Quality Development Officer; Lancashire

Overview of the job

This is a specialist Probation Officer post with a specific responsibility to contribute to the development of excellence in the quality of work undertaken with offenders and victims in the National Probation Service (NPS). The post holder does not have line management responsibilities.

• Deliver quality assurance activities as part of the national effective practice programme and review its impact on operational practice.
• Deliver practice improvement workshops and briefings to Probation Officers (POs) and Probation Support Officers (PSOs) and review the impact of these on practice.
• Support the re-launch and deployment of Skills for Effective Engagement Development and Supervision (SEEDS).
• Undertake audits of key work, provide analysis and feedback to staff and contribute to local improvement and quality plans.
• Develop audit and improvement activities based on local and divisional needs and evidence from audits, inspections and case reviews arising from serious offences, domestic homicides and serious case reviews.
• Provide support to local managers in delivering improvement activities to staff in informal and formal capability processes, including focused 1:1 support to POs and PSOs engaged in the formal capability process.
• Plan and support quality improvement in the cluster or function in partnership with local managers.
• Provide coaching and support to groups of staff whose roles are changing.
• Play an integral role in the divisional performance and quality team in implementing the national performance and quality programme.
• Provide guidance and support to SPOs in undertaking quality assurance work.
• Respond to risk escalation requests raised by Community Rehabilitation Companies, determine risk level and, if high risk and endorsed by a manager, decide on how this will be managed.
• Carry out safeguarding duties for children and adults in accordance with NPS statutory responsibilities and agency policies.
• Demonstrate and promote pro‑social modelling skills by reinforcing pro‑social behaviour and challenging anti‑social attitudes.
• Work within the aims and values of NPS and HMPPS.

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Developing Self and Others
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Evidence of undertaking good quality probation work
• Evidence of working collaboratively with others to improve quality
• Experience of working with a wide variety of people and communities who have experienced a range of social/personal difficulties.
• Experience of working with individuals and groups to motivate and change offending behaviour.
• Evidence of analysing information and using it to design an action plan to meet specific goals.

Probation Qualification Framework Graduate Diploma / Honours Degree in Community Justice integrated with Level 5 Diploma in Probation Practice, or a qualification recognised by the Secretary of State for Justice under Section 10 of the Offender Management Act 2007.

37 hours per week (excluding unpaid breaks).

The Ministry of Justice offers hybrid working arrangements where business need allows, mixing base location, MoJ sites and/or home. This role can be worked only within the UK. Successful candidates will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include the nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office.

• Annual leave: 25 days on appointment, increasing to 30 days after five years’ service; pro‑rata for part‑time and job‑share posts.
• National Probation Service covered by the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) through the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
• Extensive training and development opportunities.
• Access to employee‑run networks supporting minority ethnic origin, disability, caring responsibilities, women and LGBTQ+ staff.
• Family‑friendly policies: reduced hours, job sharing, flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits and retail vouchers.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave; free annual sight tests for computer screen users.

The LGPS run through the Greater Manchester Pension Fund…