23733 - Plastics Specialist

HMPPS Band 7

Overview of the job

Prison Industries HQ helps reduce the risk of prisoners re-offending and supports Prison Governors in the delivery of Purposeful Activity.

Providing employment and activity for prisoners, enabling them to experience real work, ‘on the job training’, life skills and to develop healthy lifestyles in the preparation for their release. Producing high quality goods and services to allow prisoners to live decent, healthy lives in custody and enable employment opportunities upon release.

Prison Industries provide support to 118 HMPPS establishments in England and Wales. The prison workshops combined produce over 600,000 items per month for both internal and commercial use, with a combined output worth over £4 million annually. Each site uses a mix of machines, tooling types, and polymers, and the post holder must provide tailored advice to meet production and quality standards

The industry currently employs over 80 prisoners, and the role is responsible for purchasing, issue and movement of all technical equipment, supply of raw materials and the control and monitoring of finished products.

This is a national HQ-based non-operational role without line management.

Summary

The post leads delivery, implementation and site-level coordination for the plastics Industry, translating strategic direction into practical activity across establishments.

This post leads the coordination of internal and external plastics orders, ensuring delivery is aligned with agreed stock levels and business requirements. Providing technical expertise and guidance on plastics product design, tooling and workshop setup to support effective site delivery.

Leading the implementation of agreed plastics product design, development, costing and technical specifications, including associated tooling requirements.

Supports sustainability objectives by promoting recycling and material re-use and by liaising with waste management functions at site level.

Responsibilities, Activities and Duties

Leads the delivery and implementation of objectives in the Prison Industries HQ Plastics Strategy through local site support and coordination.

Supports the development of costings for internal and commercial plastics products using approved costing models.

Leads operational scheduling, site coordination and delivery across plastics workshops, ensuring the necessary technical specifications, materials, machines, logistics and workshop skills are in place so customers receive products to the correct quality and on time.

Leads the site-level rollout and delivery of pre-approved products, seeking and analysing workshop feedback to support the development of best practice.

Delivers hands-on technical support to sites and instructors to maintain daily performance.

Leads site-level coordination of tooling movements, maintenance, Manufacturing Requirements Planning (MRP) and logistics systems to manage stock levels.

Maintains dashboards and supports audits and performance actions under Plastics Programme Executive direction.

Identifies upskilling opportunities for workshop staff and liaises with providers to support training delivery.

Contributes to business cases from a site-level delivery and implementation perspective, providing information on cycle times, capacity and maintenance requirements.

Leads operational coordination of sustainability initiatives at site level, contributing to closed-loop plastics methodology and end-of-life strategies for internally manufactured plastic products.

Behaviours

Managing a Quality Service

Delivering at Pace

Changing and Improving

Making Effective Decisions

Working Together

Communicating and Influencing

Essential Experience

Proven track record in tooling, production management, and plastics manufacturing.

Familiarity with quality, health and safety standards, and materials compliance (e.g., food safety).

Competent in use of management information system (MIS), manufacturing requirements planning (MRP) and specification software.

Technical Requirements

ONC/HNC or NVQ equivalent in related industry

In-depth technical knowledge of injection moulding and tool design.

Ability

Strong organisational and communication skills.

Ability to use Excel, Word, Outlook, and production planning systems.

Good understanding of health and safety legislation and best practices.

Hours of Work (Unsocial Hours) Allowances

37 hour working week (standard).