational insights to guide design, delivery, track
performance, and highlight risks and dependencies for strategic impact
• Lead improvements in the candidate journey, processes, and systems to reduce
hiring time and improve candidate retention, while ensuring compliance with Civil
Service Recruitment Principles.
• Represent probation resourcing in governance, taskforces and senior
stakeholder forums.
Person Specification
• Proven experience of leading complex, high‑volume recruitment and onboarding
activity at pace, including managing competing operational priorities and delivery
risk.
• Demonstrable experience of working closely with operational leaders (e.g.
regional or site‑based leaders) to translate workforce demand into deliverable
resourcing plans.
• Experience of providing assurance, advice and insight to senior leaders and
governance forums on recruitment performance, risks and mitigations.
• Track record of leading and developing multidisciplinary teams through periods of
change, pressure and organisational transition.
Skills and Abilities
• Strong strategic and operational judgement, with the ability to see the big picture
while maintaining grip on detailed delivery.
• Demonstrates outstanding stakeholder management and influencing capabilities,
evidenced by a proven history of establishing and maintaining strategic
partnerships across a wide range of stakeholders, including effective engagement
at Senior Leadership Team and ministerial levels.
• Highly developed analytical and decision‑making capability, using data and
insight to inform priorities, improve performance and assure outcomes.
• Demonstrated capability to lead high-quality delivery in a sensitive operational
environment, effectively balancing urgency with assurance and a positive
candidate experience.
• Ability to drive innovation, change and process improvement in recruitment
delivery
• Strong communication skills, able to convey complex information clearly and
credibly to a range of audiences.
Success Profiles
Leadership - Provides clear direction, builds strong teams, and role‑models inclusive,
values‑based leadership.
Delivering at Pace - Drives momentum and performance in high‑pressure
environments, adapting quickly to changing priorities.
Communicating and Influencing - Builds confidence and trust with senior
stakeholders, influencing decisions and outcomes.
Seeing the Big Picture - Understands how resourcing activity supports wider
operational stability, transformation and organisational priorities.
Application process
You will be assessed against the Civil Service success profiles framework.
Sift
At the sift stage you will be assessed against Behaviours and Experience.
Please provide examples of how you meet each of the Behaviours listed below, at Grade
7 level:
•
Leadership (lead Behaviour)
•
Delivering at Pace
•
Communicating and Influencing
•
Seeing the Big Picture
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment
_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf
Experience assessed will be via CV, and Statement of Suitability (500 word limit)
explaining your suitability for the post and how you meet the person specification
outlined in the job description.
Should we receive a large number of applications, we may carry out the initial sift on the
lead Behaviour only.
Candidates invited to Interview
Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely. During the interview, we will be
assessing you on the Behaviours below and Strengths from the Success Profiles
framework.
•
Leadership (lead Behaviour)
•
Delivering at Pace
•
Communicating and Influencing
•
Seeing the Big Picture
There will be a short presentation on the following:
You have been appointed as Head of Resourcing, Operational Delivery for either
Prisons or Probation. Six months into post, workforce shortages are impacting
operational delivery and recruitment performance.
Please set out how you would approach the next 12 months to stabilise recruitment
and improve outcomes, covering:
• your priorities in balancing operational pressures
• how you would use data to drive decisions and monitor performance
• how you would work with senior leaders and delivery partners
• how you would manage risk while maintaining candidate experience and compliance
Interview dates TBC