12333 - Head of Operations
| Posting date: | 01 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £81,380 to £93,820 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 19 December 2025 |
| Location: | North East England, UK |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 2 days per week |
| Company: | Ministry of Justice |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 12333 |
Summary
There is an exciting opportunity in the North East Probation Region (NEPS) for a Head of Operations (HoOPs). The North East Probation Service is a relatively small but geographically diverse area with some key reoffending hot spot urban areas, and some more difficult to reach rural areas – both pose their own unique challenges to operational delivery. The NEPS has a strong reputation for being a can-do, solution focussed area, committed to doing the right things to keep people safe and to do so in the most effective and lean ways to maximise operational face to face time with those we supervise. The role of the Probation Service is to reduce reoffending and protect the public via a skilled and compassionate, professionally trained workforce. The HoOPs is pivotal to driving the success of the service and by working through others, ensuring the NEPS levels of performance both qualitatively and quantitively are achieved. Responsible for seven geographical delivery units with an approximate staff group of 1,000 and 12,000 People on Probation or subject to Prison Licence in the community, the HoOPs needs to be able to motivate, engage and lead the staff group in all areas of operational delivery spanning Sentence Management, Courts, Prisons, Public Protection, interventions and partnerships in terms of commissioning the right services and for strategic liaison with key partners such as the Police, PCCs, HMCTS, Local Authorities, Health and others. Understanding the policies, procedures and legal basis for the role and how the region works within national frameworks and parameters is also key. Working directly with the Regional Probation Director, the HoOPs is a key member of the regional senior leadership team and will be required to deputise for the Director as necessary. This post requires a resilient, motivated and charismatic leader who can demonstrate excellent communication skills, be willing to make effective and timely decisions, who is happy to act as both a team player but also be able to work independently. Preferably, you will have a passion for social justice which can be imparted with wisdom to encourage, empower and enable other staff / managers to become leaders or experts in this field and enact their duties legitimately and fairly. If you would like to find out further information about the role, please contact Bronwen.Elphick@justice.gov.uk to arrange a discussion.
Overview of the job
The post holder will be responsible for operational delivery by the NPS within the region. The job holder will report to the Regional Director and have line management responsibility for a number of Heads of Local Delivery Unit (LDU) Clusters and the Public Protection function in each region. In larger regions, there will be more than one post holder and responsibility for LDUs will be divided between post holders.
Summary
The post holder will provide operational direction for the NPS within the region, overseeing and joining up services across several LDU Clusters to ensure an
integrated system that delivers on the purpose of probation: to protect the public and reduce reoffending. A key objective will be to ensure that high performance is consistent across LDUs. They will be responsible for strategic direction of the interface with courts and sentencers, as well as key public protection functions such as victims, safeguarding and MAPPA. Working with the Regional Director, they will contribute to the development of strategic objectives across the probation region and operationalise these within the delivery arm of the business.
The post holder will ensure that any action plans developed by the Performance and Quality function are implemented in the operational line in a timely manner, embedding a culture of continuous improvement and actively addressing underperformance. They will implement national operational policies and procedures, using an overview of the whole region to identify and address areas of underperformance, ambiguity or inconsistency. The job holder will provide assurance to the Regional Director that the necessary processes are in place and being adhered to in relation to both operational and corporate responsibilities. They will demonstrate inspirational, confident and empowering leadership, supporting the Regional Director in driving an inclusive and positive culture for the region. They will collaborate with external partners at a regional or sub-regional level and represent the Regional Director as appropriate.
In line with NPS policies and procedures, the job holder must at all times demonstrate a commitment to equality and inclusion and an understanding of their relevance to the work they do. The post holder must work proactively to deliver the recommendations of the Lammy Report and implement the strategic framework for working with female offenders.
The post holder must adhere to all policies in respect of the sensitive/confidential nature of the information handled whilst working in this position.
They may be required to participate in out of hours senior management on call rota.
Overview of the job
The post holder will be responsible for operational delivery by the NPS within the region. The job holder will report to the Regional Director and have line management responsibility for a number of Heads of Local Delivery Unit (LDU) Clusters and the Public Protection function in each region. In larger regions, there will be more than one post holder and responsibility for LDUs will be divided between post holders.
Summary
The post holder will provide operational direction for the NPS within the region, overseeing and joining up services across several LDU Clusters to ensure an
integrated system that delivers on the purpose of probation: to protect the public and reduce reoffending. A key objective will be to ensure that high performance is consistent across LDUs. They will be responsible for strategic direction of the interface with courts and sentencers, as well as key public protection functions such as victims, safeguarding and MAPPA. Working with the Regional Director, they will contribute to the development of strategic objectives across the probation region and operationalise these within the delivery arm of the business.
The post holder will ensure that any action plans developed by the Performance and Quality function are implemented in the operational line in a timely manner, embedding a culture of continuous improvement and actively addressing underperformance. They will implement national operational policies and procedures, using an overview of the whole region to identify and address areas of underperformance, ambiguity or inconsistency. The job holder will provide assurance to the Regional Director that the necessary processes are in place and being adhered to in relation to both operational and corporate responsibilities. They will demonstrate inspirational, confident and empowering leadership, supporting the Regional Director in driving an inclusive and positive culture for the region. They will collaborate with external partners at a regional or sub-regional level and represent the Regional Director as appropriate.
In line with NPS policies and procedures, the job holder must at all times demonstrate a commitment to equality and inclusion and an understanding of their relevance to the work they do. The post holder must work proactively to deliver the recommendations of the Lammy Report and implement the strategic framework for working with female offenders.
The post holder must adhere to all policies in respect of the sensitive/confidential nature of the information handled whilst working in this position.
They may be required to participate in out of hours senior management on call rota.