Learning and Capability Manager

Ministry of Justice; Bedford; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

Ministry of Justice is seeking a Hub Manager to lead coaching and mentoring initiatives, onboarding new recruits, and overseeing outreach efforts to ensure a smooth transition into the role. You will plan learning and development, analyse capacity gaps, and embed plans to raise capability and confidence of staff, particularly new prison officers.

The role involves establishing a buddying scheme, providing ongoing support to new starters, and promoting positive experiences that support retention

Qualifications

• Able user of MS Word and MS Excel.
• Information collation and analysis.
• Able to deal effectively and assertively with staff at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Establish and manage a buddying scheme with clear deadlines and accountability.
• Provide a named point of contact for new staff during their first 3 months.
• Coordinate a centralised onboarding service and liaise with related teams for uniforms, ID, and IT setup.
• Analyse learning needs and embed development plans to strengthen capability and confidence of new and existing staff (esp. new prison officers).
• Plan, organise induction and training for new recruits, ensuring timetables and processes are in place.

Skills

MS Word

MS Excel

Information analysis

Staff engagement

Job description

The job holder will be responsible for ensuring all the processes for a coaching and mentoring system including onboarding and outreach work for new recruits is being followed. The Hub Manager will have responsibility for planning, learning and development. Reporting into the SMT, they will analyse development needs and embed plans to strengthen the capability and confidence of new and existing staff, particularly new prison officers. Responsibility for establishing a buddying scheme will form part of this role. The job holder will ensure that provision for ongoing support and advice for new recruits in their first year is in place. They will provide support and advice to help new employees settle in, and ensure new starters understand the learning and development opportunities available to them. This role will ensure that the new starters experience is positive, making staff feel valued which potentially may lead to improved retention rates. The job holder will also ensure new starters understand the learning and development opportunities available to them in order to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need for their role. This is a non-operational job with line management responsibilities. The key objective of the Mentoring scheme is to ensure that new recruits have a supportive and smooth onboard experience into their new working environment, providing ongoing guidance and support. You will be responsible for offering the possibility to commence the process of culture change within the prison, instilling positivity and resilience in new recruits within a challenging environment ensuring high standards of professionalism, decency, safety and security. Mentoring/coaching skills are highly desirable and successful candidates can be offered the opportunity as part of their personal development to study for formal qualifications. A key measurement for success in the role will be a noticeable uplift in new staff retention.

Responsibilities, activities and duties

• Responsible for establishing and managing a buddying scheme ensuring that deadlines are met and work is completed accurately and assigned.
• Responsible for ensuring that all new members of staff have a named individual who stays in close touch for at least their first 3 months and provides information, practical help and encouragement on a less formal basis than the mentors themselves.
• Responsible for ensuring the hub meets its requirements to provide a fully centralised on-boarding service to all new staff within the prison. This includes facilitating a local buddy scheme, working with Invision where required, to ensure all new colleagues have a buddy.
• Responsibility for planning, learning and development. Reporting into the SMT, will analyse development needs and embed plans to strengthen the capability and confidence of new and existing staff, particularly new prison officers.
• Coordinate the induction and training for new recruits by liaising with relevant teams ensuring appropriate processes are in place including induction timetables are set and met.
• Complete quality assurance checks on the mentoring scheme products and process to ensure they are completed, sanitised and disclosed in line with policy.
• Obtain, review evaluate the effectiveness of the mentoring scheme processes. Brief and provide advice on the mentoring scheme processes and meet organisational requirements.
• Responsible for maintaining contact with the individual as a point of contact and information and helping them to prepare for their new role responding to their queries.
• Ensure arrangements are made to meet and welcome new colleagues on their first day and after early residential foundation training. Work with colleagues and managers to ensure new colleagues feel supported and valued.
• Liaise and work with the People Hub and the Business Hub to ensure all relevant tasks and actions for new recruits are processed efficiently and accurately such as ordering of uniforms, epaulettes, ID Cards, setting up of IT.
• Undertake other administrative management tasks including responsibility for the management of all staff within their area. This includes staff performance, development and annual appraisal through to sickness absence management.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

Work arrangements

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 a current NPS employee, this vacancy may be available on a Loan basis for up to 2 years. The Loan/Secondment is subject to the approval of the selected candidate's Business Unit, which should be obtained before confirmation of appointment.

A sift based on the lead behaviour, Changing and Improving, may be held if a large number of applications are received. If a large number of applications remain after the initial sift, your application will be progressed to a full sift, where all behaviours will then be considered.

Behaviours

• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership

Experience

• Able user of MS Word and MS Excel
• Information collation and analysis
• Able to deal effectively and assertively with staff at all levels.

Annual Leave

• The holiday year runs from 1 March. If you work a non standard work pattern your leave entitlement may be expressed in either hours or days as appropriate. Leave entitlement is calculated on a pro‑rate basis and you will be advised of your actual entitlement on appointment. If you were appointed internally and your leave was previously calculated in days, this will continue to be the case.

Bank, Public and Privilege Holidays

• You are entitled to 9 days (66 hours 36 minutes) in recognition of bank, public and privilege holidays. These hours are added to your annual leave allowance. There is a requirement to work some public and bank holidays subject to your shift pattern and the operational needs of the establishment.

Pension

• The Civil Service offers a choice of two pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Work Life Balance

• HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) is keen to encourage alternative working arrangements. Work life balance provides greater opportunities for staff to work more flexibly wherever managers and establishments can accommodate requests to do so.
• HMPPS offers flexible working subject to completion of a satisfactory probationary period and NVQ.
• Season Ticket Advance: After two months' service, you will be eligible to apply for a season ticket advance to purchase a quarterly or longer period season ticket for travel between home and your place of work.

Childcare Vouchers

For any moves across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to carry on claiming childcare vouchers.

Training

• HMPPS is committed to staff development and offers a range of training and development opportunities, including areas such as Equality and Diversity, Dealing with Challenging Behaviour, Suicide Prevention and Anti Bullying Programmes.
• There are opportunities to access promotion programmes and HMPPS provides a variety of training appropriate to individual posts.
• All staff receive security and diversity training and an individual induction programme into their new roles.

Eligibility

• All candidates are subject to security and identity checks prior to taking up post.
• All external candidates are subject to 6 months probation. Internal candidates are subject to probation if they have not already served a probationary period within HMPPS.
• All staff are required to declare whether they are a member of a group or organisation which the HMPPS considers to be racist.
• Level of security checks required: DBS Standard.
• An ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English or (where specified in Wales) Welsh.

Complaints and Enquiries

• To Transformative Business Services (0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [e-mail])
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team ([e-mail])
• To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

Disability Confidence

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.

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.

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'.