Probation officer : Employers and vacancy sources

Probation officers are employed by probation trusts, and recruitment is managed by the individual trusts. There are 35 probation trusts across England and Wales, which receive funding from the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)  to which they are accountable for their performance and delivery. For a full list of trusts see the Ministry of Justice (UK) .

In Scotland, local authority social work departments have responsibility for probation work (known as criminal justice social work) and recruit qualified social workers, known as criminal justice social workers.

In Northern Ireland, probation work is carried out by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) . The PBNI employs more than 400 people, just over half of whom are probation officers (qualified social workers) at 35 different sites across Northern Ireland.

Sources of vacancies

• Websites of individual probation trusts in England and Wales - see the Ministry of Justice (UK)  website for a list.
• Work with Offenders  
• Jobs in Probation  
• Probation Bulletin   
• jobsgopublic  
• Community Care Jobs  
• National press, particularly Guardian Jobs , and local press. 

Specialist recruitment agencies such as Criminal Justice Skills  and Backstop  handle vacancies.

Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.