20625 - Roman Catholic Chaplain

General Information

Salary £40,693 - £42,646 Pro-rata Working Pattern Part Time Vacancy Approach External Location Feltham Region London Closing Date 17-Aug-2026 Business Unit Feltham B Post Type Permanent Civil Service Grade HEO Number of jobs available 1 Reserve List 12 Months Job ID 20625

Descriptions & requirements

All staff have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The post holder must undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.

Job description

Roman Catholic Chaplain

Transform Lives Through Faith, Compassion and Hope

We are seeking a dedicated and compassionate Roman Catholic Chaplain to join our multi-faith Chaplaincy Team, providing spiritual leadership, pastoral care, and sacramental ministry within a prison environment

This is a unique and rewarding opportunity to live out your vocation by supporting prisoners and staff, helping individuals find hope, meaning, and purpose during some of the most challenging periods of their lives. As a Roman Catholic Chaplain, you will play a key role in promoting dignity, rehabilitation, and personal transformation through faith, pastoral support, and community engagement

About the Role

As the Roman Catholic Chaplain, you will provide Catholic worship, sacramental ministry, and pastoral care to prisoners and staff, whilst working collaboratively within a diverse and inclusive multi-faith chaplaincy team. You will be expected to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of other faiths and beliefs, supporting the wider pastoral needs of all individuals regardless of their faith background

Key responsibilities include

• Leading and facilitating Roman Catholic worship, prayer, liturgies, and sacramental ministry, including the celebration of Mass.
• Providing confidential pastoral care, spiritual guidance, and emotional support to prisoners and staff.
• Accompanying individuals through significant life events, personal crises, bereavement, and times of transition.
• Working alongside chaplaincy colleagues to deliver faith and pastoral care services in accordance with Prison Service policy and chaplaincy standards.
• Supporting and contributing to faith-based and non-faith-based programmes that encourage personal growth, rehabilitation, and positive change.
• Responding sensitively to the pastoral needs of people from other faith traditions, beliefs, and those of no faith.
• Developing and maintaining strong links with local Catholic parishes, diocesan organisations, charities, and community groups to support resettlement and reintegration.
• Promoting the values of respect, dignity, inclusion, forgiveness, and reconciliation throughout the prison community.
• Contributing to assurance processes that demonstrate effective delivery of faith and pastoral care services.

What You'll Bring

The ideal candidate will:

• Be a practising Roman Catholic in good standing with the Church and endorsed by the appropriate Catholic authority.
• Have a genuine pastoral heart and a commitment to serving others with compassion and integrity.
• Possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage people from diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrate resilience, empathy, and the ability to work effectively in a challenging yet highly rewarding environment.
• Be committed to working collaboratively within a multi-faith team and fostering positive relationships across the prison.
• Have an understanding of the rehabilitative and restorative role that faith can play within the criminal justice system.

Why Join Us?

This role offers the opportunity to make a lasting difference to individuals seeking hope, healing, and renewal. Through your ministry, you will support people on their journey of faith, personal growth, and reintegration into society, while helping to create a prison culture rooted in dignity, respect, and compassion.

Additional Information

This is a non-operational and non-rotational role.

The post carries no line management or supervisory responsibilities.

The post holder is encouraged to maintain their own spiritual wellbeing and professional development through prayer, reflection, study, retreat, and ongoing formation.

If you are called to serve, inspire, and accompany others through faith, this is an opportunity to use your gifts to make a profound and lasting impact.

Additional Information

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week excluding breaks which are unpaid. HMPPS welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the HMPPS’ Flexible Working policy.

If you are a current NPS employee, this vacancy may be available on a Loan basis for up to 2 years. Applications are invited from suitable qualified staff.

The Loan/Secondment is subject to the approval of the selected candidate's Business Unit, which should be obtained before confirmation of appointment.

Benefits

Annual Leave

-The holiday year runs from 1 March. If you work a non standard work pattern your leave entitlement may be expressed in either hours or days as appropriate. Leave entitlement is calculated on a pro-rata basis and you will be advised of your actual entitlement on appointment. If you were appointed internally and your leave was previously calculated in days, this will continue to be the case.

Bank, Public and Privilege Holidays

-You are entitled to 9 days (66 hours 36 minutes) in recognition of bank, public and privilege holidays. These hours are added to your annual leave allowance. There is a requirement to work some public and bank holidays subject to your shift pattern and the operational needs of the establishment

Pension

-The Civil Service offers a choice of two pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Work Life Balance

HM Prison & Probation Service  (HMPPS) is keen to encourage alternative working arrangements. Work life balance provides greater opportunities for staff to work more flexibly wherever managers and establishments can accommodate requests to do so. HMPPS offers flexible working subject to completion of a satisfactory probationary period and NVQ

Season Ticket Advance

-After two months’ service, you’ll be eligible to apply for a season ticket advance to purchase a quarterly or longer-period season ticket for travel between home and your place of work

Childcare Vouchers

For any moves across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to carry on claiming childcare vouchers

Training

HMPPS is committed to staff development and offers a range of training and development opportunities, including areas such as Equality and Diversity, Dealing with Challenging Behaviour, Suicide Prevention and Anti Bullying Programmes

-There are opportunities to access promotion programmes and HMPPS provides a variety of training appropriate to individual posts

-All staff receive security and diversity training and an individual induction programme into their new roles

Eligibility

-All candidates are subject to security and identity checks prior to taking up post

-All external candidates are subject to 6 months probation. Internal candidates are subject to probation if they have not already served a probationary period within HMPPS

-All staff are required to declare whether they are a member of a group or organisation which the HMPPS considers to be racist

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

• To Transformative Business Services (0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk);
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk); 
• To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the TBS Recruitment Enquiries Team.

For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please watch our animated videos.

Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ is committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ is able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidates will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

Civil Service Nationality Rules

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Reserve list

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles.

Contact Information  

MoJ:

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Please quote the job reference

HMPPS

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Please quote the job reference - 20625

Allowance

Working Hours

• Part-time: Working hours will be agreed and confirmed with the successful candidate.

Unsocial Hours

Unsocial Hours Working

This role requires working regular unsocial hours as part of the normal shift commitment and a 20% payment will be paid in addition to your basic pay to recognise this. Unsocial hours are those hours outside 0700 ‐ 1900hrs Monday to Friday and including working evening, nights, weekends and Bank/Public holidays.

This role will require attendance outside normal working hours to meet the pastoral and spiritual needs of prisoners and staff.

Including evenings/ weekends /Bank Holidays.

An additional payment will be made at the approved organisational rate in recognition of these hours.

Job Description Attachment

• Band 5 C Roman Catholic Ordained Priest, Deacon, Religious Brother, Sister, Lay Person JD2411 v3.0 (1).pdf (Job Description Attachment) Download | Preview | Open in a new tab Close preview

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Application form stage assessments

Behaviours Behaviours Application Form Question Word Limit 250 Communicating and Influencing Leadership Making Effective Decisions Working Together

Interview stage assessments

Interview Dates To be confirmed Behaviours Communicating and Influencing Leadership Making Effective Decisions Working Together Strengths Strengths will be assessed but these are not shared in advance. To learn more about Strengths and how they are assessed please click here.

Other Assessments

Which assessment methods will be used? Presentation Level of security checks required DBS Enhanced Counter Terrorism Check (CTC)

Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.  Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.