Magistrates Court jobs

As a Criminal Justice Practitioner, you will work with offenders and victims of crime to facilitate a process of communication between them called Restorative Justice. You will be supporting victims and offenders of a wide variety of offence types, from shoplifting and criminal damage to sexual violence and murder. This will involve working with South Yorkshire Police, the National Probation Service and local Prisons.

For victims, Restorative Justice (RJ) is an opportunity to ask the offender questions about the offence, seek an apology and achieve closure to help them move forwards. For offenders, RJ enables them to share their perspective, answer the victim’s questions, give an apology and express their remorse for the offence.

There are two types of RJ:

• Direct RJ – communication via face-to-face meeting, phone call or video call.

• Indirect RJ – communication via letter-writing or shuttle messages.

The skills and qualities you will need to do the job well are:

Communication- Listening and responding to what is being said so that people feel supported, valued and prepared to engage in RJ is an essential part of this role. There will also be an expectation that your first contact with people will be via a telephone call, so being able to engage with people over the phone is vital. The role requires a lot of partnership working with Police, Probation Practitioners, Prison Staff and Victim Services, both face to face and over the phone. Developing and maintaining professional and positive relationships with service users and the partner agencies we work with is essential and you must be confident and motivated to strive for this in your role.

Flexibility- Working with people requires a flexible approach to ensure they are seen at times convenient to them. This can involve working on evenings and weekends. In return, we don’t expect you to work a rigid 9-5 Monday-Friday working week. You will be expected to manage your diary effectively and be prepared to travel across the region to various Probation Offices, Police Stations and Prisons (and occasionally other parts of the country). You will therefore be required to be extremely organised, and excellent time management is essential.

Motivation- Well-facilitated RJ changes lives for the better. We want you to do that. The nature of the role means generating work through phone calls, visiting victims at their home, seeing offenders in the community or Prison and working in close partnership with other agencies. You are going to be out and about a lot. It is not the type of job where you are going to be sat at a desk all day with your manager down the hall. You will have to use your own initiative and make judgements that consider the needs of the people you are working with, your own workload and the specific contract requirements.

There will be expectations on the amount of RJ we want you to do. We want you to be the type of person that will see this as a challenge you want to meet because when it is achieved, lives are changed.

IT Capable- Basic IT skills are required with the ability to use Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel. You will be required to produce accurate and professional written reports and update all the work done on a case management system. We will encourage and expect you to maximize the use of remote methods of working with people. It is essential therefore that you are comfortable with using platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Safety- We want you to work safely in all aspects of your role. This will mean following our own internal policies and procedures and will require you to consider safety in relation to the following aspects:

• Safeguarding

• Lone Working

• General Data Protection Regulation

• Confidentiality

WHAT TO EXPECT

The role is based across South Yorkshire, and expenses are covered for travel, but you will need access to your own vehicle.

We will provide:

• Full training

• A laptop and mobile phone

• Line management support and guidance

• The role requires a Police Vetting – Level 2 and an enhanced DBS check

• 35 hrs per week

• Salary £24,000 rising to £26,000 at the end of Year 2 in role

• 6% employer pension contribution

• 26 days leave per annum plus bank holidays

Pay: From £24,000.00 per year

Application question(s):

• Interviews will take place on Friday 7 August 2026 - please note we are not able to offer an alternative date
• The role requires a Police Vetting – Level 2 and an enhanced DBS check
• You will need to hold a valid UK driving license and have access to your own vehicle

Work Location: On the road