Land Based Activities – Specialist Production instructor (SPI): Commercial Horticulture – HMP The Mount (Ref: 81675)

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Crops are not the only thing you will cultivate in this life-changing role. Leading a group of prisoners to maintain, harvest and cultivate the prison’s gardens, you will develop their skills and confidence, and assess accredited vocational qualifications.

We will rely on you and your team to ensure protected cropping is grown and harvested to the highest standards. This is a role with broad accountability, maintaining everything from field-scale soil husbandry, to plant and crop development, to biological pest control and any necessary chemical crop protection programs.

But the work you do with prisoners will have the longest lasting impact – and the most unique challenges. You will set tasks to match their ability, while ensuring safety and production is maintained at all times. Taking careful account of labelling, grading and presentation, you will see that produce grown on-site is prepared and packaged appropriately. Along the way, you could play a part in supporting entry to our annual best kept prison garden competition, judged by the Royal Horticultural Society. You will certainty discover potential for rewarding development of your career.

Ideally, you will bring to the role a relevant vocational qualification or equivalent suitable experience. We expect you to be familiar with soil and growing medium husbandry, crop protection, crop production and plant protection technology, and the preparation of fresh produce for sale.

You will certainly bring a caring and resilient approach to your work. While supervisory experience will definitely be an advantage, what matters most is that you demonstrate strong communication, persuading and influencing skills. We expect you to be committed to achieving quality within a safe and secure environment. Please note you may be required to work some evenings and weekends.

Overview of the job    

This is a non-operational instructional job in an establishment.

Summary    

The job holder will be responsible for the day-to-day maintenance, harvesting and cultivating of the establishments gardens, ensuring protected cropping is grown and harvested to the highest standards and assess accredited vocational qualifications to prisoners.

This is a non-operational job in an establishment with no line management responsibilities.

Responsibilities, Activities and Duties    

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

• Maintain correct field-scale soil husbandry, ensuring all stages of crop development are followed in accordance with good horticultural practice.
• Maintain the growing plant/crop to ensure optimum development and/or cropping, ensuring that the plants needs are fully met.
• Maintain effective biological pest control measures and any necessary chemical crop protection programmes.
• Resolve any prisoner work issues, setting task to match their ability whilst ensuring safety and production is maintained at all times.
• Ensure produce grown on-site is prepared and packaged appropriately, taking into consideration appropriate labelling, grading and overall presentation.
• Maintain sports fields as per agreed plan with both the Farms and Gardens Manager and PE Department.
• Carry out preventative pest control measures across area of responsibility.

Undertake other instructor tasks including:

• May participate in the selection process of prisoners for the workshop/area of work.
• Induct prisoners to the workshop/area of work and train them in aspects such as Health and Safety, Control of Substance Hazardous to health (COSHH), machinery and tools usage.
• Provide support for prisoners where required; tailor learning and training requirements to individual needs.
• Set work schedules and manage targets/quality standards, maintaining delivery of contractual arrangements.
• Assess and evaluate skills of prisoners up to national qualification standards.
• Supervise and maintain discipline of prisoners within workshop/area of work, responsible for performance, motivation, discipline, appraisal and development of prisoners.
• Maintain regular communications via radio net in accordance with Local Security Strategy (LSS).
• Open and complete Assessment Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) forms, Violence Reduction Incident Reports (VRIR) and Security Information Reports (SIRs) when required and contribute to Incentive Earned Privileges (IEP) reports.
• Will conduct a metal detector scan or rub down search of prisoners attending and leaving their own workshops.
• Provide quality assurance against product specification.
• Log attendance and approve prisoner hours worked and wages including recording piece work where appropriate.
• Carry out fabric and tool checks of workshops and maintain security of areas, logging any tool/equipment faults. Undertake planned maintenance programme on machinery.
• Contribute to prisoner reports including parole and sentence planning.
• Complete regime monitoring information and update prisoner training records.
• Contribute to Health and Safety risk assessments relating to the workshop/work of area and specialist areas.
• Request materials and estimate usage in order to meet work targets.
• Initiate product development reviews to maintain workshop/area of work output levels, and to provide variety of work and experience for prisoners.
• Participate in self-audit and in achieving Service Delivery Indicators (SDIs).
• Complete administration activities to support the smooth running of the workshop.

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.

An ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English or (where specified in Wales) Welsh.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Do you hold a Level 3 qualification in horticulture or a recognised horticultural industry equivalent, or would you be willing to work towards these qualifications within 2 years of taking up post?
• Sustainability

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
• Telephone : 0845 241 5358

Recruitment team

• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com