202405: Prison Officer - HMP Swaleside

Prison officer - HMP Swaleside
HMP Swaleside, Brabazon Rd, Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey ME12 4AX
Starting salary: £36,351 (for a 39 hour week inc 20% unsocial)
City/Town: Sittingbourne
Region: Kent, Surrey & Sussex
Vacancy type: Merit
An extraordinary job
In this unique career, you’ll have the opportunity to carry out many different roles in any one day. One minute you’re a peacekeeper, the next you’re a counsellor or a teacher. You’ll work directly with prisoners in a unique environment, helping to protect the public and make a positive impact.
During the recruitment process you will be assessed on the behaviours, strengths and abilities you need to become an effective Prison Officer. These include:
• communicating and influencing
• managing a quality service
• making effective decisions
• caring
To become a Prison Officer, you will need to:
• be at least 18 years old at the commencement of employment
• meet the Civil Service Nationality requirements
• pass a medical and fitness assessment
• meet the required eyesight standard in both eyes
• for safety reasons, meet a suitable standard of hearing.
For safety reasons, everyone training to be a Prison Officer needs a suitable standard of hearing (without the use of hearing aids).
To work in a high security prison (category A) you must have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years.
How to apply
Once you have completed your initial application form.
You will be invited to complete stage 1 of the online test, to see if you have the basic judgement and numerical skills.
If you pass, we will invite you to complete stage 2 of the online tests, which is a behaviour-based assessment.
If you pass the online tests, we will invite you to an online assessment centre (OAC).
Once you’ve successfully completed the OAC and you are allocated to a vacancy, we will invite you to complete a medical and fitness test. This will cover an eyesight test, hearing test and basic health screening, including a blood pressure check.
Pay
The initial training is 37 hours a week. After training, you can choose to work 37, 39 or 41 hours a week. Your annual salary will reflect your weekly hours.
• 37 hours a week = £34,402 a year
• 39 hours a week = £36,351 a year
• 41 hours a week = £38,300 a year
All salary figures quoted include any additional allowances.
The standard working week of a Prison Officer is based on a 39 hours per week shift pattern.
Benefits
• 25 days’ annual holiday (rising to 30 days after 10 years’ service)
• paid time off for public holidays and 1 extra privilege day
• Civil Service pension of up to 20% of your salary
• cycle to work scheme, travel loans and other benefits
Read more about Prison Officer benefits
The rewards aren’t all you’ll gain from a role in the Prison Service. There’s the sense of achievement you feel when you’ve helped a prisoner to get their life back on track - the kind of experience you simply won’t find anywhere else.
Job offers: merit vacancy
This is a merit job vacancy. If you are successful at the online assessment centre, you will be added to a merit list based on your score.
When all applicants have completed the assessment centre, the prison will make job offers to individuals with the highest scores first when positions become available.
You can stay on the merit list for 12 months. After this, you’ll need to apply again.
If your application is unsuccessful at the sift/Interview stage, a six month waiting period will be applied during which time you will not be allowed to submit any further applications for Prison Officer positions.
Operational Support Grade Role
Our Online Assessment Centre (OAC), will not only assess you against the key criteria to become a Prison Officer but will also determine your suitability for appointment as an operational support grade OSG If following attendance at your OAC, you are unsuccessful in your application to become a Prison Officer, we may instead offer you an alternative role as an OSG. Operational support grade - Ministry of Justice
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of Civil Servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. If you feel the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you can raise a formal complaint by contacting Shared Services Connected Ltd: call 0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or email Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging.
Disability support
As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout the recruitment process and in the workplace. You can request reasonable adjustments within the application form.
If you need assistance, please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am-6pm) or email MoJ-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com.