Anita's Story: From Recruitment to Assistant Director at HMP Fosse Way

When Anita Clarke joined Serco in 2009, she was looking for a change. Seventeen years later, she’s an Assistant Director and Head of Business Services at HMP Fosse Way in Leicester.

In between, her journey has been impressive. She's worked across employment, performance management, skills, sustainability and justice – building on the skills she gained at each stage to take on something new. It’s a career path she never could have predicted when she joined.

A woman in a black jacket, smiling at the camera

Building a career through opportunity

Anita joined Serco as an Employer Relationship Manager, supporting people back into employment.

Within a year, she moved into performance management, before progressing into senior management roles and then taking a secondment in Serco’s Bid team.

She then moved into Skills, managing a supply chain delivering programmes to help people upskill in the workplace.

When changes to European social funding put her role at risk of redundancy, Anita was determined to stay with Serco. “I didn't want to leave Serco,” she says. “So I kept exploring what else might be available.”

That persistence led to another opportunity: Sustainability and Social Value Manager at HMP Fosse Way. Anita had already developed an interest in justice and rehabilitation through her earlier work, including visits to prisons as part of her supply-chain role.

She took the opportunity, completing additional sustainability qualifications and bringing her experience and knowledge into a completely new area of the business.

For Anita, it’s a pattern that has continued throughout her career: spotting an opportunity, transferring the skills and knowledge she already has, and being willing to learn something new.

Stepping into the unexpected

Her passion for rehabilitation led to new opportunities, when she was promoted into the role of Head of Reducing Reoffending.

Before taking up the post, Anita successfully completed the required Assistant Director assessment board, and took the opportunity to broaden her operational experience.

Anita completed Prison Custody Officer (PCO) training, including Use of Force training, and gained her PCO warrant card. She has since completed further operational training, including adjudication training and silver command training, which trains managers to act as tactical commanders during major incidents or emergencies. “I never in a million years would have thought I would have done PCO training,” she says, laughing.

It’s something that sums up Anita’s career: she has never been afraid to step outside her comfort zone. And she wants others to know that there is more than one route into a career in justice. “You don't have to come up through the custodial route to be able to get somewhere,” she says. “Believe in your skills and your strengths.”

“It’s a brilliant feeling to go home each day and think, ‘yes, we've achieved something meaningful today’.”

Taking her skills somewhere new

Anita has since taken on a new role as Head of Business Services, overseeing a broad range of functions at HMP Fosse Way, including catering and stores, workforce management, contract administration, training and sustainability.

Her responsibilities also span recruitment, risk, business continuity, culture and contractual performance. With such a broad remit, no two days are the same – something Anita sees as one of the best parts of the role. “It’s a brilliant feeling to go home each day and think, ‘yes, we've achieved something meaningful today’.” For Anita, that difference can be anything from improving training delivery to supporting operational teams or helping colleagues when they need it.

She has also continued to put her operational training into practice, supporting adjudications and evening and weekend duties. “I like having the ability to support my colleagues, my peers, in that way.”

“It’s almost like I’m starting again”

“At this point in my life, I should be settling down and thinking about how I'm going to retire,” she says. “But actually, it's almost like I'm starting again.”

Taking on new responsibilities and learning new skills has given her the same enthusiasm she felt at the beginning of her career - and she has no plans to stop learning. “Every day is a school day,” Anita says. “Take opportunities to learn from the people around you, whatever their role or level of seniority”. For Anita, staying curious has always been key to her progression.

Her advice? Believe in yourself

If Anita could go back to her first day at Serco in 2009, she knows what she would tell herself: ““Believe in yourself a little bit more – you can achieve what you want to achieve if you just put your mind to it.”

She admits she sometimes experiences self-doubt and wonders whether she can take on something new, but looking back, she can see how many opportunities she has taken that once seemed outside her experience. “You can achieve what you want to achieve if you just put your mind to it.”
She also believes in trusting your instincts. When Anita first joined Serco, she had a good feeling about the organisation. Seventeen years later, she’s still here. “Looks like my hunch was right!”.

The experience she gained along the way has helped her flourish in every new chapter. “Maybe I was meant to do all of that in order to succeed coming into a new area at a later stage.”

Her advice to anyone considering their next step is simple: “Believe in yourself. Recognise the skills you already have. And don't be afraid to see where an opportunity takes you.”

Discover a career where you have the opportunity to keep learning, develop new skills and take your career in new directions.

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Anita’s Story: From Recruitment to Assistant Director at HMP Fosse Way