Job Description

What will you be doing?

We are looking to recruit a committed individual to support the delivery and development of our youth justice practice work, specifically to provide support to police and youth justice services in the delivery of youth diversion. 

Youth diversion schemes are a way of addressing low-level criminal behaviour without putting children through the formal criminal justice processing (either through out of court resolutions (OOCRS) or prosecution) that can result in a criminal conviction and other negative consequences. These schemes operate for under-18s in a variety of different models across the country.

Since 2014, we have provided direct support to over 70 YJSs and their local police forces to develop their diversion schemes, as well as supporting the development of new schemes. In this role, you will help provide this support, which will include: delivering multi-agency workshops, assessing practice against the evidence base, reviewing guidance and protocols and providing recommendations for improvement.

The role will also include:

• Identifying and supporting areas for practice development;

• Working closely with Youth Endowment Fund, Youth Justice Board and the National Police Chiefs’ Council;

• Developing practical tools to support practitioners;

• Presenting at external events;

• Contributing to the design and facilitation of practice sharing events and workshops;

• Engaging with practitioners, stakeholders and service users to shape delivery and represent the Centre;

• Working with the Centre’s teams to ensure practice work feeds into our research, policy and communication activities.

Skills, Experience and Knowledge

The role requires the following skills, knowledge and experience: 

Experience

The Practice Officer will have experience of:

• Operational/frontline experience of working in the youth justice system and/or in policing (essential);

• The role requires experience and understanding of youth justice and youth diversion (essential);

• Working with service users and the practitioners who work with them, in a safe, legal and supportive manner (essential);

• Delivering training / facilitating workshops (essential);

• Influencing and supporting internal and external partners to deliver on shared plans (desirable);

• Involving service users in the design of projects (desirable).

Skills and abilities

The Practice Officer needs to be able to:

• Deliver training and presentations and facilitate workshops for a range of audiences;

• Manage projects;

• Deploy strong written and verbal communication skills; 

• Balance multiple priorities and manage their own workload;

• Have good organisational and teamwork skills;

• Work at pace and to deadline;

• Show energy and enthusiasm;

• Communicate and engage a variety of audiences and stakeholders confidently and constructively;

• Have the ability to work with vulnerable people and sensitive information in a safe, legal and supportive manner;

• Have a creative approach to solving problems and identifying practical solutions.

Knowledge

The Practice Officer needs knowledge and understanding of:

• Youth justice and youth diversion; 

• The challenges and opportunities available to practitioners working within a criminal justice environment;

• The complex issues impacting children in the justice system such as trauma, exploitation, disproportionality and socioeconomic disadvantages.

Requirements

The post holder needs to have:

• Eligibility to work in the UK legally.

Whilst we do not require the post holder to be office based, you must be willing and able to travel regularly within the UK.

The application deadline is 23:59 on Sunday 27th April 2025.

Interviews will be held on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th May 2025 at our offices in Kennington, SE11 5DP.

Equal opportunities

It is the policy of The Centre for Justice Innovation to treat all employees and job applicants fairly and equally regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, age, disability, offending history or trade union membership status.

We actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences, fostering a workplace where everyone feels valued and can thrive.

The Centre is committed to fair recruitment and the inclusion of applicants with criminal records. It is essential that people do not face unfair discrimination in any role within the charity, whether paid or voluntary. For that reason, we do not use criminal records to exclude people. We only ask about criminal records if they are relevant to the role.