Prison Officer Jobs in the United Kingdom
Serco Plc
Nottingham, MID
We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are fully committed to progressing you through your PCO Portfolio or PCO Apprenticeship which would increase your salary to £32,288 as soon as either of these is successfully completed which can realistically be achieved within 12 to 18 months of joining us.
Serco Plc
Corby, MID
We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are fully committed to progressing you through your PCO Portfolio or PCO Apprenticeship which would increase your salary to £32,288 as soon as either of these is successfully completed which can realistically be achieved within 12 to 18 months of joining us.
Serco Plc
Leicester, MID
We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are fully committed to progressing you through your PCO Portfolio or PCO Apprenticeship which would increase your salary to £32,288 as soon as either of these is successfully completed which can realistically be achieved within 12 to 18 months of joining us.
Serco Plc
Rugby, MID
We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are fully committed to progressing you through your PCO Portfolio or PCO Apprenticeship which would increase your salary to £32,288 as soon as either of these is successfully completed which can realistically be achieved within 12 to 18 months of joining us.
Serco Plc
Birmingham, MID
We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are fully committed to progressing you through your PCO Portfolio or PCO Apprenticeship which would increase your salary to £32,288 as soon as either of these is successfully completed which can realistically be achieved within 12 to 18 months of joining us.
Candidate Source Ltd
£30016 - £31284 Per Year
Wolverhampton, MID
You will have a number of key responsibilities that assist Prisoner reform, as well as playing a key role in providing prisoners with structure and routine, making sure they get to work in the morning, are actively engaging in education and the prison regime and are secure in their cell in the evening. The people in your care will have a variety of different needs and it will be your role to ensure those individuals are treated with dignity and respect and helped to find a new way of life whilst maintaining a safe, secure and structured environment.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£24000 - £28647 Per Year
Full Sutton, Yorkshire
The Forward Trust is a strategic partner to Mitie Care and Custody, providing our Connections Services across the prison and supporting a restorative and rehabilitative culture that enables prisoners to unlock their potential. The Family Support Practitioner role will work in HMP Millsike, providing specialist support to prisoners and family members through the delivery of effective 1:1, group interventions and structured programmes.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£27992 Per Year
Full Sutton, Yorkshire
The Prison Visits Centre Team Leader plays a crucial role in positively impacting visitors and prisoners by: Creating a Welcoming Environment: Ensuring the Visits Centre is safe, supportive, and respectful, making visitors feel valued and comfortable. The Forward Trust is a strategic partner to Mitie Care and Custody, providing our Connections Services across the prison and supporting a restorative and rehabilitative culture that enables prisoners to unlock their potential.
Ad Warrior Ltd
Guildford, HC
A work day for you might include facilitating a group music intervention, checking on the progress of a community allotment project, meeting someone prior to being released from prison, delivering a 1:1 with a Service User experiencing family breakdown, taking someone to the Doctors for the first time in their adult life, and finishing the day taking the winning penalty in a game of football – nice shot by the way! •Transferable skills or direct experience of needs and risk assessment, action planning, delivering 1:1 and group interventions, keeping detailed accurate records, safeguarding self and others, taking part in continuous professional development.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£24000 Per Year
Lincoln, MID
Transferable skills or direct experience of needs and risk assessment, action planning, delivering 1:1 and group interventions, keeping detailed accurate records, safeguarding self and others, taking part in continuous professional development. You will be working within a team of practitioners and subcontractors, delivering Personal Well Being Services to support adult male prison leavers (pre/post release) and those on community orders.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£37443 - £45751 Per Year
Sutton, HC
As Service Manager you will lead the delivery of this Forward Trust project, line managing Team Leaders and practitioners within the service to ensure delivery of contractual business plan and service model whilst developing and advancing relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders. Other key responsibilities: •Actively manage the relationship with Prison and Probation Service Personnel, Commissioners, and representatives from other agencies to ensure Forward services fit into the overall structure of drug and alcohol services provided in the area.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£21840 - £24628 Per Year
Full Sutton, Yorkshire
As part of a ground-breaking and hugely transformational partnership with Mitie Care & Custody and People Plus, Forward have been successful in its bid to be a top table delivery partner in the operation of HMP Millsike, a brand-new Resettlement Prison situated on land opposite the existing HMP Full Sutton, currently in construction and due to open in April 2025. For the first time in prison history, Forward Trust as will run the entire Visits programme on behalf of the prison including in person and virtual, official visits, family wellbeing days, specialist visits, family dining, family interventions, with indoor and outdoor space and facilities for all ages and needs.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£24000 - £28647 Per Year
full sutton, Yorkshire
As part of a ground-breaking and hugely transformational partnership with Mitie Care & Custody and People Plus, Forward have been successful in its bid to be a top table delivery partner in the operation of HMP Millsike, a brand-new Resettlement Prison situated on land opposite the existing HMP Full Sutton, currently in construction and due to open in April 2025. For the first time in prison history, Forward Trust as will run the entire Visits programme on behalf of the prison including in person and virtual, official visits, family wellbeing days, specialist visits, family dining, family interventions, with indoor and outdoor space and facilities for all ages and needs.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£24000 - £26000 Per Year
Full Sutton, Yorkshire
HAWCs support Prisoner Service Users (PSUs) to engage with other professionals/service providers and attend appointments, ensuring PSUs know their appointment date and location, how to get there, providing appointment reminders, and following up afterwards. The HAWC Co-ordinator will coordinate HAWC activities on each wing, ensuring that they deliver a core programme of support, such as Visible Recovery Workshops, in-house Mutual Aid Meetings, 1-1 support, practical advice/info, and general health advice/support.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£24000 - £26000 Per Year
Full Sutton, Yorkshire
Within this model, Health & Wellbeing Practitioners (HAWPs) will work alongside trained prisoner Health & Wellbeing Champions (HAWCs) to promote access to and deliver workshops on general healthcare and wellbeing alongside substance misuse provider services. The Forward Trust is a strategic partner to Mitie Care and Custody, providing our Connections Services across the prison and supporting a restorative and rehabilitative culture that enables prisoners to unlock their potential.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£24000 Per Year
Woking, HC
As a Health and Wellbeing Practitioner day-to-day you will be responsible for managing a caseload, providing appropriate harm reduction advice and guidance, conducting assessments and formulating and delivering care plans ensuring co-production with the service user. Each service operates a Health and Wellbeing framework taking a trauma informed and gender responsive approach to delivery of a wide variety of interventions and integrated pathways tailored to meet specific needs of each prison and individual service users.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£25154 Per Year
Sutton, HC
Day to day you will be responsible for managing a caseload, providing appropriate harm reduction advice and guidance, assessments, and care plans; You will deliver structured 1:1 and group-work sessions for both Substance Misuse and Low Level Mental Health service users and provide transitional support from prison to the community to prepare service users for release. We believe and are committed to providing opportunities to all people including those with ‘Lived Experience’ we encourage applications from all background including those in recovery from addiction, co-dependency or gambling, have experience of previous offending or homelessness.
Ad Warrior Ltd
£25154 Per Year
Shepherds Bush, London
The team work in close partnership with healthcare services to deliver services across various functions including Early Days in Custody (EDiC), unscheduled care, planned care, release and resettlement. The Recovery Champion Lead role is one that aspires to champion the 'lived experience' and work with those who will be engaged in the service as service users but with aspirations to take on a role in promoting and assisting in delivery of services on Sit across our London Prisons.
Prison Officer Jobs Overview
Prison officers uphold the security and order of prisons, remand centres, and young offender institutions. They are responsible for the supervision and rehabilitation of prisoners. Those who work in prison officer jobs provide valuable services to their communities, keeping inmates safe and supporting their well-being while maintaining the prison's security. Prison officers are high in demand, making it a great time to enter this rewarding career.
Your duties as a prison officer will vary depending on the type of prison you're working in, the level of security, and the age of the prisoners.
Common prison officer duties include:
- carrying out security checks and searches
- overseeing and keeping prisoners safe and secure
- providing support to vulnerable prisoners
- updating records and writing reports
- supervising the transport of prisoners to and from facilities
- leading group activities and helping prisoners learn new skills
- preparing prisoners for release through rehabilitation programmes
Most of your work will occur indoors, although patrolling and surveillance duties will involve spending some time outside. You will likely be required to work nights, weekends, and bank holidays, with a changing shift pattern of 39 hours a week. You can also work overtime if it’s available in the prison, so make sure to ask beforehand.
To explore other types of security jobs, you can also search for:
Qualifications and Skills for Prison Officer Jobs
To qualify as a prison officer, you will need to check the entry requirements with your local prison service, as they can vary. You will be required to:
- be at least 18 years of age
- have permission to work in the UK
- pass medical, eyesight, fitness, and literacy tests
- pass an enhanced background check
Once hired, you will complete Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT). This 12-week training covers the fundamental skills you will need to become a prison officer.
While no specific experience is required to work in a prison officer, you will be at an advantage if you have worked in the police or armed forces. A university degree is typically not required, but it is usually recommended to have gained at least five GCSEs to get a prison job. In some cases, personal attributes and life experience may be looked upon as more important than academic qualifications. Employers will be looking for candidates with excellent soft skills such as communication, integrity, empathy, self-motivation, patience, and problem-solving.
Update your CV for Prison Officer Jobs
You may be asked to submit a CV with your application, so take the time to review and update your existing CV. If you don't have one, Monster has plenty of CV templates to get you started. Remember to tailor your CV to the industry and include keywords and skills that match the job description. Background checks are an integral part of the hiring process, so make sure you have made only honest claims on your CV.
If you are less experienced in this field, you can highlight sought-after skills such as physical fitness, self-discipline, and quick decision-making. If you have any training or certifications in areas like self-defence, first aid, and crisis prevention, make sure to list these to help you stand out.
Including a cover letter is always a good idea. This is your chance to really impress an employer, so spend some time crafting a compelling letter that will get you noticed. We have lots of cover letter templates and tips to help you land your next interview.
Interviewing for a Prison Officer Role
Once you have successfully completed your application and two stages of online tests, you will have to attend an online assessment centre. Here you will be tested on whether you have the abilities, behaviours, strengths, and fitness for the job.
You will be interviewed to find out your strengths and motivations, so it will be helpful to prepare by reflecting upon your strengths and considering why you would like to become a prison officer. You can also think about specific scenarios where you have demonstrated these qualities. For more interview advice, read our comprehensive guide to answering interview questions.
How Much Can You Earn as a Prison Officer?
In the UK, the average salary of a prison officer is £29,640. However, this will depend on your location, experience, years of service, employer, and shift hours. You can research salary expectations for this job and related roles online. Additional prison officer perks include a civil service pension scheme, a positive job security outlook, annual leave, and other retirement incentives. With additional training and experience, you could move into senior roles. Senior prison officer roles include -supervising officer, custodial manager, or governor- all of which come with an increase in salary and responsibilities.
Begin Your Search for Prison Officer Jobs
Are you ready to find a new role in the prison service? Begin your search today by creating your free Monster profile. You will be able to apply for jobs, upload your CV, receive new personalised job alerts, and access helpful articles. It is also a great way to help potential recruiters find you online.