Community Payback placement coordinator

Ministry of Justice; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid Working

Flexible working

Competitive benefits

Hybrid Office Reading

Job summary

Ministry of Justice in Reading is seeking a Community Payback Placement Coordinator. You will establish and maintain relationships with local authorities, charities and other stakeholders to secure sufficient work placements that meet quality standards.

You’ll support people on probation, providing opportunities for on‑the‑job training and education while they complete unpaid hours. Working pattern includes weekend duties when needed; you may be asked to travel to project sites and undertake

Qualifications

• Right to work in the UK is required.
• A full UK Manual Driving Licence is mandatory to carry out the role.
• Candidates must be available for weekend working when needed.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain relationships with local authorities, charities and stakeholders to secure Community Payback work placements.
• Ensure placements meet quality standards as set out in Community Payback Guidance.
• Support People on Probation on their journey and assist with on-the-job training and education.
• Undertake weekend working when required and travel to project sites for risk assessments and meetings.

Skills

Full UK Manual Driving Licence

Job description

Please note: Interviews for this role will be held in person on either Thursday 22nd October or Wednesday 28th October at the Reading Office. This will be a full-day assessment event, providing an opportunity for you to meet colleagues and gain insight into the role through a visit to a live Community Payback project. You will be required to arrive at 09:00am, with the morning dedicated to the site visit. Your interview will then take place in the afternoon. Please note that interviews will only be conducted on these dates. You must be available for the full day, as we are unable to offer alternative dates or reschedule appointments.

• Please note: Candidates must hold a full UK Manual Driving Licence when applying for this role, this is a mandatory technical requirement in order to carry out this role. We cannot accept candidates who hold an automatic Driving Licence only.

The hours for this role can be worked flexibly across the work week of Monday to Friday but also requires weekend working on a Saturday and Sunday each month. The post holder will support the CP Manager to ensure that all Community Payback placements meet the policy objectives of the organisation and comply with relevant legislation. It's all about supporting People on Probation on their journey and making your community a better place., This is a high-profile role within PS responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with a range of current and future partner organisations, customers and stakeholders. This will involve working with a range of voluntary and statutory organisations. The post holder will ensure that sufficient work placement that meet the quality standards set out in the Community Payback Guidance are available so that the sentence of the Court can be carried out effectively. The post holder will support the CP Manager to ensure that all Community Payback placements meet the policy objectives of the organisation and comply with relevant legislation. Post holders may be required to undertake weekend working as part of their normal pattern of working. For further information on the summary, responsibilities, activities, duties of the role and the Civil Service Success Profile Criteria which will be used in the assessment process, please refer to the full Job Description Attachment.

Right to work in the UK You must have the right to work in the UK and Civil Service (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules). Skilled Worker visa changes from 22 July 2025 In accordance with current immigration rules, this role is not eligible for a new Skilled Worker visa. From 22 July 2025, the Government introduced changes to the eligibility criteria for Skilled Worker visas. As a result: HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) cannot consider sponsoring you to work as a community payback co-ordinator unless you have held a Skilled Worker visa prior to the 22 July 2025 changes. If you have held a Skilled Worker visa continuously, please raise this during your pre-employment checks and your eligibility will be assessed in accordance with the immigration rules and transitional provisions in place. If you apply to be a community payback co-ordinator and you have not held a Skilled Worker visa prior to 22 July 2025, you will need to consider your options for obtaining and/or maintaining your right to work in the UK in light of these changes. If your application is successful, you will need to ensure that you have and maintain the legal right to live and work in the Civil Service and in the United Kingdom. HMPPS will continue to comply with UK Immigration Rules applied in the UK and Civil Service. You can read more about Skilled Worker visas and the eligibility criteria here. Civil Service recruitment: nationality rules Civil Service This guide is intended to assist departments with managing their responsibilities on nationality rules related to Civil Service recruitment. You can read more about Skilled Worker visas and the eligibility criteria here (https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa) About us: The work is varied, challenging and meaningful and comes with job security, great benefits and career progression opportunities - not to mention the chance to make a real difference to people's lives and our communities.

As a Community Payback placement coordinator, you'll be responsible for establishing and maintaining working relationships with a range of stakeholders - including local authorities and charities - to make sure there are sufficient numbers of Community Payback work placements. This will include exploring opportunities for people to access on-the-job training and education to develop their skills and increase their chances of employment while they complete their unpaid work hours.

Working pattern As a Community Payback placement coordinator you will be expected to work weekends when needed to cover for Community Payback supervisors or to visit project sites - such as schools which are not accessible on weekdays. When you do work a weekend day you will be paid a higher rate. Where applicants provide multiple location preferences, reserve lists will be managed in accordance with location preference/s, as indicated in your application. We will appoint in merit list order for each location outlined in the vacancy and hold a separate locational reserve list for each of these locations. After appointments have been made using this locational appointment process, any remaining candidates who met the benchmark for the role will remain on a locational reserve list in accordance with their preferences for 12 months. Please only indicate preferences where you are prepared to work. If you are subsequently offered a role from the reserve list for a location preference indicated in your application and decline it, you will be removed from the reserve list for the vacancy, across all locational preferences. All offers of employment will be made strictly in merit order, based on your performance throughout the recruitment process. Candidates at the top of the merit list will be offered vacancies as they arise in their chosen locations. Once you have accepted an offer for a role, you will be withdrawn from any other live applications for the same role and will no longer be considered for those vacancies. The addresses listed in the job advertisement are not an exhaustive list of potential base locations, they give an indication of some of the potential locations you could be based at. We will therefore endeavour to offer you a vacancy within a 60-minute commute of your home location. New entrants to the Civil Service will be expected to join at the entry point salary for the advertised band. Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Departments pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules. Due to the length of this recruitment campaign, we will endeavour to inform you of your outcome following the interview. Successful candidates will be placed on a reserve list and will be allocated or offered roles once the campaign has fully concluded. Working Arrangements & Further Information The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone's circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review. For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks. Some of MoJ's terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week excluding breaks which are unpaid. HMPPS welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the HMPPS' Flexible Working policy.

If you are successful in the recruitment process to join the Probation Service, your starting salary will be £28,064, Pro-Rata for Part-Time roles. Please note: Community Payback Placement Coordinators will be expected to work weekends when needed. This may be to cover for CP supervisors, or to visit CP project sites - such as schools which aren't accessible on weekdays - to complete project risk assessments or meet beneficiaries, for example.

You will be paid a higher rate for any weekend days you do work. Post holders may be required to undertake weekend working as part of their normal pattern of working. The Probation Service offers the opportunity for annual pay progression through a Competency Based Framework (CBF), which if eligible, will see your pay increase. CBF is designed to enable you to move up through the pay band range as your competence grows. New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Benefits:

• Annual Leave. Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years' service, plus public holidays. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.
• Pension. The National Probation Service is covered by the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) run through the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF). Please visit www.gmpf.org.uk for further information. Please note: Any current Civil Servant who is a member of the PCSPS, by accepting an offer of employment to the National Probation Services will be opted out of the PCSPS and auto enrolled into the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Training. The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.
• Networks. The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

Eligibility All candidates are subject to security and identity checks prior to taking up post.

• A range of 'Family Friendly' policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
• Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on www.GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
• Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

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. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are 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. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the TBS Recruitment Enquiries Team. For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please watch our animated videos.

Diversity & Inclusion. The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

A Great Place to Work for Veterans. The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces. For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans.

Redeployment Interview Scheme. Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ is committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

Delivering at Pace Working Together. Specific licence requirements: Candidates must have a full UK Manual Driving Licence to be eligible to apply for this role. We cannot accept applications from candidates who only hold an automatic driving licence.

Evidence of Experience Experience Questions