• Are you a probation officer, senior probation officer, YJS officer, YJS Team Manager or an operational manager (in a youth or adult setting)?
• Are you looking for a role that is interesting, challenging and makes a difference?

Assistant Inspectors (AIs) play a key role in HM Inspectorate of Probation’s inspections of adult and youth offending work. During inspection visits they examine and assess the quality of practice carried out by frontline staff, against HMI Probation’s published inspection standards.

The Inspectorate is committed to learning and development for all staff. During the first year of your secondment, you will work towards a Skills for Justice certificate of achievement in inspection skills (arranged and funded by the Inspectorate). You will receive ongoing feedback and support as you develop your professional skills.

AIs who have completed secondments with us have gone on to take middle manager and quality development roles in the criminal justice sector.

A current AI said:
“This is the only job I’ve done so far in my career where I’ve been afforded the opportunity to really reflect on how to actually improve practice…”

About you

AIs must:

• have experience of working within or close to probation or youth justice services (in a youth or adult setting)
• have experience of assessing quality of performance against a specified set of standards
• have the ability to communicate clearly and concisely and provide feedback to others in a sensitive and constructive manner.

The inspection programme for AIs is demanding yet rewarding and while we are delivering a hybrid model of inspection (with some inspection activity conducted remotely and some on-site) you may still need to work away from home for a significant amount of time. At times, this may involve being away from home up to three weeks out of four.

How to Apply

You must complete your application by no later than 23:55 on Friday 21 July 2023.

We will invite short-listed candidates to an assessment centre, the first part of which will be conducted remotely on 22 & 23 August 2023. Candidates MUST be available to attend one of these days, we are unable to offer alternative dates.
Candidates who are successful at part one of the assessment centre will be invited to part two, which will consist of an interview, based on a blend of Behaviours and Strengths. Interviews will take place during the week commencing 11 September 2023.