Head of Connections – HMP Millsike
As Head of Connections, you’ll be a member of both The Forward Trust and HMP Millsike Senior Leadership Teams, leading the strategic delivery of our pioneering Connections model. Working in partnership with Mitie and PeoplePlus, you’ll shape and deliver a whole‑person, whole‑system approach to rehabilitation, integrating family support, substance misuse recovery and incentivised substance‑free living to help people build sustainable lives beyond custody. This is a unique opportunity to influence prison culture, lead innovative services and demonstrate how rehabilitation and recovery can reduce re‑offending and improve lives.
You will provide strategic and operational leadership across three integrated service areas:
- Family and Relationships — leading services that strengthen family ties, parenting and positive relationships.
- Drug Strategy — owning and delivering the establishment’s Drug Strategy, driving innovation, recovery and harm reduction.
- More Than My Past — leading our flagship Incentivised Substance Free Living (ISFL) programme and embedding lived experience throughout service delivery.
Key responsibilities include:
- Provide inspirational leadership to multidisciplinary teams.
- Own the prison’s Drug Strategy, Family & Relationships Strategy and Visits Operating Procedures.
- Lead contractual performance, governance, compliance and impact reporting.
- Manage significant budgets and ensure financial performance.
- Develop strong partnerships across prison leadership, commissioners and external stakeholders.
- Promote lived experience, co‑production and recovery‑focused practice throughout the establishment.
- Drive innovation, continuous improvement and evidence‑based practice.
- Represent The Forward Trust as a senior ambassador both internally and externally.
Qualifications required:
- Significant senior leadership experience within a custodial environment.
- Operational experience managing prison services such as visits, residential units, therapeutic environments or similar.
- Experience delivering complex contracts within Criminal Justice settings, including public or privately managed prisons.
- Experience managing large budgets (circa £1million+) and contractual performance linked to financial outcomes.
- A proven track record of delivering high‑quality services within regulated, audited and inspected environments.
- Outstanding leadership, organisational and programme management skills.
- Excellent stakeholder management with the ability to build trusted relationships across multiple organisations.
- Strong analytical skills with experience in impact measurement, governance and performance reporting.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
- Knowledge of desistance theory and approaches.
- Desirable knowledge or experience of Narrative Therapy and narrative‑based approaches.
- Understanding of recovery‑focused practice and lived experience models.
- Experience of Dynamic Framework contracts or privately managed prisons.
Benefits
- Flexible working
- Training and development opportunities
- BHSF cashback scheme (optional)
- Season ticket loan scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Crisis loan scheme
- Electric car scheme
- 3× wellbeing days (pro rata for part‑time employees)
- Access to Blue Light Card
- 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 with length of service)
- Bank holidays
- Contributory pension scheme – employer matched contributions up to 6% in first two years and up to 9% thereafter
- Death in service payment (2× annual salary)
- Critical illness insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)
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