ABOUT THE ROLE:

We’re looking for an experienced and motivated Construction Training Manager to lead and deliver our Industries Workshop at HMP Forest Bank.

In this role, you will oversee accredited multi-skills and health & safety programmes that equip serving prisoners with the qualifications, confidence, and ambition to secure work in construction and build a new future on release.

Leading by example, you will support and inspire a small team of tutors, ensuring they meet your high standards of teaching and learning.

Working closely with prison staff, probation, employers, and commissioners, outside of teaching you will create meaningful opportunities that connect training to real jobs.

Alongside programme delivery, you will manage budgets and resources, support continuous improvement, and champion Groundwork’s values within the team.

This is a unique opportunity to transform training into second chances, making a lasting difference inside and beyond the prison walls.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE:

This role will suit someone who has solid experience of delivering and assessing accredited construction multi-skills and health & safety training, alongside the ability to design engaging teaching materials and manage a curriculum area with confidence.

You’ll be a hands-on manager and the kind of person who can lead by example, delivering inspiring workshops which motivate and support learners, keeping standards high in a complex environment. Experience of working with people in the justice system, or those facing barriers to learning and employment, will help you adapt your approach and inspire progress in others.

We’re looking for a confident communicator and natural leader who can build trust and strong relationships with learners, staff, and external partners alike. Strong project and people management skills will enable you to juggle priorities, maintain quality, and keep delivery on track.

To thrive in this role, you’ll need recognised teaching, assessing, and construction trade qualifications, along with a positive mindset, resilience, and the ability to use data and insights to inform decisions. Above all, you’ll share our commitment to high-quality services, integrity, and creating lasting impact for individuals preparing for life after prison.

As a Disability Confident employer, we offer a guaranteed interview to applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role. As a Gold Award Employer Recognition Scheme holder with the Armed Forces Covenant, we also offer a guaranteed interview to veterans who meet the essential criteria for the role.

At Groundwork we ensure that we provide a safe environment for adults, children and young people to take part in any activity or service that we organise. We are committed to creating a culture that promotes safeguarding and the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk. Our safer recruitment practices support this by ensuring that there is a consistent and comprehensive process of obtaining, collating, analysing and evaluating information from and about candidates to ensure that all the people we appoint are suitable to work with our children, young people and adults.

Construction Training Manager based within established Industries Workshop at HMP Forest Bank, you will be responsible managing, delivering, developing and continuously improving a programme of L1/ L2 accredited construction multi skills and health and safety training for serving prisoners.

Overview of the Post

Responsible for:

· Ensuring excellent operational delivery within programmes focused on participant experience, achievement and progression outcomes

· Ensuring high quality and standardised service delivery by tutors in line with awarding body requirements

· Ensuring effective relationships with prison staff e.g. officers and management

· Meeting commissioner, partner, employer and stakeholder requirements

· Driving culture and values within delivery team

· Effective financial management and forward financial planning for programme area

Delivery

· Leads and effectively manages all aspects of accredited construction training programmes within prison workshop environment, including developing curriculum and teaching materials and resources

· Ensure delivery of a high-quality service that delivers positive achievements and outcomes for service users, including a focus on ensuring service users have the right skills, attitude and ambition to secure employment in construction following release from custody; achieves contractual KPIs and requirements of externally audited standards including City & Guilds and Ofsted

· Some direct delivery and assessment of accredited construction multi trades training to ensure continuity of provision

Business & Service Development

· Manages and develops excellent relationships with Sodexo staff, Probation and other agencies working within the prison environment

· Manages & grows delivery partnerships and relationships, including with employers and commissioners

· Leads and supervises implementation of quality improvement and development plans for curriculum area with focus on high standards of teaching, learning and assessment for all personnel in the workshop

· Champions our listening and learning culture and uses data to inform service development within employment, skills and justice programmes

Financial & Resource Management

· Responsible for prison workshop budget and plans for effective use of resources within prison workshop

· Supports financial planning and develops and delivers financial sustainability plans for construction training programme

· Identifies external funding opportunities to support development of new opportunities or innovation and makes recommendations on these

· Secures new income for programme area through mixture of supply chain negotiations and submission of new bids and tenders

People Management & Development

· Drives culture and values within team, including focus on managing co-located team and ensuring effective integration with wider Groundwork team

· Supports delivery of strategic workforce development plans

· Uses feedback (trends, insight etc) to influence policy and action

· Responsible for team performance – including well-being, development & performance -in line with contractual requirements and externally evaluated systems Ofsted / Education Inspection Framework

· Is responsible for most effective use of people within workshop – both Groundwork and Sodexo.

Internal Management

· Embeds policies and procedures across programme area

· Leads development & delivery of business improvement priority plans (as identified within our strategy)

· Collates, analyses and learns from data to improve internal and external service delivery

· Champions the use of data to drive improvements to delivery, including data related to people (HR), service delivery and development (impact) and processes (business performance)

· Remains on top of market and emerging trends/latest insights for construction, education and justice sector and uses these to inform service development plans

To apply for this role please download the documents from our website and return them to gmrecruitment@groundwork.org.uk

Key information

• Employer: Groundwork Greater Manchester
• Locations: Greater Manchester
• Role Type: Permanent
• Working Hours: Full-Time
• Working Hours Per Week: 36.66