Executive Head of Membership Guidance & Advice (Ref:92255)
Ministry of Justice
Apply before 11:55 pm on Thursday 28th November 2024
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About the job
Job summary
Job description
Overview
Members of Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) are unpaid public appointees (volunteers) who provide statutory, independent scrutiny of the treatment and care of people in prisons and immigration detention. There are approximately 1200 IMB members, organised into around 130 Boards, each with its own Chair. They are appointed by ministers and operate in prisons and young offender institutions (run by HM Prison and Probation Service - MOJ), in immigration removal centres, various short-term holding facilities and on repatriation flights for those being removed from the UK (run by the Home Office).
Lay Observers (LOs) are also unpaid public appointees, whose responsibility it is to check on the welfare of individuals in court custody suites and while they are traveling in the care and custody of escort contractors.
As independent scrutiny bodies, IMBs and LOs have a growing public profile and play an increasingly crucial role in providing assurance to ministers and the public on the conditions and treatment of those held in detention. They are members of the UK’s National Preventive Mechanism, under the UK’s international human rights obligations to prevent torture and other ill-treatment of people in detention. They work closely with HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, who also play a key part in the oversight and assurance of places of detention. The findings of IMBs and LOs are fed into the performance and scrutiny information used by government to contribute to prisons and immigration detention policy and process changes, in line with their commitment to ensuring safe, humane and effective places of detention.
Purpose
This is a significant senior leadership role with considerable freedom to set aims and objectives. As such, the postholder will be held accountable for the performance and delivery of the work areas in remit.
The postholder will deal with complex and contentious issues, of reputational risk to the organisation, solving problems without precedent. They will need to be a creative and future thinker, considering long-term impacts and unintended consequences. They will deliver decisions with authority and defend decisions in the face of opposition. The role will demand a high level of resilience. They will apply highly developed interpersonal and influencing skills with individuals of statutory importance to the organisation. The postholder will lead work across a number of functions and across a wide geographical area.
They will therefore have excellent organisational skills and the ability to deliver well through others. This role will be responsible for excellent customer service and so will need an in-depth knowledge of our functions and requirements.
This role is accountable for operational delivery, the element of our work that carries the greatest strategic risk.
Responsibilities
The postholder is accountable for our operational activity which supports circa 1200 IMB and LO members to deliver their roles. The G6 will be the most senior point of staff contact for the membership on all operational matters and will act as an escalation point for their team and membership. The postholder will be responsible for the development and application of all policies, guidance and practice applied to the IMB and LO monitoring roles and will ensure these are developed through effective joint working with staff and members alike. This will cover process compliance as well as monitoring and Board management requirements.
• Accountable for the member journey from application to end of tenure, this includes member recruitment, induction, training and compliance, such as to data and security requirements.
• Accountable for understanding and responding to membership issues across prison and IDE IMBs as well as LOs. Bringing consistency in advice and practice across the different areas of delivery but maintaining bespoke approaches where necessary.
• Responsible for the development and application of new Board/ member management and monitoring policies, guidance and practices, based on statutory and other requirements, and the needs of the membership.
• Lead teams with wide ranging and geographically spread responsibilities.
• Act as the most senior point of contact for the membership on day-to-day issues. This entails ensuring good, consistent and timely advice and guidance is provided to circa 1200 unpaid public appointees monitoring in prisons, immigration detention or courts and escort services. This support could be to individuals or through the IMB Board structure. Examples include:
o Liaising and negotiating with Boards on an achievable local strategy to improve recruitment and retention of members
o De-escalating issues that may have arisen between members and the service they are monitoring, between members themselves and/or between members and staff
o Daily problem solving of risky scenarios that demand immediate action, such as: conflicts of interest that have arisen for members between their monitoring role and other areas of activity; security concerns including corruption or suspected wrongdoing; safety or safeguarding concerns relating to members, all of which may require a request for immediate suspension by the minister’s delegate
o Providing immediate and accurate advice to members on the compliance aspects of their role as well as quality assuring its application
o Ensuring statutory requirements are met, both in relation to the monitoring role but also the requirements of the Public Appointments Code.
These requirements will be met directly but also through good leadership and management of the team. Delivery will also demand the application of good negotiation and interpersonal skills with members as well as relevant senior HMPPS and MoJ personnel.
• Responsible for stakeholder engagement, including with other voluntary sector and unpaid public appointee government leads.
• Support the National Chairs and CEO in the operational delivery of the IMB and LO strategic direction.
• Advise the CEO and National Chairs on operational matters as necessary.
• Lead the organisation as part of the Senior Leadership Team and deputise for the CEO where necessary.
• As a member of SLT, proactively help deliver the corporate objective of ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of all staff and member matters.
• Perform other job-related duties as required.
Essential criteria
- Experience of operational delivery
- An understanding of how to work with volunteers
- An understanding of the criminal justice system
- An understanding of how to operate within and deliver through the civil service structure
Desirable criteria
- Experience of monitoring or inspection
- Experience of working in an Arms’ Length Body of a government department
Person specification
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Changing and Improving
- Leadership
- Delivering at Pace
Benefits
- Access to learning and development
- A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
- A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
- Annual Leave
- Public Holidays
- Season Ticket Advance
For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.
Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
- Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
- Telephone : 0845 241 5359
Recruitment team
- Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
Further information
