Probation service jobs

There are a number of career opportunities that can be undertaken with the Nation Probation Service - Lancashire. The various careers are summarised below, click on the career path to see a more in depth look at the job:

• Probation officer
• Team manager/middle manager
• Probation services officer
• Administrative/Team support and clerical staff
• Community punishment supervisors
• Support services staff

We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from all sections of the community, including those who may be under-represented within the probation service. We are currently under-represented in the workplace by Black, Asian and male staff and disabled people and would particularly welcome applications from this group. The successful candidates will be chosen solely on their abilities to carry out the duties of the post.

Probation Officer

Qualification: Diploma in Probation Studies and NVQ Level 4 and BA in Community Justice or Certificate of Qualification in Social Work or a Diploma in Social Work

Job Purpose: There is a range of specialist functions, all with the priority to protect the public and prevent re-offending:

• obtain information about an offender and produce a report with assessment of the offender for the Court, in order to assist the Court in sentencing and other decisions
• supervise offenders who are subject to a Court Order or a Licence upon release from a prison sentence and enforce the Order or Licence,
• plan how an offender will serve his/her sentence, addressing offending behaviour and rehabilitation

Probation Officers usually begin their career in one of these areas of activity and transfer to others during their career. They can be based in community probation centres, Courts, prisons or hostels.

New trainee probation officers coming into the profession must undertake the Diploma in Probation Studies. This is a two-year, degree level qualification which, alongside academic study, includes working placements and managing a small case-load . Recruitment is advertised nationally and trainee officers are appointed as employees within local Area Services during their training. For more information about how to become a trainee probation officer visit www.probation-northwest.co.uk

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Team manager/middle manager

Middle management roles extend across a range of operational and support work. These middle management roles may involve supervising teams of staff who are working face-to-face with offenders and/or projects management.

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Probation services officer

They are mainly based alongside probation officers in community supervision teams, courts, prisons and probation approved premises. They have a range of responsibilities including:

• Preparation of reports needed to take offenders back to court when they breach a community sentence.
• Running groupwork programmes aimed at challenging the attitudes and behaviour of offenders.
• Helping to gather information necessary for the production of pre-sentence reports for courts.

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Administrative/Team support and clerical staff

The service has administrative/team support staff working at every office/team across the area. Their main role is to provide support to their team or individual manager by ensuring systems run smoothly, the input and extraction of data from the computerised system is accurate, paper based information is organised and stored correctly, the reception of visitors is efficient and polite, and any necessary typing/support paperwork is undertaken on time.

They have overall responsibility for most of the support work which back up the service's direct work with offenders.

Community punishment supervisors

Offenders sentenced to community punishment orders have their behaviour monitored by trained supervisors. Supervisors have the experience to assist offenders to develop practical skills and knowledge about the work they are undertaking.

Some supervisors are trained to be official skills assessors, which means they can monitor the work undertaken by offenders to see if it complies with standards good enough to merit an recognised qualification. This way, offenders have the chance to gain certificates proving their experience and skills, which could help them into work or further training.

Supervisors are responsible for setting a good example at all times and they play an important role in ensuring a good standard of work and enforcing attendance at work sessions.

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Support services staff

There are a number of support roles all contributing to service delivery. These support the organisation to function effectively in relation to the management and administration of resources, finance, training, information technology, projects, communications and public relations, quality and diversity and human resources.

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