Prison Competition Support Officer

Overview

Are you a highly organised, proactive administrator looking for a role where your skills truly matter? This role provides administrative support on work to procure and mobilise private prison contracts—processes that shape the future of prison services. You will directly support workstream leads in a demanding and fast-paced environment, manage competing priorities, work autonomously, and deliver high-quality support.

• Take minutes for meetings and provide general secretariat support to the work streams.
• Manage a functional mailbox and produce and maintain action and decision logs and agendas.
• Administer shared online work areas and perform ad-hoc administrative tasks as required.

Key work areas relate to the Private Prison Expiry & Transfer Project & New Prisons Programme within the Prison Supply Directorate (PSD). The role supports three key areas: leading the delivery of additional prison places (new prisons, house blocks, major refurbishments, small-scale investments); operating competitions for new or existing prisons (including those where contracts are due to expire) in line with Government Procurement Regulations;

and planning and delivering the safe, efficient transfer of existing private prisons (PFI/Manage & Maintain arrangements) to a new provider after a competition.

The project is delivering its third tranche of competitions (e.g., HMP Dovegate, HMP & YOI Doncaster, HMP Oakwood) with a fourth tranche planned for later in 2026, and is developing a new Prison Operator Services Framework to streamline future competitions. Additional support will be provided for mobilising the new prison HMP Welland Oaks in Leicestershire.

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working where business needs allow. This is informal and non-contractual flexible working. The role can be UK-based and is not overseas. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate and are subject to regular review. The successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location (which may be a nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office) on completion of pre-employment checks.

Standard full-time hours are 37 hours per week excluding unpaid breaks. HMPPS welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing patterns where they meet role demands. Applications from part-time, flexible and job-sharing candidates will be considered under the HMPPS Flexible Working policy. The vacancy may be offered on a Loan basis for up to 2 years to current NPS employees, subject to Business Unit approval.

• Written Exercise
• Level of security checks required: DBS Standard
• Eligibility:
  All candidates are subject to security and identity checks prior to taking up post. All external candidates are subject to 6 months probation; internal candidates may have probation if not previously served.

The national salary range is £33,275;
London salary range is £36,590 - £38,316. Your salary will depend on base location. Leave year runs 1 March; leave entitlement may be expressed in hours or days for non-standard patterns and is pro-rata. Bank, Public and Privilege Holidays: 9 days (66 hours 36 minutes).

Pension:
Civil Service offers two pension schemes. Work-life balance: flexible working arrangements are encouraged where feasible. NVQ Season Ticket Advance: after two months’ service, you may apply for a season ticket advance. Childcare Vouchers may be impacted by Civil Service moves across departments. Training: opportunities for development, Equality and Diversity, challenging behaviour management, suicide prevention, anti-bullying programmes, and promotion programmes. Security and diversity training and an induction programme are provided.

All staff are subject to security and identity checks. Civil Service recruitment is merit-based. The Civil Service Code applies; concerns about recruitment principles can be raised via the Transformative Business Services recruitment team, the Ministry of Justice Resourcing team, or the Civil Service Commission.

As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ offers adjustments during recruitment and in the workplace. Veterans initiatives, redeployment opportunities, and related diversity and inclusion measures are described in the Civil Service support materials.