About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) for England and Wales is an independent inspectorate which reports on the treatment of, and conditions for, those in prison, young offender institutions and court custody suites in England and Wales, and immigration detention facilities in the United Kingdom. HMI Prisons also inspects Border Force customs custody (jointly with HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services) and secure training centres (jointly with Ofsted). By invitation, HMI Prisons inspects some military detention facilities, as well as prisons in Northern Ireland and in other jurisdictions with links to the UK, such as the Isle of Man. 

The role of HM Inspectorate of Prisons is to provide independent scrutiny of the conditions for and treatment of prisoners and other detainees, promoting the concept of ‘healthy establishments’ in which staff work effectively to achieve positive outcomes for those detained and for the public.

The Inspectorate’s work constitutes an important part of the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment. This Protocol requires signatory states to have in place regular independent inspection of places of detention.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an Arm’s Length Body (ALB) of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The Chief Inspector of Prisons is a Crown Appointee, while the staff of the Inspectorate are civil servants employed by the MoJ. The established values of the Inspectorate are:

• Independence, impartiality and integrity are the foundations of our work.
• The experience of the detainee is at the heart of our inspections.
• Respect for human rights underpins our Expectations.
• We embrace diversity and are committed to pursuing equality of outcomes for all.
• We believe in the capacity of both individuals and organisations to change and improve, and that we have a part to play in initiating and encouraging change.

Head of Secretariat – HM Inspectorate of Prisons

The Head of Secretariat is a pivotal role, supporting the Chief Inspector and Deputy Chief Inspector to drive forward their strategic agenda and to ensure the Inspectorate adheres to the highest standards of corporate good-governance.

The Head of Secretariat must have a strong grasp of the issues across the organisation – including policy, key stakeholder relationships, corporate risks, human resources and finance – to deliver complex project work to a high standard and under pressure. They play a lead role in setting the culture of the organisation and in driving change and improvement, and they advise the Chief Inspector and Deputy Chief Inspector on a range of matters across the work of the Inspectorate.

The Head of Secretariat must be a high performing manager and experienced team leader, with the ability to coach and support direct reports, to provide inspirational leadership for the Secretariat team of 15 people, and to help set strategic direction for the Inspectorate as a whole. They must have the confidence, gravitas and expertise to represent and speak on behalf of the Chief Inspector and Deputy Chief Inspector, and to be influential among senior stakeholders.

While the role is office-based (minimum of three days a week), there are also frequent opportunities to visit prisons and other establishments and to support the inspection process, including through direct engagement with those detained in custody.

Responsibilities

The Head of Secretariat has the following responsibilities:

Governance

• Ensure that HMIP adheres to the highest standards of corporate good governance and meets its legal, financial and other responsibilities to the Ministry of Justice and other key stakeholders.
• Maintain oversight of HMIP’s governance structures, including through the Corporate Governance Board and Delivery Board, and by establishing long- term structures and processes to ensure appropriate oversight of all aspects of HMIP’s work. Serve as an active member of both Boards.
• Maintain oversight of HMIP’s Health and Safety and risk management. Identify areas of potential operational, financial and reputational risk within the Inspectorate; implement strategies and solutions to manage or mitigate these
• Oversee drafting and implementation of Equality and Diversity action plan, fostering a culture within HMIP that celebrates and actively promotes
• Chair the Inspectorate’s Learning and Development Committee and lead the production and delivery of the Learning and Development action plan.

Delivery

• Support the effective delivery of approximately 45 inspections (covering prisons, young offender institutions, secure training centres, immigration detention and court custody) and the publication of around 80 inspection and thematic reports per year.
• Maintain oversight of HMIP’s annual budget and financial
• Coordinate HMIP’s annual business planning, engaging with all HMIP teams as appropriate to set HMIP’s strategic objectives.
• Coordinate and collaborate with colleagues across HMIP to ensure delivery against the agreed business plan. This includes identifying issues for discussion and decision at Board meetings and tracking progress throughout the year.
• Ensure the Inspectorate’s HR policies, staff recruitment, induction and staff development strategies are effective and fit for purpose. Oversee HMIP’s quarterly Development Days.

 Support to the Chief Inspector and Deputy Chief Inspector

• Provide advice to HM Chief Inspector and Deputy Chief Inspector in matters relating to operations, governance, policy, stakeholder management, HR and finance, taking into account the strategic context, balancing competing priorities, and identifying risks.
• Lead on high priority issues on behalf of HM Chief Inspector and Deputy Chief Inspector, working with Team Leaders to identify effective resolution.

Stakeholders

• Manage key stakeholder relationships, including with the Ministry of Justice. This will include representing the Deputy Chief Inspector at HMI Prisons/MoJ Sponsor business planning meetings.
• Support the Chief Inspector in meetings with Ministers and Senior Officials (as required).
• Represent the Inspectorate externally as required

 Team leadership

• Provide inspirational and motivational leadership to the Secretariat team (currently 15 people) and ensure all staff are supported and developed through objective setting, training, regular 1-2-1 meetings and team meetings.
• Directly line manage 4 x Grade 7
• Ensure appropriate workforce planning across HMIP in general and in the Secretariat in Maintain oversight of all aspects of the Secretariat’s work (policy, publications, media, HR/Finance and inspection support) to ensure delivery to agreed standards and timelines.

 Knowledge, Experience and Skills Essential

• Significant management experience, including direct line management responsibilities and management of multi-disciplinary teams.
• Previous experience of advising and supporting senior staff and/or public
• Previous experience of budget management and forecasting.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbally and in writing with experience of building relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Excellent inter-personal skills sufficient to deal with authority and tact across a wide range of individuals, including detainees, junior staff and senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven track record of delivery, demonstrating an analytical approach to making judgements and decisions.
• Experience in constructing, drafting or contributing to policy, business plans and any project business cases demonstrating good analytical skills and numerical competence.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly grasp new/complex concepts and assimilate information quickly.
• Evidence of having acted with discretion to deal appropriately with confidential or sensitive matters.
• Flexible, and comfortable in managing conflicting priorities and ambiguous
• Resilient and able to deal with conflict and the requirement to produce work under pressure.
• Demonstrable commitment to the Inspectorate’s values and purpose.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in the criminal justice system or with individuals directly affected by it.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,303, Ministry of Justice contributes £19,614 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.