Head of Special Custodial Services - Member of the Executive Board JVA Thorberg 100%

About the job

Start date:

1 February 2027

Workplace:

Krauchthal

"Custodial measures tailored to the individual" is our motto at the Thorberg Correctional Facility. We enforce sanctions on 180 men from over 40 nations in closed custody. Our 140 employees dedicate themselves daily to the reintegration of inmates into society, thereby making an important contribution to public safety. In eleven workshops, we lead and support inmates according to work-educational principles. Our programmes in the areas of care, work, therapy, education, sport and leisure are consistently aimed at risk reduction and the social integration of the inmates.

The special custodial services area comprises four residential units: the admission unit/assessment centre, the security custody (solitary confinement, residential group for increased security as well as detention unit); the long-term custody for long-term sentenced and detained inmates (EP) as well as the residential area of the special custodial catering (EP, all of whom work in the kitchen/bakery). In addition, the "Psychological Assessment" team is attached to the area as a staff unit.

Four care teams are responsible for the socio-educational daily structure in the residential units and during the inmates' leisure time, with maintaining security and order being of great importance. Psychologists prepare the files in the admission unit, conduct a risk assessment for each inmate and provide the correctional facility with a case summary and a provisional custodial plan. The concepts of dynamic security and risk-oriented sanction enforcement (ROS) are central to the work in special custodial services.

We are looking for a leader who challenges and supports their employees. Professional relationship management with regard to the inmates should also be an important concern for them. Furthermore, they must always be aware that they work in a closed correctional facility.

Your tasks

• You lead the special custodial services personnel-wise (22 full-time positions), organisationally and professionally, supported by 2 directly subordinate team leaders. You also lead the psychologists' team of the "psychological assessment" as a staff unit.
• You manage the admission unit and are responsible for the occupancy control of the correctional facility as well as a risk-oriented admission practice. As part of admission decisions, you conduct the necessary clarifications with the probation and custodial services.
• You are responsible for the socio-educational daily and leisure activities on the residential floors of the special custodial services, taking into account the maintenance of security and order.
• You ensure compliance with the correctional facility's regulations and processes as well as standards in the areas of (work) safety, order and hygiene within your area of responsibility.
• In particular, in security custody, you are responsible for reviewing admissions, assessing custodial progress and developing and implementing recommendations for internal progression steps. Together with the security custody team leader, you bear responsibility for the implementation and compliance with security-relevant requirements and standards.
• You represent your area in internal case discussions within the correctional facility and in custodial coordination meetings with probation and custodial services.
• You are responsible for disciplinary matters when inmates in your area violate rules.
• You lead projects and develop concepts and processes with a focus on the "socio-educational daily structure" of your departments.
• You consider it a central task to promote interdisciplinary collaboration within the correctional facility and to include the concerns and perspectives of other professions in your considerations and decisions.
• As a member of the executive board, you represent your area of responsibility and participate in strategic and operational decisions that are important for the overall management of the correctional facility.
• As a member of the executive board, you provide on-call duty outside office hours for the entire correctional facility on a weekly basis.

Your profile

• You have a solid tertiary education (Social Work, (Social) Pedagogy or Psychology at HF, FHS or university level) and several years of professional experience.
• Ideally, you have professional experience in a correctional facility and are familiar with the ROS concept.
• You have completed leadership training and have successfully demonstrated your leadership skills for several years as head of a larger team.
• You have successfully led projects.
• You enjoy conceptual work. You analyse in a structured manner and write very fluently in German.
• You think risk-oriented, act responsibly and ensure a safe and smooth operational process.
• You keep a cool head even under stress.
• You are honest, highly committed, flexible and resilient.
• You have an understanding of the multicultural clientele of a closed correctional facility and treat inmates with respect.
• You see interdisciplinary collaboration in the executive board and with employees from other areas as a benefit for the functioning of the correctional facility as a whole.
• You can communicate orally with inmates and their visitors in French and English without difficulty. Additional spoken foreign language skills are highly desirable.

We offer you

You can expect an unusual, independent and very varied activity in a correctional facility where you can help shape the future. Your workplace is located in a historically significant building in a unique natural landscape.

Contact

Interested? We look forward to meeting you! Please submit your application documents online by 13 September 2026 at the latest. For further information, please contact Ms Regine Schneeberger, Director, regina.schneeberger@be.ch; Tel. 031 635 64 13 (absent from 29 August to 13 September); or the current post holder, Anyi Steiner, Head of Special Custodial Services (anyi.steiner@be.ch; Tel. 031 633 34 65).

About the Office of Correctional Services

The Office of Correctional Services (AJV) is responsible for open and closed penal and measure enforcement for adults and juveniles within the Security Directorate of the Canton of Bern (SID) with around 1000 employees. To fulfil this task, the office has four concordat correctional facilities, four regional prisons, the surveillance station at Inselspital, the detention control centre and the probation and enforcement services at its disposal.

https://www.ajv.sid.be.ch/de/start.html