Prison Officer

 

Prison officer – HMP Send

HMP Send, Ripley Rd, Ripley, Woking GU23 7LJ

Starting salary: £34,851 (for a 39 hour week inc 20% unsocial)

City/Town:        Woking

Region:              Kent, Surrey & Sussex

Vacancy type:   Merit                        

 

 

This vacancy is open to female applicants only as an occupational requirement exception under Sch 9 of the Equality Act 2010. This post is not open to male applicants.

 

As a prison officer, you’ll be part of a diverse team, making an impact, doing meaningful work in our prisons.

 

Working in a prison is fast-paced and varied, and no two days are the same. You’ll work with a range of people and perform a variety of tasks – from keeping the prison safe and secure, to helping vulnerable people through a difficult time in their lives. Once you’ve qualified, you’ll have a range of opportunities to specialise and progress your career and earning potential.

 

It can be a challenging job, but in return you will get good pay, training, benefits and have the support of a strong team.

 

Find out more about this varied role and day-to-day life as a prison officer.

 

 

Job details

 

Eligibility

 

To become a prison officer, you will need to:

 

• be at least 18 years old
• have the right to work in the UK
• be reasonably fit and able to pass our fitness test
• have good eyesight in both eyes (both with and without corrective lenses)
• For safety reasons, everyone training to be a prison officer needs a suitable standard of hearing (without the use of hearing aids)

 

To work in a high security prison (category A) you must have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years.

 

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Visa sponsorship

 

Please note we are unable to sponsor any individuals via the Skilled Worker Sponsorship / Tier 2 (General) work visa.

 

Successful applicants must ensure they have and maintain the legal right to live and work in the Civil Service and in the United Kingdom.

 

 

Essential skills

 

You don’t need qualifications to become a prison officer.Personal qualities are more important. You need to show:

 

• communication and influencing skills
• commitment to quality
• effective decision-making
• care and understanding

 

Pay

 

The initial training is 37 hours a week. After training, you can choose to work 37, 39 or 41 hours a week. Your annual salary will reflect your weekly hours.

 

• 37 hours a week = £32,902 a year
• 39 hours a week = £34,851 a year
• 41 hours a week = £36,800 a year

 

All salary figures quoted include any additional allowances.

 

Prisons operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means you will have to cover various shift patterns that will include evenings, some nights, weekends and public holidays (these days are added to your holiday allowance).  Most prisons work with a changing shift pattern of 39 hours a week.

 

You may also have opportunities to work additional paid hours.

 

Benefits

 

• 25 days’ annual holiday (rising to 30 days after 10 years’ service)
• paid time off for public holidays and 1 extra privilege day
• Civil Service pension of up to 20% of your salary
• cycle to work scheme, travel loans and other benefits

 

Prison officer rewards & benefits | HM Prison & Probation Service (prisonandprobationjobs.gov.uk)

 

Assessment Process

 

During the recruitment process you will be assessed on the behaviours, strengths and abilities you need to become an effective prison officer. These include:

 

• communicating and influencing
• managing a quality service
• making effective decisions
• caring

 

Your natural strengths are assessed to find out what motivates and energises you. We will also assess your numerical, written English and spoken English abilities.

Online Test

You will be invited to complete the online test, to see if you have the basic judgement and numerical skills expected of a prison officer.

The online assessment centre (OAC)

 If you pass the online test, we will invite you to an online assessment centre.

We test to see if you have the abilities, behaviours and strengths to be a prison officer.

After this you will be invited to provide a written response to 3 behaviour-based questions. We will explore your understanding of the prison officer role in a women’s prisons and why you are interested in the role.

Once you’ve successfully completed the online assessment centre, we will invite you to complete a medical and fitness test. This will cover an eyesight test,hearing test and basic health screening, including a blood pressure check.

Read more about the application process.

 

Job offers: merit vacancy

 

This is a merit job vacancy. If you are successful at the online assessment centre, you will be added to a merit list based on your score.

 

When all applicants have completed the assessment centre, the prison will make job offers to individuals with the highest scores first when positions become available.

 

You can stay on the merit list for 12 months. After this, you’ll need to apply again.

 

If your application is unsuccessful at the sift/Interview stage, a six month waiting period will be applied during which time you will not be allowed to submit any further applications for prison officer positions.

 

Operational Support Grade Role

Our Online Assessment Centre (OAC), will not only assess you against the key criteria to become a prison officer but will also determine your suitability for appointment as an operational support grade  OSG  If following attendance at your OAC, you are unsuccessful in your application to become a prison officer, we may instead offer you an alternative role as an OSG. Operational support grade – Ministry of Justice

Working for the Civil Service

 

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. If you feel the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you can raise a formal complaint in the following order:

 

1. Shared Services Connected Ltd: call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm) or email Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
2. Ministry of Justice Resourcing
3. The Civil Service Commission.

 

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging.  

 

Disability support

 

As a Disability Confident employer, the Ministry of Justice is committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. We can offer reasonable adjustments to help with the online tests and online assessment centre.

 

 

Salary

£32,902 - £36,800

Additional Information

If you require any assistance, please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am-6pm) or e-mail MoJ-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com. Please quote the job reference .

The jobholder must be able to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English or (when specified in Wales) Welsh.

Closing Date: 5th October 2023