Head of Function

Mitie; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Virtual GP

Salary Finance

Choices lifestyle benefits platform

MiDeals discounts

Cycle-to-work scheme

Enhanced pension

Share plan

Mitie Stars recognition

Job summary

Mitie is seeking a Senior Leader to join Heathrow IRC on-site, overseeing essential departments and ensuring a safe, respectful environment. You will lead operations, update procedures, and drive efficiency while managing costs.

You will coach teams, engage with Home Office stakeholders, and maintain compliance. This high-responsibility role requires relevant leadership experience and a Level 6 qualification.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience within detention, custodial, policing, or similar settings.
• Experience managing teams of 50+ staff, including supervising first-line managers.
• Budget management skills, with a focus on controlling costs and delivering value.
• Contract management skills with a proven track record of delivering high performance and contract compliance alongside excellent stakeholder engagement
• Nebosh (General Certificate) or IOSH Managing Safely.
• Level 6 qualification (degree, apprenticeship, or equivalent) in a relevant discipline.

Responsibilities

• Lead one department ensuring a safe and respectful environment.
• Maintain and update operational procedures meeting standards and regulations, ensuring staff are well-informed and equipped to do their jobs.
• Develop strategies to optimise efficiency, improve quality, and control costs.
• Foster strong relationships with Home Office, senior leadership teams, and emergency services.
• Coach, motivate, and develop staff to deliver high performance.
• Manage budgets to deliver high-quality service within financial constraints.
• As part of the Senior Leadership Team, regularly step into the Duty Director role during critical times.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Budgeting

Contract management

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Nebosh/IOSH

Level 6 qualification

Job description

Location: Please note this role is onsite in Heathrow IRC not Hybrid or Working from Home

Hours: Full time/Permanent

Are you passionate about making a real difference? Do you believe in leading with heart and purpose?

At Heathrow IRC, we're committed to going above and beyond - because every interaction matters. We're proud of the meaningful impact we make, and we're on the lookout for inspiring leaders who share our dedication.

If you thrive on empowering teams, ensuring excellence, and creating safe, respectful environments - we want to hear from you!

Job Overview

As a key leader within IRC, you'll oversee a vital function, championing safety, security, dignified care, integrity, and respect - all aligned with contractual, legislative, and Home Office standards. Your role is to inspire, support, and guide your team to deliver outstanding results, ensuring the centre runs smoothly and efficiently.

What You'll Be Doing

At Heathrow IRC we have the following departments Security, Resident operations, Residential Services, Regimes activities and Safety, each led by a Head of Function. In this role, you will lead one of these departments ensuring you work seamlessly together to provide a safe and respectful environment. You will be responsible for maintaining and updating operational procedures, ensuring they meet all relevant standards and regulations, and that staff are well-informed and equipped to do their jobs effectively. Developing strategies to optimise efficiency, improving quality, and controlling costs will be central to your work, alongside fostering strong relationships with stakeholders like the Home Office, senior leadership teams, and emergency services.

Supporting your team through coaching, motivation, and development is key - creating a culture of inclusion, excellence, and continuous improvement. You will also play a vital role in managing budgets, ensuring the delivery of a high-quality service within financial constraints. As part of the Senior Leadership Team, you will regularly step into the Duty Director role, leading the centre during critical times with confidence and professionalism.

What We're Looking For

• Proven leadership experience within detention, custodial, policing, or similar settings.
• Experience managing teams of 50+ staff, including supervising first-line managers.
• Budget management skills, with a focus on controlling costs and delivering value.
• Contract management skills with a proven track record of delivering high performance and contract compliance alongside excellent stakeholder engagement
• Qualifications such as Nebosh (General Certificate) or IOSH Managing Safely.
• Level 6 qualification (degree, apprenticeship, or equivalent) in a relevant discipline.

All employment offers are subject to security clearance and background checks.

• British Citizen, EU citizen with settled status, or ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain).
• No recent criminal convictions, CCJs, or significant activity outside the UK (apart from holidays).
• Lived in the UK for the past three years with no major footprints abroad.

If you're ready to lead with purpose and make a tangible difference, we'd love to hear from you!

Join us and be part of something truly transformative.

Our market-leading offering provides you with benefits that suit your lifestyle.

We have a virtual GP on hand for you and members of your household. So you can get expert advice by video or phone without having to leave your home. We offer financial wellbeing assistance through our Salary Finance scheme. For example, you could access 50% of your earned pay before payday for a small fee. Salary Finance also offers competitive loans.

When you join us, we’ll give you a link to our flexible lifestyle benefits platform, Choices. You might choose to purchase up to five extra days’ holiday each year. You might buy critical illness insurance, seek dental treatment or buy technology products at an affordable cost. There are many choices!

We give you access to high street discounts from thousands of well-known retailers, gyms and more through our MiDeals platform. And we have a cycle-to-work scheme. Life cover of up to four times your salary is available. We also offer enhanced pension contributions, a save-as-you-earn scheme, and a Mitie Matching Share Plan (you could even be awarded free shares in Mitie).

We award our employees with Mitie Stars as recognition for their hard work. There are cash prizes up for grabs each month and at the end of the year there’s a chance to scoop a top prize of £10,000!

Our success is a direct result of the experience and quality of our people. Progressing your career is therefore a top priority for us. We offer a diverse variety of training and development avenues via a wide selection of learning resources to suit you.

Since 1987, Mitie’s 84,000 employees have been maintaining companies globally. We are the UK’s leading facilities management and professional services company, and our clients range from household names in banking, critical government sites as well as hospitals and schools.

Together our diversity makes us stronger.