Senior Investigator – Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (Ref: 77587)

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.

Overview of role

Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Senior Investigators (SEO – Band B)

The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) is an Arm’s Length Body of the Ministry of Justice and investigates:

• complaints made by prisoners, young people in detention, offenders under probation supervision and individuals detained under immigration powers 
• deaths of prisoners, young people in detention, residents in approved premises and individuals detained under immigration powers 
• deaths of recently released prisoners that occur within 14 days of release from prison (except homicide). 

The Ombudsman receives around 4,500 new complaints a year of which around half are assessed as eligible for investigation. The number of deaths in custody requiring investigation is around 300-350 per year.

Senior Investigators in the PPO mainly investigate self-inflicted and other non-natural deaths. However, staff in this role require a flexible approach to be able to take on other work when business need requires it.  

You will investigate the individual circumstances relating to each unique case within an agreed framework, providing quality assessments to specified timescales.  You will reflect your findings and any recommendations for learning in written format. 

You will also be expected to liaise with senior stakeholders and to lead or be involved in ad hoc projects as required.

We are a small and friendly organisation of about 100 staff.  You will be part of a small team of investigators, reporting to a Grade 7 Assistant Ombudsman, who is responsible for ensuring the quality and timeliness of the investigation process and resulting investigation products. 

These are busy but very interesting posts, which will suit someone who likes variety, is able to deal with the unexpected and who can engage with and analyse a range of different information sources to reach sound, evidence-based conclusions.  

You will need to be self-motivated and well organised, with strong written communication and analytical skills. Previous knowledge or experience of the Criminal Justice System, investigations or casework would be useful but is not essential. Investigation training will be provided, and a rolling programme of enrichment workshops and development forums will be available. 

In order to undertake this unique role effectively, investigators will need to be able to work flexibly. You will be required to be able to visit establishments in the PPO’s remit to support investigation activities such as interviews and engagement with prisoners and prison staff. This will entail travel around England and Wales and some overnight stays, though you would be responsible for deciding when and how to travel to establishments so can manage your travel around your personal circumstances.  However, on limited occasions, you may need to start early, finish late or stay overnight near an establishment. 

You will need to be confident communicating with a range of stakeholders, including HMPPS staff of all levels of seniority, coroners, and clinicians. You will need to deal sensitively with bereaved families and be able to present the role of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s office in a positive way. 

The PPO is based at the HM Government hub at 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London. Currently, staff are expected to attend the office two days a week (based on full time hours), with the rest of the time spent working at home, on investigation visits or in commuter hubs. While you will usually have some flexibility to decide which days of the week you work in the office to enable you to manage your office attendance around your personal circumstances, there will be occasions when you will be required to attend the office (for example, team meetings, office or function-wide meetings). 

If you are successful, you may need to attend the office more frequently in your first six weeks, to undertake key training and induction activity.  

The salary range is £43,647 – £48,067. 

External candidates joining the Civil Service will be expected to join on the minimum salary for the band. Successful candidates who are already at HEO will keep their base salary on transfer. Allowances do not transfer. Successful candidates joining on promotion will start on either the minimum of the salary range or receive a 10% increase to their current base salary, whichever is higher. 

Job Description

The post holder will be responsible for the following;

• Investigating cases in line with specified casework timeframes and quality objectives.  
• Drafting high quality investigation reports and other investigation products concisely and in plain English, setting out the facts clearly and comprehensively, as well as the analysis and considerations that have led to evidence-based conclusions.  This will include making recommendations, if required, and identifying areas of good practice. 
• Arranging factual accuracy checking/ advance disclosure of draft reports, where necessary, and considering any comments received. 
• Travel to establishments across England and Wales to conduct investigations and interviews and to undertake other related tasks.  To facilitate these visits, you may need to start early, finish late or stay overnight near an establishment.  
• Liaising with stakeholders and partner agencies as necessary throughout investigations.
• Supporting the wider work of the office through cross-office projects, mentoring, and other ad hoc activities.
• Any other appropriate tasks as required.

This role involves exposure to emotive and complex information, issues, and personal stories about some of the most vulnerable people in society.  This includes offence information, trauma, substance misuse, mental ill-health, suicide and self-harm.  It involves spending time in prisons and other establishments.  You will have access to various support systems, but you will need to demonstrate emotional resilience.  

Essential requirements 

• Strong organisation and prioritisation skills to ensure that casework timeframes and objectives are met.
• The ability to identify the appropriate information sources, including policy documents and operational protocols and visual evidence, required for an investigation and analyse these in order to make evidence-based judgements and conclusions.
• The ability to make sound judgements on complex and sometimes ambiguous and conflicting evidence. 
• The ability to draft high quality investigation products clearly and concisely, using Plain English, to ensure that learning can be implemented by stakeholders.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills to ensure investigations and their outcomes are appropriately informed. 
• An ability to consider the wider criminal justice landscape and where necessary, identify and comment on emerging themes clearly and constructively. 

The Application and Interview Process

The PPO is a Disability Confident Committed Employer, and we ensure our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. Please complete the application information on reasonable adjustments and disabilities if relevant.  Further information on the types of reasonable adjustment that can be provided can be found at https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/

This is a two-stage process. 

Stage 1:

• Submit a Curriculum Vitae (CV).
• Submit a statement of suitability (250 words) setting out how your skills and experience match the essential requirements for the role as stated above.
• Provide an example of where you have demonstrated the skills required for the Civil Service Behaviour ‘Making Effective Decisions’.

To pass stage 1, a candidate will need to score a minimum of two out of three on their statement of suitability and four out of seven on the answer to the ‘Making Effective Decisions’ behaviour.  If we receive a high number of high scoring applications, we reserve the right to increase this minimum benchmark.

The CV will not be scored but will be used to give context to the statement of suitability. 

Stage 2: 

Those who meet the required level at the application stage will be invited to a short final interview.  During the interview, you will be asked questions about the Civil Service Behaviours ‘Delivering at Pace’ and ‘Working Together’, as well as strength-based questions relating to the role.

You will also be required to complete a written test, following your interview, to demonstrate your ability to write investigation reports. 

To be considered appointable, you will need to score a minimum of eight out of 14 for the behaviour questions, a minimum of four out of eight for the strength questions and a minimum of four for the written test.  If we receive a high number of his scoring interviewees, we reserve the right to increase this minimum benchmark. 

Recruitment across the Civil Service changed from July 2019 with the introduction of Success Profiles. Further guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles.

Making Effective Decisions

Understand own level of responsibility and empower others to make decisions where appropriate. Analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions. Invite challenge and where appropriate involve others in decision making. Display confidence when making difficult decisions, even if they prove to be unpopular. Consult with others to ensure the potential impacts on end users have been considered. Present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other options, costs, benefits and risks.

Delivering at Pace

Show a positive approach to keeping the whole team’s efforts focused on the top priorities. Promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation. Ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively. Regularly monitor your own and team’s work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks. Act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance. Allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility.

Working Together

Encourage joined up team work within own team and across other groups. Establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders. Collaborate with these to share information, resources and support. Invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another. Put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs. Make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable. Actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

When answering questions about the behaviours, you might want to use the STAR approach to help you to present your evidence more successfully.  This approach provides structure and focus to your answers.

The STAR approach stands for:

Situation – briefly describe the context and your role.

Task – the specific challenge, task or job that you faced.

Action – what you did, how and why you did it.

Result – what you achieved through your actions.

You should keep the situation and task parts brief, concentrating on the actions you took and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. STAR may help you to cover all the points you need to make.

When using STAR, you should use one specific example per behaviour and you should explain what you did rather than others.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made should further vacancies become available. There is the possibility that the PPO may have fixed term senior investigator vacancies coming up in the future. If these vacancies become available, they may be offered to those on the reserve list.

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

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

• Written Test

• 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 5359

Recruitment team

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