Health and Care Staffing Act Policy Officer

Job Title: Health and Care Staffing Act Policy Officer

Business Area/Directorate: SG Core Directorate for Health Workforce

Location: Edinburgh - ST Andrews House

Working Arrangement: Staff in roles compatible with hybrid working should aim to spend 40% of their contracted working time working in person at their contractual workplace. More information can be found within Hybrid Working Policy

Grade: B3

Advert Type: Level Transfer

Duration: Permanent

Eligibility: Expressions of interest are invited from substantive colleagues on level transfer from Core SG only.

Sponsorship: Skilled Worker sponsorship is not available for this role. As a result, we are unable to appoint candidates who require Skilled Worker sponsorship now or in the future. Applicants must have an existing and ongoing right to work in the UK

As the Health and Care Staffing Act Senior Policy Officer, you will be working in a high-profile, exciting area within a small collaborative team. You will provide strategic leadership and oversight for the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of policy relating to the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019. This role is central to ensuring that safe, effective, and person-centred staffing arrangements are embedded across health and social care services in Scotland.

The postholder will work closely with a wide range of stakeholders both internally and externally, in particular with those in Health Boards. You will support external partners in meeting their legislative duties as well as ensuring that Scottish Government are taking all relevant steps to ensure Scottish Ministers are meeting theirs. Data analysis is a key function of this role as the Act has several reporting requirements that must be met. The role encompasses every aspect of policy and therefore the postholder will benefit from learning new skills as well as developing their existing ones.

The ideal candidate will have experience in a complex policy area and be comfortable interpreting legislation. They will have a keen eye for detail and be proficient in data analysis.

Key Responsibilities

• Play a leading role in the reviewing process for health board annual reports, drawing out key messages to inform the annual Ministerial report.
• Take a leading role in the drafting process of the Ministerial report including working across DG Heath and Social Care and briefing Ministers as appropriate.
• More generally, lead on high-quality briefing for Ministers and senior leaders, helping to manage and support senior engagement and cross-sectoral relationships.
• Use analytical skills to provide advice and guidance to a range of stakeholders and inform senior leader and ministerial decision making.
• Lead the quarterly reporting process that is a legislative duty under the Act.
• Work closely with stakeholders internally and externally to ensure they are meeting their legislative duties and to assist in meeting Ministers duties.
• By working closely with stakeholders, gain insight into how compliance with the legislation can be strengthened, improving outcomes for the ultimate service users.

Success profile:

Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of behaviours, experience and technical criteria (if applicable) that candidates will be assessed on.

Experience:

• Strong analytical skills, and the ability to draw on a range of information or data to help inform policy, advice, or decision-making

• Excellent stakeholder management skills, including strong communication.

• Working in complex systems or policy environments, preferably in a health and social care context

• Experience of working closely with Ministers and/or senior leaders to quickly build effective working relationships.

Behaviours being tested:

• Seeing the bigger picture – level 3

• Changing and improving – level 3

• Working together – level 3

You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here: Behaviour levels - Success profiles: candidate guide

Working Pattern

This post is a full-time role, but we welcome applications from staff with different working patterns, proposed working patterns will be assessed against the business requirements for this post.

Further Information

If you have any questions please contact Chris Thompson chris.thompson@gov.scot

How to Apply

Please submit an Expression of Interest (maximum 1000 words) outlining your suitability for the role, relevant skills and experience, and what you would bring to the team. Please align this to how you meet the behaviours, experience and technical skills listed in the Success Profile above.

Vacancies close at 23:59pm on Tuesday 11 August.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see ourcandidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.

If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an informal discussion.

Discussions are scheduled for w/c TBC.

Temporary Promotion (If Applicable)

Please click the link to access further guidance and information on overview and eligibility Temporary promotion

Recruitment Principles

As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.

About us

The Scottish Government is the devolved government for Scotland. We have responsibility for a wide range of key policy areas including: education, health, the economy, justice, housing and transport. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles.

Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service observing the Civil Service Codeand working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland.

We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer.

As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

Security checks

Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks – Identity, Right to work, Employment History and a Criminal Record check (unspent convictions).

You can find out more about BPSS on the UK Government website, or read about the different levels of security checks in ourCandidate Guide.

Equality statement

We are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation.

Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.

Further information

Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on ourCareers Website.

Read ourCandidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.

Apply before: 11/08/2026 (23:59). Applications are open to Core Scottish Government employees only.

This listing was sourced from 4dayweek.io.