The organisation

Unlocked Graduates is an award-winning charity which exists to break cycles of re-offending by developing outstanding individuals to lead rehabilitation in prisons and throughout society.

At the core of our mission is a leadership development programme that brings top graduates into prisons to work as frontline prison officers for two years. This programme includes mentoring, work placements in partner organisations and a fully-funded master’s degree. All of which they take part in while taking on the full duties of a frontline prison officer.

The project grew out of a recommendation in the Coates’ Review of prison education. Programme participants are selected through a rigorous and competitive recruitment process which is raising the profile of the prison officer role. Last year the scheme was ranked 36th in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list.

We were initially incubated by Catch22, a charity and social business. As of November 2020, we are now an independent registered charity and have ambitious targets for the next 12 months. These include enhancing our programme offer, expanding our fundraising and Partnership work and strengthening our internal systems and processes.

Interns are an invaluable part of our team and work across all areas, undertaking a range of tasks and responsibilities.

The role

We are looking for an outstanding candidate to take on this exciting and varied role. The role will be an integral part of our operational delivery, working across the operations and programme teams. The intern will have line management support from the Financial Controller in the Operations team, as well as working very closely with the Programme and Events Manager. The role will focus three days a week on Operations, and two days a week on Programme team support.

In the Operations team, the intern will gain broad experience in operational functions including Finance, HR and IT management, as well as programme experience in project management and event delivery.

In the Programme team, a key focus of the role will be to help deliver a ground-breaking and innovative online conference in March. In Operations we are at an exciting point; having established ourselves as an independent charity, we are now developing new systems, policies and initiatives to develop aspects such as remote working practices, improved Diversity & Inclusion and empowering financial decision-making.

Beyond the job description, we offer the opportunity to get involved with a wide range of activities that will help support our mission, including attending Master’s lecture days, key speaker events and supporting our Assessment Centres where we select programme participants.

Due to the impacts of Covid-19, this role is currently home-based, with access to the office where required. Once we return to office-based working the role will predominantly be based there, though we will maintain our ongoing commitment to remote working and flexibility to further our staff support.

Diversity

The communities that we exist to serve are diverse, and to thrive in our work towards our mission, we must be too. We believe that diversity not only makes for a stronger team, but should also be celebrated. We therefore aim to create a workplace that is welcoming for all, inclusive of ethnicity, disability, age, religious belief, marital status, pregnancy, sexuality or gender.

We are committed to keeping our organisation diverse in experience, perspective and thought. Like much of the voluntary sector, we get our largest proportion of applications from white women, and so we particularly welcome applicants from other groups. We are also keen to see more applications from people who may have lived experience or family experience of the criminal justice system.

To remove bias where possible, we blind assess candidates for interview based on their relevant skills, qualifications or experience, and have committed to having no all-white shortlists for any role.

Key accountabilities

Though this role sits across two teams, there is a strong overlap between the departments’ work which will offer the successful candidate the opportunity to develop a range of transferable skills in project management, IT and logistics.

Operations team support (3 days a week):

• Processing financial invoices and reconciling expenses and Credit Cards

• Performing basic bank reconciliations and administrative support in general book-keeping duties, such as supporting monthly management reports and quarterly reforecasts

• Managing Unlocked’s supplier database, communications and relationships

• Supporting the setup and development of cross-organisational working groups across a range of HR and IT initiatives

• Managing our organisation asset register

• Managing the delivery of a high-quality, supportive and inspiring staff induction and onboarding process

• Supporting the development of IT hardware and software across our remote working model

• Liaising with external provider IT helpdesk to ensure staff are well supported

Programme team support (2 days a week):

• Supporting our regional programme team to manage our participant and impact data on Salesforce

• Working with suppliers to source and coordinate delivery and organisation of resources and training materials

• Managing online tools which support our training delivery

• Relationship management with guest speakers and external organisations, being a key point of contact for enquiries

• Diary support for the senior programme team: arranging external meetings (including co-ordinating meetings with the Senior Leadership Team and prison governors) and booking travel and accommodation

Person specification

The successful candidate will be passionate about Unlocked’s mission, and be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience.

Required:

• Organised – able to prioritise and manage your time effectively

• Able to build productive working relationships with key contacts and suppliers

• Attention to detail – able to complete both written and data-related tasks with precision, ensuring accuracy and coherence across all of your work

• Excellent team work within and across teams

• Flexible and eager to get stuck in and develop new skills

• Computer literate, particularly in Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint

• Good written communication skills in print and email

Desirable:

• Experience of administrative work

• Experience of Microsoft 365, Sharepoint or IT automation

• Experience with Salesforce, Mailchimp or Survey Monkey

Other requirements:

• Right to work in the UK

• Lived experience of the criminal justice system (desirable)

To apply

To apply, please fill in a short application form and upload a CV.

Please note: to ensure we blind assess applications, the CV will not be reviewed initially. This will only be reviewed for any applicant making it to interview stage.

If you would like to have an informal and confidential discussion about the role or about the process, please contact: rebecca.moss@unlockedgrads.org.uk.

Closing date: Tuesday 1st December, 2020. Midday deadline

Interviews: Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th December, 2020

Start date: Wednesday 6th January, 2021. 9am

Due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, all interviews will take place via video call. A final round interview or meeting with the Operations or Programme team may take place in person, if possible.

For more information about Unlocked please visit our website.