Probation Service Officer

Ministry of Justice; Redditch; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

The Ministry of Justice is seeking a Probation Services Officer to manage caseloads before and after sentence. You will assess risks, provide information to courts, and collaborate with partner agencies to support offenders in the community and custodial settings.

This role requires resilience, strong communication, and a willingness to travel between locations as needed. Driving is essential for site visits and multi-location coverage.

Qualifications

• Empathetic, patient and resilient with ability to handle challenging situations.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills suitable forCourt and agency interactions.
• Full driving licence and willingness to travel between sites as required.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of offenders before and after sentence.
• Assess risks and provide information to courts and supervising bodies.
• Coordinate with agencies across the justice system to support offenders.

Skills

Empathy

Patience

Resilience

Verbal communication

Written communication

Job description

The job holder will undertake the full range of work with people on probation before and after sentence. This will include assessment, sentence implementation, offender management and producing reports. The job holder will provide case management support to a full range of people on probation utilising service procedures and practice directions that underpin professional judgement. 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 probation services officer 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 probation services officer 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: By managing offenders in the community, the Probation Service protects the public from the effect of crime and gives offenders the chance to turn their lives around. Join us and you'll be part of a supportive team that thrives on sharing knowledge and expertise.

Successful applicants may be based a wide variety of office, court, team, or prison locations within the Probation Service region. Allocations will be made according to business need. To find out more about working as a Probation Service Officer please click here.

About the Recruitment Process

To apply to this role you will be required to complete a short application form and detail responses to Civil Service Behaviours and Experience based question. As part of this application, you will also be required to sit the Civil Service Judgement test (CSJT). The CSJT is a two-part test which looks at your ability to make decisions in relation to specific civil service behaviours. The CSJT is stage one of your application process and you will have the option to complete a practice test immediately before taking the test, to give you an insight of what to expect before you start. If you would like more information relating to reasonable adjustments and the CSJT, please see more details here. You can also watch a short a video here. You can find out more about the CSJT and complete a practice test now here. If you are successful in passing this stage, your full application will be sifted once the application deadline has closed. You will then receive further instruction on the progress and outcome of your application. If we receive a high volume of applications, we may assess and progress candidates through the recruitment process in stages (tranches). Candidates who meet the required standard at sift may be held pending future assessment stages rather than progressing immediately. Interview invitations and subsequent offers will be managed in line with the tranche in which candidates are assessed and their position in merit order If you apply for multiple vacancies for the same role, only one of your applications will be progressed. Any assessment scores achieved will be applied consistently across all applications for that role, this will be valid for 6 months. Candidates who do not meet the minimum benchmark at either the Sift or Interview stage will not be eligible to reapply for the same role for six months from the date their assessment scores are progressed. There is also no guarantee that you will progress to the next stages of the recruitment process; however, we will keep you informed at each stage.

We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods. Experience Questions Experience Questions Application Form Question Word Limit, Ability to communicate verbally and in writing, written communication assessed across application form and verbal communication assessed in the interview. Behaviours Delivering at Pace Managing a Quality Service.

Please note: HMP Hewell is located in quite a rural location and public transport to and from the prison is not always available therefore, the ability to drive is essential in order to take up this post. Helping to keep the public safe. Giving people the chance to turn their lives around. Building a rewarding professional career.

Locations

• Accredited Programmes
• Structured Interventions & Attendance Centres
• Community Accommodation Services
• Community Integration and Contracts
• Contracts
• Courts
• Integrated Offender Management
• Performance & Quality
• Personality Disorder Projects
• Prisons
• Public Protection (Custody)
• Public Protection (Community)
• The Homeless Prevention Taskforce
• Service Centre
• Unpaid Work (community payback)

We're looking for empathetic, patient and resilient people to join us as probation services officers. As well as making a difference to others, the role offers plenty of on-the-job training and a real chance to build a career in the Probation Service.

As a PSO, you'll have a similar job to a fully qualified probation officer. The main difference is you'll work with medium and lower risk people of probation. That's not to say it'll be easy. There's no doubt this is a challenging role. Day-to-day, you'll manage a caseload of offenders before and after sentence. We'll look to you to assess and manage risks, provide information to courts and work closely with agencies throughout the justice system. You'll also do everything you can to support offenders. This could involve everything from providing practical advice about housing and employment to simply listening and empathising.