SEO Mechanical Engineering Manager
Candidate Information Pack
April 2025
Mechanical Engineering Manager Role Overview
Candidate Profile
As a Mechanical Engineering Manager at Ministry of Justice
Salary
Property, you will have the chance to apply your mechanical
engineering expertise to some of the most innovative and exciting
Civil Service Grade: Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
social infrastructure projects in the UK.
Your salary will be dependent on your base location.
The successful candidate will be part of the biggest prison expansion
For further information regarding the pay scales, please
refer to the job advert.
programme in a generation, which utilises Modern Methods of
Construction and Design for Manufacturing and Assembly to improve
Non-civil service candidates would typically start on the
efficiency, environmental performance and reduce cost.
pay band minimum.
This role will be recruited on a national basis.
They will also visit and work on projects on our existing £8.5 billion
estate, supporting the refurbishment of iconic establishments such as
Benefits
HMP Wandsworth, HMP Liverpool and HMP Wormwood Scrubs.
•
Civil Service Pension with >28% employer
contribution
The successful candidate will have a strong background in
construction and mechanical engineering. They will be a confident
•
Flexible working hours
and effective communicator who has experience working in a multi-
•
Extensive range of training and career development
disciplinary design and/or construction team environment.
opportunities
•
A range of flexible benefits and ‘family friendly’
policies
The ideal candidate will be driven by the opportunity to
change and improve the environment around them.
Mechanical Engineering Manager
Candidate Pack
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The Team
Technical Services is a 20-person specialist team
which sits within MoJ Property Directorate Prison
Infrastructure team.
MoJ Property
The Mechanical Engineering Manager role sits within
the Technical Standards division of the team.
Prison
Infrastructure
Technical
Health and
Delivery
Cost
Planning
Services
Safety
Information
Modern Methods
Technical
Construction
Management &
of Construction &
Standards
Digital
BIM
Design
Mechanical and
Civil & Structural
Change
Electrical
Architecture
Security
Engineering
Management
Engineering
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Candidate Pack
What We Do
The work that we do directly
impacts the cost, quality,
Technical Services are an award-winning team that
safety and strategic
are driving innovation and sustainable solutions into
alignment of the properties that
our buildings.
we build and our ability to operate
them effectively.
We lead the adoption of Modern Methods of Construction, Digital Twins
and platform approaches (DfMA) to bring efficiencies and better
We provide a direct value
outcomes.
contribution to the Ministry of
The MoJ operates a £9B, rapidly expanding estate, and the context we
Justice and our stakeholders and
deliver in offers unique challenges and opportunities. We ensure that all
support the strategic
construction, refurbishment and capital maintenance projects conform
with sustainability, health, safety, security, operational, information and
objectives of the MoJ.
legislative requirements where they are not mandated elsewhere.
We liaise closely with stakeholders to ensure that our properties reflect
the specific needs of those that use our estate and support the strategic
objectives of the Ministry of Justice.
Our work undertaken to date is leading the way across Government.
The Mechanical Engineering Manager’s role is key to this continued
success.
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A Case Study from
What Will You Work On?
HMP Millsike
HMP Millsike was opened in March 2025 and is the UK’s first all
electric prison.
The Technical Services team formed a key part of the client
construction team.
• Our architects and engineers advised project teams on applying
our standards, ensuring risks are effectively managed when
designs cannot comply.
• We developed standards to support the delivery of an all-
electric prison.
• We led the development and testing of the barless window
design to support a more rehabilitative environment for
prisoners.
• We led installation and development of a Digital Twin to
remotely monitor the building’s performance.
• We ensured asset information was managed and handed over
to the operator effectively.
For more information on HMP Millsike and what it takes to build a
prison, you can watch this video and read this article.
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A Typical Week in the Life of the Mechanical Engineering Manager
Monday - Work from Home: Joining the weekly team meeting to hear the latest updates from the team
and share your priorities for the week. Attending a project team meeting in the afternoon for the new prison
at HMP Gartree. An urgent ventilation compliance issue has been identified by the project team, they need
your advice on how to proceed.
Tuesday - Office Day: Attending the Sustainability Special Interest Group meeting. You’ve made some key
updates to our Air Source Heat Pump specification and have been asked to present the changes to BRE,
Mace, Pick Everard, Wates, Kier and other industry leaders.
Wednesday - Visiting Site: Site visit to HMP Gartree with the M&E team to agree a way forward for the
urgent ventilation compliance issue. Taking the opportunity to have a site walk with the Wates contractor
team to witness the new modular riser units being craned into position.
Thursday - Work from Home: After a long day on site on Wednesday, taking advantage of flexible working
to have a later start to the day. Working from home to review some requests to derogate from the
mechanical technical standards and drafting report on upcoming changes to legislation that will affect some
existing sites.
Modular riser being craned
Friday - Work from Home: Meeting with the Construction Digital team to hear the latest insights from the
into position on site.
Digital Twin that was installed at HMP Millsike. Some of the findings will inform changes to the underfloor
heating specification which will reduce the operational carbon in future prisons!
Using some Flexi-time that you’ve accrued to have an early finish to the week to spend time with the family.
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Candidate Pack
Who You’ll Work With
More information on the rest of the Technical
Services team
Architecture
The MoJ Property Technical Standards team has subject matter experts who
are involved with all the architectural aspects of our estate.
The team help validate and assure construction work across our building
estate through adherence to category-specific standards, compliance testing
and product approvals.
We manage design queries from a variety of
sources, such as commercial manufacturers and
contractors plus other MoJ teams who deal with
subjects such as fire, health and life safety,
commercial frameworks and operational policy.
One of the key areas of architectural compliance
from a safety and security perspective is the
cellular environment. New prison cell construction
and fitout are designed and product-tested to
meet the Technical Standards.
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Candidate Pack
Engineering
We employ experienced Structural, Mechanical,
Engineers at the MoJ
Electrical, and Security engineers who support
can expect to be
project teams to deliver buildings efficiently and in
involved in varied and
line with our requirements. Our engineering teams
challenging work
lead on the development of standards and design
supporting the
guidance and support project teams in its
delivery of a Net Zero
application.
Carbon estate,
responding to the
prison capacity crisis,
We work on projects that are at the forefront of
cross-government
government property and deliver in a context that
construction
provides unique challenges to security,
initiatives,
sustainability, health and safety, fire safety and
development of digital
operation.
construction
techniques, and our
We work closely with policy and commercial teams
DfMA and Modern
to test and validate innovative construction
Methods of
techniques such modularised risers, low carbon
Construction strategy.
concrete and cement alternatives, panelised
concrete construction and more.
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Digital Construction
We lead on Digital Construction and candidates will have the
opportunity to work closely with the Digital Construction Team in
developing innovative solutions and initiatives to solve key problems.
One of our key initiatives is the Digital Twin programme to help understand
what Digital Twins could mean for the estate, with a focus on operational
energy use reduction.
The digital twin, a digital model of the building, is linked to the physical
building by an array of sensors and a management system.
Our Pathfinder is the first Digital Twin completed for the MoJ and possibly
the public sector.
It demonstrates exceptional commitment to innovate and make a significant
positive impact by:
•
Illustrating a viable path to net zero using digital techniques
•
Leading the way for more widespread adoption of digital twins across
Government Property
•
Using technology to drive better operation, improved sustainability and
lowering operating costs
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Product Testing
To ensure construction methods and products are suitable for the highly
bespoke requirements of the custodial estate, particularly the cellular
environment, we have testing specification outlining methods and
requirements that these assets must meet in-order to be approved for
use on the estate.
This can cover elements from wall constructions and fencing through to
in-cell furniture and fixings.
In doing this we can provide assurance to HMPPS that components and
products being specified for use in the cell design and/or environment
have been adequately assessed and deemed suitable from a security,
safety and wellbeing perspective.
This testing is undertaken in collaboration with suppliers, manufacturers,
project teams and UKAS accredited testing facilities to ensure the best
designs and outcomes.
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Information Management
The MoJ Information Management team have
developed several resources that align with the
ISO 19650 Series, Construction Playbook,
Transforming Infrastructure Performance, and the
UK BIM Framework.
These have been fully embedded in the MoJ
frameworks and contracts and ensure that a
collaborative approach is adopted.
Modern systems and databases have been developed and are
utilised by colleagues to make information management
requirements machine readable, thus reducing human error and
ensuring that specifications can be readily updated.
The MoJ have developed dashboards, so that the delivery of data
can be tracked and evidenced, with action taken accordingly. This
has enabled efficiencies and time savings across multiple projects of
various scales, helping to inform important KPI’s.
The MoJ Information Management Platform facilitates project
updates to be viewed in real-time, providing assurance to the team
and greater transparency across the projects portfolio.
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