We are committed to investing in our greatest strength and resource: our people.   

By joining SPS, you are not just building a career, there are opportunities for you to evolve your career with your ambitions and interests. 

Your Development

Joining SPS, you’ll have access to a wide range of opportunities to enhance your learning and development. We are dedicated to empowering our staff to reach their full potential through a diverse range of resources, opportunities and programmes. 

Whether you aspire to advance your career, explore new roles, or excel in your current position, we aim to support your goals. Our range of offerings includes on-the-job training, mentoring, professional qualifications, project work, in-house and external courses, online learning, secondments, coaching and so much more. At SPS, your development is important to us, and we’re committed to helping you thrive. 

Discover what our staff have to say about the opportunities they've embraced and how these experiences have helped their careers: 

The Leading with Awareness programme has given me a new dimension to my work thought process and managing different situations. The course so far has widened my knowledge of many things, given me a sense of purpose in many areas and made me think / feel differently about both myself and others.

- participant from Leading with Awareness, 9-month development programme.

I learned a lot about myself and both my working and leadership styles. I was able to identify areas I felt I wasn’t as strong in and work towards a plan of improving them.

- participant from Mentoring for Success programme.

The course has provided me with skills that I can use not only in my work life but also in my home life too. It opened my eyes to new ways of thinking and challenged ways I already thought. 

- participant from Franklin Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 3-day programme.

Your Career

Alongside providing you with support to develop, we offer a diverse range of options and opportunities for staff to have a varied career depending on your interests and career plans. Whether you want to continue in your current role at a new location, explore opportunities in specialist areas, or pursue promotion to the next level, SPS offers various opportunities to help you take on that next step.

Below you will find a selection of career journeys from a few of our staff members, showcasing the diverse career paths available within SPS. These timelines highlight the flexibility and variety of opportunities available across the organisation. With SPS, your career can evolve in the direction that inspires you most.

  • Starting as a Resourcing Coordinator and progressing to HR Administrator, Caroline has embraced opportunities to explore her interests and try new challenges, all within just a few years. 

    • 2020 - Started as a Resourcing Coordinator at SPS College, Polmont. 
    • 2022 - Gained development opportunity as an Intelligence Analyst, at HMP Low Moss. 
    • 2023 - On completion of development opportunity, returned to Resourcing Coordinator role at SPS College. 
    • 2023 - Applied for and transferred to HR Administrator at HMP Low Moss. 

  • From Operations Officer to Head of Business Improvement in just 9 years, see the journey Daniel has taken in such a short period of time. 

    • 2015 - Joined SPS as an Operations Officer at HMP Glenochil.
    • 2017 - Gained development opportunity as an Activities Officer in HMP Glenochil. 
    • 2018 - Started development opportunity as a First Line Manager in HMP Glenochil.
    • 2019 - Formal promotion to Residential Officer at HMP Glenochil. 
    • 2019 - Gained further development opportunity as Professional Standards Manager at SPS College. 
    • 2020 - Formal promotion to Business Manager at Headquarters, Edinburgh. 
    • 2022 - Gained development opportunity as a Response Lead for a project in Headquarters. 
    • 2023 - Returned to substantive position as Business Manager at Headquarters. 
    • Now - Formal promotion to Head of Business Improvement at Headquarters. 

  • Starting as an Operations Officer to securing a cross-government transfer to the Scottish Government, this journey showcases opportunities available to help you grow and reach opportunities within the wider Scottish Government. 

    • 2013 - Joined SPS as an Operations Officer at HMP Barlinnie. 
    • 2014 - Applied for opportunity to complete a Masters Degree in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management at Cambridge University. 
    • 2015 - Formal promotion to Residential Officer at HMP Barlinnie.
    • 2017 - Moved onto another development opportunity as a Policy Officer at Headquarters, Edinburgh. 
    • 2018 - Formal promotion to Policy Officer at Headquarters. 
    • 2020 - Gained development opportunity as a Response Lead for a project in Headquarters. 
    • Now - Successful in gaining a permanent cross-government transfer to Scottish Government, in the Drugs Policy Division.

  • Starting as a Nurse Practitioner to transferring into an Operational role shortly after, Keith has had a varied career with roles across SPS, and continues to grow and develop in his Senior Manager role. 

    • 1996 - Joined SPS as a Practitioner Nurse at HMP Edinburgh, before applying to become an Operations Officer in 1998. 
    • 2001 - Moved to Headquarters in Edinburgh and completed various roles within Office of the Chief Executive, Communications and Health Care Branch. 
    • 2005 - Moved onto the Prisons Directorate within Headquarters, gaining experience of operational policy and incident command. 
    • 2011 - Gained various Development Opportunities from First Line Manager to Training Manager, completed various roles across SPS.
    • 2013 - Promoted to Operational Unit Manager and moved to HMP Dumfries. 
    • 2018 - Gained short term opportunity as Theme Lead in Prison Practice at SPS College, before transferring to HMP&YOI Cornton Vale as Head of Residential.  
    • 2022 - Gained a development opportunity within Headquarters as the National Operations and Public Protection Manager. 
    • Now - Formal promotion to Senior Operational Manager and transferred to HMP Shotts. 

Leadership

We are passionate about working with and developing all employees across the organisation. Our leadership beliefs are at the heart of all our programmes, courses, and resources, and these are: 
•    Good leadership is essential for the future of our organisation and those in our care. 
•    Everyone is a leader, and leadership occurs at all levels in our organisation. 
•    Leadership is a lifelong learning journey. 
•    Leadership is about creating change and relationships are at the heart of change. 
•    Leadership is not just about individual leaders, but how leaders work together to create impact collectively.

We have a range of opportunities available to support our staff members leadership development from our online SharePoint hub, in-person courses and programmes, online courses, monthly groups and so much more. There is something for everyone no matter what role you are in or what grade you are. 

Competencies for Success Framework

The Competencies for Success Framework is SPS behavioural competency framework, which outlines the behavioural competencies to support effective performance in all roles across SPS. The framework is designed to help us understand what is expected of us, as well as what we can expect from each other. In addition to describing each of the behavioural competencies, the framework describes what each competency looks like in practice and includes development questions to support self-reflection and development activities. 

Competencies for Success Framework

  • pdf
  • 22898.74 kb
  • 14th March 2024

The Competencies for Success Framework (CSF) outlines the behavioural competencies that are essential to support effective performance in all roles in SPS.

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SPS Prison Officer walking down corridor.