Candidate Information Pack
Deputy Director, Our Future Probation Service
His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service
SCS Pay Band 1
Closing Date: 23:55 Wednesday 28th May 2025
Introduction 2
Welcome to His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Services 2
About the Ministry of Justice 3
About the role 5
Key Responsibilities 6
Person Specification 7
Civil Service Success Profiles 9
The Recruitment Process 11
Success Profile Statements Guidance 13
Expected Timeline 15
Benefits of working the Ministry of Justice 16
Pensions at the Ministry of Justice 18
Disability Support 20
FAQs 22
Data Sharing 25
Diversity & Inclusion 26
Civil Service Code 27
Contact Us 28
“Thank you for your interest in the role of Deputy Director for the Our Future Probation Service Programme."
This is a high priority programme to deliver on HMPPS and MoJ ministerial priorities to rebalance demand and capacity in probation in order deliver sustainable performance improvement. The post holder will act as Programme Director for Our Future Probation Service Programme (OFPS).
OFPS is central to delivery of the Ministry of Justice’s strategic outcomes to both Protect the Public and Reduce Reoffending.
This post is critical to ensuring that HMPPS, MoJ Policy and Justice Digital work effectively together to deliver a single operationally deliverable plan including legislative measures, process improvement, digital transformation and cultural change to close the capacity gap and deliver essential efficiencies to sustain delivery.
The postholder will need to manage complex dependencies with the Spending Review and implementation of the recommendations from the Independent Sentencing Review to ensure the final plan addressed future capacity gap within agreed funding.
The role is key to ensuring key stakeholders and partners are fully engaged to support implementation including Probation workforce, judiciary and CJS partners.
I am looking for a strong and inclusive leader who is energised by this opportunity and has the skills, resilience and creativity to guarantee delivery. You’ll have a desire to hold a significant level of responsibility within a fast-paced, high-profile and challenging area where your contribution will make a real difference, and you will play a key role in the senior management team in shaping the future of probation service.
Best wishes,
Jim Barton
Executive Director, HMPPS Change
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) works to protect and advance the principles of justice. Our vision is to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society.
The justice system plays a crucial role in our success as a nation - keeping people safe, emphasising fairness, guaranteeing individual rights and giving businesses confidence to flourish.
The delivery of our three strategic outcomes are central to doing this:
Protect the public from serious offenders and improve the safety and security of our prisons. We will deliver better sentencing, more prison places, safer prisons and strong action on extremism.
Reduce reoffending. We will play a vital role in reducing crime through breaking the cycle of reoffending by focusing on proven interventions: a home, a job and access to treatment for substance-misuse.
Deliver swift access to justice. We will increase the throughput of volumes of cases by maximising capacity and make the courts and tribunals system stronger and smarter and work to support victims, tackling sexual and domestic violence and making sure the vulnerable are supported in the justice system.
For more information on who we are and what we do, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice.
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), responsible on behalf of the Secretary of State for Justice for commissioning and delivering prison and probation services in England and
Wales. We are committed to protecting the public and reducing reoffending. We deliver our offender services through:
The Probation Service - a directly managed service for managing the risk that offenders pose in the community, preparing offenders from release from prison, and advising the courts.
Public Sector Prisons - 105 directly managed prisons which provide around 82 per cent of prison places.
Private Sector Providers - operating 14 prisons under contract and providing other significant services including prisoner escorts and electronic monitoring of offenders.
Partnerships - with a range of public and social sector partners, including police, local authorities, health and education providers, and with a wide range of organisations in the voluntary and social enterprise sector.
The agency is also commissioned by the Youth Justice Board to provide over 800 custodial places for young people (under 18) and by the Home Office to provide approximately 1,000 detainee places at two Immigration Removal Centres.
For more information on what we do, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hermajestys-prison-and-probation-service
Deputy Director, Our Future Probation Service
National with regular travel to London.
We welcome applications from candidates across the UK. Candidates will have the option of being based in any HMPPS office across England and Wales.
Please note the requirements for travel and level of flexibility available as set out in the FAQs section.
The salary for this role is set within the SCS Pay band 1 range.
External candidates should expect their salary upon appointment to be £76,000
Existing Civil Servants will be appointed in line with the Civil Service pay rules in place on the date of their appointment.
This role is a fixed term appointment with a duration of 2 years to reflect the duration of the programme.
The postholder will be responsible for leading the programme team, and coordinating the contributions of partners, to redesign the operating model for how probation services are delivered in England and Wales. That model will need to identify sustainable means to reduce workload by 25%. In addition, the postholder will be responsible for implementation of this new model, with an onus on ensuring that is done with minimum impact on the frontline.
As the Senior Civil Servant responsible for Prison Supply, your key responsibilities will include:
Leading the programme to deliver a credible, implementable plan to close the demand-capacity gap across probation including legislative and operational measures, contributing to the overarching aim to improve performance and prepare for implementation of the Sentencing Review the capacity gap across Probation, contributing to improving performance and preparing the service to implement the outcome of the Sentencing Review.
The Programme is comprehensive and the postholder will be key in setting the direction of the Programme and leading the team and the wider business to deliver it across the Probation Service in England and Wales Overseeing the alignment of the supply of prison places with the HMPPS strategy.
Ensuring that HMPPS meets its statutory and commercial obligations, prioritising spend carefully.
Developing and maintaining close working relationships with relevant stakeholders and other parts of the justice system.
Developing effective working relationships with other Directorates within HMPPS at all levels and leading inclusively with business partner and others to enable successful delivery.
Role modelling the leadership behaviours (as set out in the HMPPS Leadership Code) as a member of the HMPPS senior leadership community.
Championing engagement, equality and inclusion through leadership of the team; and
Championing continuous profession development and professional skills across HMPPS, MoJ and the wider Civil Service.
We are committed to increasing the diversity of our teams and welcome applications from under-represented groups. We do not require you to have experience working in the public sector.
It is important through your CV and Statement of Suitability that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the selection criteria detailed.
Essential Experience:
A proven track record of substantial senior leadership with the ability to inspire inclusiveness and contribute to a culture which values diverse experiences.
Demonstrable experience of strategic thinking and planning, and delivery in a large scale, complex organisation where transformation and change are prioritised.
A proven track record of designing and implementing outstanding change initiatives and programmes to improve service delivery.
Strong delivery and problem-solving skills, with the ability to grip issues while exercising sound judgement.
Proven ability to interpret the bigger picture, persuade, influence, and secure the confidence of others, building collaborative working relationships and consensus across a range of senior stakeholders to deliver shared goals.
You will also be assessed against the following Behaviours during the Recruitment Process:
Communicating and Influencing
Leadership
Seeing the Big Picture
Working Together
Changing and Improving
We are looking to understand what motivates and energises you. We want to see what your natural strengths are and what interests you.
All leaders within the Civil Service are expected to demonstrate the qualities within the Civil Service Leadership Statement during their Staff Engagement Exercise.
Read more in the Civil Service Success Profiles Section.
The Selection Criteria uses the Civil Service Success Profile Framework. Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. More information about Success Profiles to support your application can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles.
Where Behaviours are assessed these will draw on the MoJ’s SCS Pay Band 1 Behaviours which are set out below:
Communicating and Influencing
You communicate clearly and with confidence, both verbally and in writing. You are open, honest and transparent in your communications. You communicate effectively with internal and external senior stakeholders to present information in a convincing and influential manner. You tailor your communication methods and content to the audience, simplifying strategic messages.
Leadership
You visibly demonstrate the organisation’s values in all your activity, leading authentically. You seek to engage staff in the aims of the organisation and communicate the organisation’s strategy in an inspiring way. You create an inclusive and fair culture which creates a sense of belonging by treating staff as individuals and actively valuing diversity within the organisation. You empower teams and individuals to excel by creating a shared vision and objectives and demonstrate trust in staff by giving autonomy.
Seeing the Big Picture
You understand the wider context of the organisation’s work, considering the political, social, economic, and technological environment both currently and in the future. You create and implement strategies to achieve the organisation’s aims and meet the needs of the public. You promote the organisation externally, advocating positive outcomes for the sector you operate within. You motivate staff by ensuring they understand how their work fits into the big picture.
Working Together
You work collaboratively to achieve outcomes both within your area of responsibility and across the organisation. You create a supportive working environment where all opinions are considered, and individuals are valued for their expertise and unique contribution.
You proactively maintain relationships with peers and external senior stakeholders and utilise these to achieve positive outcomes.
Changing and Improving
You create an environment of continuous improvement and change. You see the benefit of change and promote this within your area of responsibility. You identify business needs, both current and future, and use this to identify opportunities for change, utilising innovative solutions that benefit the end user. You are able to embed change, managing risks. You evaluate the impact of change against the expected outcomes for service users and the public.
If you feel you would benefit from any support or adjustments during any stage of the selection process, please contact the SCS Recruitment Team to discuss your needs, in confidence:
Email: scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk
The Disability Support section explains how adjustments can be made to the selection process to accommodate a disability.
Internal Stakeholder Conversations
You are invited to arrange an informal discussion with Jim Barton to learn more about the role and the organisation before applying. This is not part of the assessed elements of the selection process.
Stages of the process
Application and CV & Success Profile Statement Assessment
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process accessed via the advertisement listed for this role.
This should be completed no later than 23:55 on Wednesday 28th May 2025. As part of the application process, you will initially be asked to complete:
Responses to the eligibility questions. These questions are asked to check you are eligible to apply for the role.
A response to whether you would like to request reasonable adjustments. If you feel you require any kind of support and/or would like to discuss this with someone in confidence, please indicate 'yes' to requesting reasonable adjustments. The Disability Support section shares more information about requesting reasonable adjustments.
You will also need to complete a CV and Success Profile Statement Assessment. Please note you must complete your CV and Success Profile Statement before the closing date. It is important that your CV and Success Profile Statements give evidence and examples of how you meet the essential experience required for the role:
Your CV should set out your career history, including key responsibilities, activities and achievements.
Your Success Profile Statements are a series of short written statements demonstrating how you meet the essential experience and/or ability and/or technical skills outlined in the essential criteria section above.
Please find more information about the Civil Service Success Profiles here
What is being assessed?
Essential experience (as listed on page 7)
Please ensure your Statements do not exceed the word count listed as additional text will not be assessed.
Once all applications have been assessed, you will be advised whether your application has been shortlisted for the next stage of the selection process. If you are shortlisted, we will contact you to arrange the next stage of the selection process.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
What is being assessed?
Behaviours:
Communicating and Influencing
Leadership
Seeing the Big Picture
Working Together
Changing and Improving
Following the interview, the performance of all candidates will be reviewed, and the successful candidate identified. All candidates will be notified of the outcome as soon as possible after the conclusion of all interviews. If you are not the successful candidate but you meet the standard required, you may be invited to have your details retained on a merit list to be considered for future SCS roles.
Success Profile Statements are a series of short written statements of how you meet the essential experience outlined in the assessment criteria section and allow you to provide further detail on your experience and skills demonstrated in your CV.
Prior to writing your Statements ensure you read through the role information thoroughly and identify the essential criteria for each area. You should ensure you provide evidence for each of the essential experience which are required for the role. You may not be progressed to the next stage of the assessment process if you do not provide this evidence.
When structuring your Statements try to:
Group evidence of the same experience together by using subheadings and paragraphs. This will help to ensure you are writing about the experience that is directly relevant for the role you are applying for.
You should ensure that you detail recent and relevant examples of the essential experience and abilities skills required for the role and describe the outcome that came from this. The STAR approach can be a useful method of helping to frame your examples, particularly for the Experience Statement:
Situation - briefly describe the specific event or situation. This should be a short description to set the context.
Task - briefly explain what you had to do. What were you trying to achieve from the event or situation? What were the success criteria?
Action(s) - here is where you can really explain how you have acquired the relevant experience. What did you do? How did you do it? Why did you do it that way? What skills did you use?
Results - summarise the results of your actions. What was the outcome? What did you learn
Providing a name-blind CV and Success Profile Statements
In both your CV and Success Profile Statements please remove references to any personal information that could identify you. For example:
name and title
educational institution names
age and gender
email address
postal address and telephone number
nationality and immigration status.
This will help us to recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not on your background, gender or ethnicity. Recruiting this way is called name-blind recruitment.
We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for assessments or interviews. You are therefore asked to note the below timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process, in order to meet the dates given. Please note that these dates may be subject to change.
The anticipated timetable is as follows:
Advert Closing Date: 23:55 Wednesday 288h May 2025
Outcome of CV and Statement of Suitability: Week Commencing 16th June 2025
Staff Engagement Exercises: 26th or 27th June 2025
Panel Interview and Presentation: Week Commencing Week Commencing 7th July
Our departmental values - purpose, humanity, openness and together - are at the heart of our commitment to create a culture where all our people are able to thrive and flourish in the workplace. We want to attract and retain the best talent from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. We want everyone to be the best of themselves, to feel supported and have a strong sense of belonging in the workplace. Our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce is reflected in all of our people policies and strategies, and we offer our employees access to:
Diverse talent programs;
Mentoring schemes;
Family friendly policies including generous parental and special leave options;
Flexible working options - including a varied working patterns and flexibility to choose how and where you work.
Workplace adjustment support;
Wellbeing support, including access to our Employee Assistance Provider;
Special leave for active duty reservists;
Volunteering days.
The Ministry of Justice has diversity champions, senior civil servants appointed by our Permanent Secretary, who work to drive forward and embed equality, diversity and inclusion as a core part of both our business delivery and in how we support our people.
The Ministry of Justice’s champions each advocate for a specific strand including Race, Disability, Carers, Gender, LGBTQI, Faith and Belief, Age and Social Mobility.
They work closely with our diversity staff network groups and help to shape and build our sense of community across the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice staff network groups provide care and support for their members, offer our policy makers challenge and critical friendship, champion opportunities, help change our culture and celebrate everything that makes our people who we are.
The department also has an employee health and wellbeing strategy which details the wide range of support available to staff. The strategy focuses on four key wellbeing areas; mental wellbeing, lifestyle including physical wellbeing, financial wellbeing and workplace environment - culture and physical workspaces.
Generous Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance
25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays.
This will be complemented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King’s Birthday.
Childcare Benefits
The government has introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Working parents can open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2000 a year for each child or £4000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. More information about the Tax Free Childcare Scheme can be found on GOV.UK or Childcare Choices.
Onsite facilities
Opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable).
Season Ticket and Bicycle Loan
Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle.
Sick Pay
Occupational sick pay.
After your salary, your pension is one of your biggest benefits. It provides you with financial security and options when you retire, as well as benefits for your family and loved ones.
Some of the benefits of a Civil Service pension include:
Member contribution rates among the lowest in the public sector
Tax relief on your contributions
Generous employer contributions
A secure, inflation-proof pension for life, with no investment uncertainty
Life assurance cover
Benefits for loved ones and dependants
Options to increase your pension
Keeping all your pensions in one place by transferring in a pension you have built up elsewhere
Support from our trusted charity partners
Great Member Pension
Main Defined Benefit Pension Scheme
Providing a secure pension payable for life with no investment uncertainty
Choice of a tax-free lump sum
Generous build rate of 2.32% of your earnings as a pension each year.
Choice of entering a Defined Contribution Scheme, in which you decide the level of contributions you wish to make (this can be 0%) and will be matched by the employer up to 3% (which is added to the age defined DC employer contribution).
What pension could you get?
For example, if you earned £80,000 per year and remained in the Defined Benefit Scheme
After 10 years you could have a pension of £18,560 per year which represents a Lifetime Allowance of circa 35%
Generous employer contributions
Employer contribution towards the main Defined Benefit pension scheme is extremely generous with an average 30.3% of your pay
Employer Contribution towards the Defined Contribution Scheme is between 8% - 14.75% depending on age.
Main Scheme Death benefits
Able to nominate anyone (including charities) for a Tax-free lump sum in the event of your death
Lump Sum of up to two times your pay
Main Scheme provides a Pension for your spouse/partner of around 37.5% of your pension as well as pension for eligible children
Visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk for more details
What reasonable adjustments can be made if I have a disability?
We welcome and encourage applications from all candidates and are committed to supporting all candidates to take part in the recruitment process. This includes supporting individuals who have a disability by making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process. We are also able to provide support to candidates who require adjustments to the assessment process due to more temporary difficulties (e.g. linked to a recent injury).
We will ask you within your application form if you would like to request reasonable adjustments. If you feel you require any kind of support and/or would like to discuss this with someone, please indicate ‘yes’ to requesting reasonable adjustments and ensure that you respond to the Reasonable Adjustments Scheme team by email.
There are a range of disabilities such as physical, neurological, intellectual or learning difficulties and mental health conditions which may underpin candidates’ requests for reasonable adjustments. We understand that the support requested will be unique to every candidate and we will work with you to help you to identify your individual requirements.
We make reasonable adjustments so that all candidates are given a fair opportunity to undertake the recruitment process. Therefore, disclosing information regarding your disability or access requirements will have no impact on the outcome of your application, regardless of your request or the role you have applied to.
How we can support you
There are many types of reasonable adjustments that can be made during assessment processes, and the type or combination you choose to request will depend on your individual requirements.
Examples of some types of adjustments include:
Extra time to complete assessments;
Providing a break within an assessment;
Providing interview questions in a written format at the interview as well as orally;
An interview at a certain time of day;
Coloured overlays or different fonts for assessment materials.
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list but rather some examples.
Whilst we aim to confirm all adjustments requested, there may be occasions where this isn’t possible. For example, if a candidate were to request that they are not assessed on a specific behaviour outlined in the job advert this would not be possible because the behaviour has been identified as important for the job role and all candidates are assessed against this criterion. If an adjustment cannot be provided, the reasons for this will be explained to you during your contact with the reasonable adjustment scheme team.
Help with your application
During the application process, we will ask you if you require reasonable adjustments. You will need to contact us by email to discuss this with a member of the team. It is important you tell us as early as possible if you would like to request reasonable adjustments so that the recruitment process runs smoothly for you.
If you do decide during the process that you do require adjustments and you have not completed all your assessments, please contact the SCS recruitment team in advance of your next assessment.
If you have any questions in advance of making your application regarding reasonable adjustments for the assessment process, please contact the SCS recruitment team at scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk.
Do you offer a Disability Confident Scheme for Disabled Persons?
As a Disability Confident employer, the MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. This could be in terms of the advertised essential skills and/or application form sift criteria. Within the application form, you will be asked if you would like to be considered for an interview under this scheme, so please make us aware of this when prompted.
Yes. This role is open to suitably qualified people in the external market and to existing civil servants and those in accredited Non-Departmental Bodies.
This role is available for full-time or flexible working arrangements (including job share partnerships). If you wish to discuss your needs in more detail please get in touch with the named point of contact in this pack.
If successful you will be based in an HMPPS office across England & Wales.
Reserved for UK Nationals
Certain posts, notably those concerned with security and intelligence, might be reserved for British citizens, but this will not normally prevent access to a wide range of developmental opportunities within the Civil Service.
This is not a reserved post.
Yes. If successful you must hold, or be willing to obtain, security clearance to SC level. More information about the vetting process can be found here.
Veteran applicants who meet the minimum selection criteria in the job specification are guaranteed an interview. Selection will be on merit. If you wish to claim a guaranteed interview under the Great Place to Work for Veterans scheme, you should complete the relevant section of the online application.
The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.
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. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk in the first instance.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order.
To Shared Service-Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 08.00 - 18.00) or e-mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com)
To Ministry of Justice Resourcing (resourcing-services@justice.gov.uk)
To the Civil Service Commission (https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/)
Candidates must note the requirement to declare any interests that might cause questions to be raised about their approach to the business of the Department.
If you believe that you may have a conflict of interest, please contact SCS Recruitment on scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk before submitting your application.
We will ensure that we will treat all personal information in accordance with data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018.
Data Sharing
To process your application your personal data will be shared with the Ministry of Justice SCS Recruitment Team, campaign Panel Members and anyone else necessary as part of the recruitment process.
The legal basis for processing your personal data is:
Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. Personal data are processed in the public interest because understanding civil servant experiences and feelings about working in the Civil Service can inform decision taken to improve these experiences, and ultimately organisation performance.
Sensitive personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation.
The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data is:
Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or a government department: it is important to know if groups of staff with specific demographic characteristics have a better or worse experience of working for the Civil Service, so that appropriate action can be taken to level this experience;
Processing is of a specific category of personal data and it is necessary for the purposes of identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with a view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained.
Please note if you are successful in your application your sensitive personal data will be used as part of the on-boarding process to build your employee record.
For further information please see the GDPR Privacy Notice
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent where it is found. To learn more, please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy
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. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order
1- To Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com);
2- To Ministry of Justice Resourcing (resourcing-services@justice.gov.uk);
3- To the Civil Service Commission (https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/)
Should candidates like to discuss the role in more detail before submitting an application, please contact SCS Recruitment on scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk.