Careers

Probation as an employer

The Probation Board for Northern Ireland provides services across Northern Ireland employing more than 400 people.

Just over half of Probation staff are Probation Officers based in offices across Northern Ireland. Probation Officers are qualified social workers. Probation also employs people to work in other areas of the organisation such as administration, finance, information technology, human resources and operational support staff e.g. Community Service Supervisors and Probation Service Officers.

As an equal opportunities employer Probation aims to recruit and develop the very best talent available across a wide range of disciplines.

Listen to our Podcasts to find out more about the work of Probation.

Our Values

Probation's Values are integral to how we carry out our work to make communities safer. Read more about our Values.

These values are important in how we treat each other as colleagues, lead our staff teams and work with our service users and stakeholders across government, and the community and voluntary sector.

Working for Probation

There are many roles within Probation including Probation Officers, Probation Service Officers, Community Service Supervisors, Area Managers, Directors, Assistant Directors, Heads of Department, Business Support Managers, Administration staff, Human Resources staff, Finance staff, Health and Safety staff, Communications staff. 

We publish details of the latest employment opportunities when they become available in local daily press and also in Vacancies.

Please read our Privacy Notice for Applicants

Listen to one of our Assistant Directors discuss her career in Probation after spending her Social Work student placement with us.

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Learning and development

Our Learning and Organisational Development team deliver a range of programmes that are designed to support our staff deliver services to our service users. New staff are provided with a comprehensive induction and are supported throughout their career with professional training opportunities, along with the ability to join management development programmes.

Getting involved

The views of our staff in how we work as an organisation is really important. There are regular staff engagement activities for staff to give their views on new or changing policies or on the way we work. This helps us make Probation a great place to work.

A day in the life of Probation

Listen to the Probation Matters Podcast talking to two of our Probation Officers who discuss their experiences in our North and South Belfast offices as they change lives for safer communities.

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Read below about working for Probation from some of our staff.

Joanne McMullan is a Probation Service Officer with the North Antrim Community Service team based in the PBNI Ballymena office covering Ballymena, Antrim and Larne.

Read more about her role in Probation >>>

Susan McBride is a Business Support Manager in Probation’s Down & Ards team.  Susan also covers HMP Maghaberry, Hydebank Wood College and Belfast Community Service teams.

Read more about her role in Probation >>>

Contact Probation

For more information on working for Probation, contact our Human Resources department on:
E-mail: hr@probation-ni.gov.uk
Telephone: (028) 9052 2522

Read our Recruitment Policy and our Recruitment Procedure for information on our recruitment process.