Policy Advisor - Prisons Digital & Workforce Policy

National salary range: £35,335 - £37,847. London salary range: £40,014 - £42,859. Salary will be dependent on base location.

Working Pattern: Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working.

Vacancy Approach: Cross Government.

Location: Leeds, London.

Region: London, Yorkshire and the Humber.

Closing Date: 23-Jul-2026.

Post Type: Permanent. Grade: HEO. Reserve List: 12 Months. Number of jobs available: 1. Job ID: 19780.

Prisons Digital & Workforce Policy

Prisons Directorate

The Prisons Directorate is recruiting permanently for an HEO Policy Advisor in the Prisons Digital and Workforce team. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

Location:

• 102 Petty France, London
• 5 Wellington Place, Leeds

Occasional travel between the two locations may be required. We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your base location.

Ways of Working

• Full-time, part-time or the option to job share
• Flexible working patterns

Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department's pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

MoJ is the largest government department, employing over 90,000 people with a budget of approximately £10 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services across the UK - including at 500 courts and tribunals, and 133 prisons in England and Wales.

The Prisons Directorate plays an important part of achieving MoJ's aims, shaping policy to ensure the system protects the public and delivers better outcomes. We are responsible for developing policy that supports prisons to operate safely and securely, while also tackling the drivers of reoffending through rehabilitation and reform.

The Workforce, Estates and Digital policy unit forms an important part of the Prisons Directorate, taking a strategic view of a number of prison issues, from setting the long term vision for the prison estate, to managing strategies to boost recruitment and retention of prison staff, and how best to leverage digital technology to transform and modernise the services we deliver.

The role

We are recruiting for an HEO Policy Advisor to work jointly and flexibly across the Prisons Digital Policy team and the Joint Workforce Policy Unit. This is a stretching and varied policy role, supporting both teams to deliver their priorities. The postholder will therefore benefit from a breadth of work and the opportunity to shape the role.

The Prisons Digital Policy team is focused on supporting the expanded use and transformative potential of digital services and technology in our prisons, in a way that is secure and robust. Working closely with HMPPS and Justice Digital, we are centrally involved in shaping and supporting the use of digital technology across the prison estate to:

• Improve workforce productivity by equipping staff with modern IT tools and applications, such as Digital Prisons Services (DPS) which hosts a suite of offender management services used by a range of staff;
• Support prisoner rehabilitation through digital tools like Launchpad (our in cell technology programme which provides prisoners with access to digital services and rehabilitative content) and in cell telephony;
• Enable future innovation by developing digital infrastructure such as Wi Fi and piloting new technologies.

The Joint Workforce Policy Unit (JWPU) is a joint HMPPS funded team which drives key ministerial priorities on prison workforce and supports delivery for HMPPS senior leaders on key issues by:

• Supporting a consistent "single version of the truth" across MoJ and HMPPS in our narrative, data and evidence base on prison workforce, through working collaboratively across policy, people group and HMPPS operational colleagues;
• Coordinating the strategic approach to workforce policy to support a stable prison workforce, with staff who are empowered within their roles, supported by an effective leadership culture, and made up of an inclusive talent pool that meets the evolving needs of prisoners.

This policy function provides a strong collaborative space to work in - working with key operational and technical specialists to set strategic direction, reach consensus and drive progress. It is a post which supports the development of strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the policy function providing a key role in facilitating consensus between competing interests. The work across the teams is likely to vary subject to priorities and workloads but will be primarily focused on leading cross cutting issues to strengthen links between digital innovation and prison workforce.

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Work flexibly and independently, effectively supporting the SEO in their workstream;
• Develop and build strong partnership working with colleagues in HMPPS and MoJ, as well as external stakeholders;
• Collect a wide range of sources of data and evidence to inform policy development;
• Analyse, interpret and present evidence to form sound policy options for wider discussion;
• Effectively organise and prioritise their own policy development work (e.g. agree aims, scope, plan and deliver key strands of work and activities);
• Provide high quality briefing to senior officials and Ministers, showing excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Actively contribute to higher level decision making for business planning, policy and project implementation to progress strategic objectives;
• Identify relevant linkages across the department to ensure a joined up approach;
• Respond flexibly to competing and complex demands.

We are a friendly, enthusiastic and collaborative team with a strong emphasis on ensuring members feel happy, supported and engaged in their work. We are committed to delivering high quality and impactful projects, through working closely with partners and bringing together different areas of expertise. We have a strong commitment to personal and career development, helping everyone to grow and fulfil their potential.

Skills and Experience

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and an ability to explain information clearly and concisely;
• Demonstrate confidence and skill to work independently and quickly get to grips with a complex area to drive forward work, whilst ensuring colleagues and stakeholders are engaged as appropriate;
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to plan and deliver outcomes according to agreed priorities;
• Ability to make sound judgments and provide well articulated advice, using and interpreting data and evidence in decision making;
• Experience collaborating with a range of colleagues or stakeholders to achieve tangible outcomes;
• An interest in or knowledge of prisons;
• An understanding of the governmental and parliamentary processes.

Candidates applying from HMPPS should note that the Ministry of Justice does not have the same conditions of employment as HMPPS. It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful.

The MoJ is proud to be Level 3 Disability Confident. Disability Confident is the approach through which we offer guaranteed interviews for all people with disabilities meeting the minimum criteria for the advertised role as set out in the job description.

You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, including your CV, statement of suitability and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate.

Experience

You will be asked to provide a CV during the application process in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.

You will also be asked to upload a statement of suitability of no more than 250 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the skills and experience listed above.

Behaviours

• Communicating and influencing;
• Working together;
• Delivering at pace.

Support

• Range of Family Friendly policies such as reduced hours or job share.
• Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
• Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Civil Service Nationality Rules

• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK;
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme;
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme;
• Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020.