CIPD Trust Programme Manager – Beyond The Gates at CIPD

CIPD; Wimbledon; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

CIPD is seeking a Trust Programme Manager – Beyond the Gates to lead a ground-breaking through-the-gates mentoring project at London locations with on-site prison engagement. The role runs a 16-month fixed term contract and requires full-time 35 hours per week, with potential part-time options, and on-site visits to HMP Isis.

Salary is circa £45,000. You will oversee orchestration of custody and post-release mentoring, recruit mentors from CIPD, coordinate with prison staff, and support the

Qualifications

• Experience working with individuals in the prison system.
• Experience coordinating programmes or projects involving mentoring, volunteering, or social impact.
• Previous experience in prison or exposure to a similar environment.
• Experience working with partners and stakeholders to deliver services.
• Experience of, or willingness to engage with research and evaluation.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to build trust across diverse backgrounds.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple activities while keeping accurate records.
• A sound understanding of safeguarding, boundaries and confidentiality.
• Confidence working in a custodial or similarly complex environment.
• Willingness to undergo security vetting and comply with prison requirements.
• Empathetic, calm, resilient and solutions‑focused.
• Proactive, and equally comfortable working independently or as part of a team.

Responsibilities

• Taking day-to-day ownership of the mentoring programme, coordinating activity both in custody and following release to ensure continuity of support.
• Acting as a key holder at HMP Isis where agreed
• Recruiting young men at HMP Isis to become mentees, engaging with the prisoners and onboarding them successfully on to the programme
• Working with the Prison Employment Lead (and with support from) the evaluation team to collect the necessary information and data prior to the randomisation of young men at Isis in the programme
• Building strong working relationships with prison staff, including the Prison Employment Lead
• Working with the CIPD Trust team to recruit, select and onboard volunteer mentors from the CIPD community of HR professionals
• Supporting mentoring pairs, carrying out regular check-ins with mentors and mentees
• Conducting risk assessments to support safe mentoring meetings in the community
• Coordinating with probation services and other stakeholders to maintain contact with participants after release
• Responding to safeguarding queries, ensuring appropriate actions and accurate recording
• Keeping all mentoring activity accurately recorded on CIPD Trust systems
• Supporting the evaluation of the programme by delivering questionnaires to mentees and mentors participating in the programme

Skills

Prison system experience

Mentoring/volunteering programs

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Safeguarding/confidentiality

Security vetting readiness

Independent/team work

Empathy/resilience

Research/evaluation interest

Job description

CIPD Trust Programme Manager – Beyond The Gates

• Location: London (with on-site visits to the HMP)
• Contract: 16-month fixed term contract
• Hours: full-time (35 hours per week) and part-time options available
• Salary: circa £45,000

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a ground-breaking new project supporting young men leaving HMP Isis. As Programme Manager for Beyond the Gates, you’ll oversee the operational delivery of a through-the-gates mentoring programme, pairing volunteer mentors with mentees at HMP Isis and supporting each pair as the mentee leaves custody and rebuilds their life in the community. We are currently working with Youth Futures Foundation, the national What Works Centre for youth employment to pilot if a randomised controlled trial of the programme is possible. This role will be pivotal in supporting this pilot. making this a genuinely pioneering role at the intersection of mentoring, rehabilitation and social impact.

What you’ll be doing

• Taking day-to-day ownership of the mentoring programme, coordinating activity both in custody and following release to ensure continuity of support
• Acting as a key holder at HMP Isis where agreed
• Recruiting young men at HMP Isis to become mentees, engaging with the prisoners and onboarding them successfully on to the programme
• Working with the Prison Employment Lead (and with support from) the evaluation team to collect the necessary information and data prior to the randomisation of young men at Isis in the programme
• Building strong working relationships with prison staff, including the Prison Employment Lead
• Working with the CIPD Trust team to recruit, select and onboard volunteer mentors from the CIPD community of HR professionals
• Supporting mentoring pairs, carrying out regular check‑ins with mentors and mentees
• Conducting risk assessments to support safe mentoring meetings in the community
• Coordinating with probation services and other stakeholders to maintain contact with participants after release
• Responding to safeguarding queries, ensuring appropriate actions and accurate recording
• Keeping all mentoring activity accurately recorded on CIPD Trust systems
• Supporting the evaluation of the programme by delivering questionnaires to mentees and mentors participating in the programme

What you’ll need to be successful

• Experience working with individuals in the prison system
• Experience coordinating programmes or projects involving mentoring, volunteering, or social impact
• Previous experience in prison or exposure to a similar environment
• Experience working with partners and stakeholders to deliver services
• Experience of, or willingness to engage with research and evaluation
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to build trust across diverse backgrounds
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple activities while keeping accurate records
• A sound understanding of safeguarding, boundaries and confidentiality
• Confidence working in a custodial or similarly complex environment
• Willingness to undergo security vetting and comply with prison requirements
• Empathetic, calm, resilient and solutions‑focused
• Proactive, and equally comfortable working independently or as part of a team

We welcome job applications from people with lived experience of the criminal justice system which we believe could be an asset in this role.

This role does require prison security clearance and an enhanced DBS check, so we will need to ask for details of any relevant criminal convictions before an offer of employment is finalised.

The deadline for applications is on Monday 26 October.

About Youth Futures Foundation

Youth Futures Foundation is the national What Works Centre for Youth Employment, with a specific focus on marginalised young people. Our vision is a society where every young person can achieve good work. We do that by finding out what works and driving change in policy and practice.

A Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) is a robust way of testing whether a programme has a causal, measurable impact on outcomes. RCTs work by randomly assigning participants to either receive the programme (the treatment group), or to be part of a control group that does not. By comparing outcomes between the two groups, the RCTs shows whether any differences in outcomes are due to the programme itself, rather than other factors.

As a result, RCTs are widely considered the “gold standard” for generating evidence on what works in policy and practice.