Location
Edinburgh
Office
Sustainability Office
Advertising Salary:
£32,884 - £40,000
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  • Temporary Environmental Sustainability Adviser, Full time for 9 months or Part time for 12 months

About The Role

Working pattern: This can be a full-time or part-time post and we are happy to talk about flexible working.  

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is responsible for providing the Parliament with the property, staff and services required for the Parliament’s purposes.  We place a high value on excellence, and we are continually looking to improve how we can deliver the Parliament's core purpose of representing the people of Scotland by debating issues of national importance, passing legislation and holding the Scottish Government to account. We are a diverse workforce, and our embedded values shape the way we work and treat each other. We have a culture of respect and inclusion, and everyone has the ability to make a difference. For further information please see our organisation chart.

This is an excellent opportunity to join the Sustainability Team as an Environmental Sustainability Adviser. 

The Sustainability Team provides support to senior managers to embed sustainability into their operations and help make decisions through a sustainability lens, supporting the organisation with its vision to be a leader in sustainability within the public sector. The Sustainability Team aids the development of sustainability activities via advice and guidance to projects and other change activities across the Parliament. The Sustainability Team is made up of 2 members of staff but works closely with other offices such as Facilities Management and Allowances.  

As Environmental Sustainability Adviser you will be responsible for:  

Calculating the Parliament’s carbon footprint and providing the data required under the reporting duties for the public sector under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act. You will also ensure that the Parliament’s operations are compliant with environmental legislation for air, land, water and waste. Maintaining and evolving the Environmental Management System to ISO14001 standard to demonstrate compliance including facilitating the external audit programme required for certification to the Standard.  

Calculation of the organisation's carbon footprint as required under the public sector duties, improve and expand the calculations as required in line with the value of excellence and our vision to be a leader in climate change work.  

Monitoring the organization's sustainability performance metrics, such as energy consumption, waste generation, carbon emissions, water usage, and supply chain performance.   

Producing reports associated with environmental sustainability. Reports include the annual Sustainable Development report, the Carbon Management Plan, Sustainable Travel Plan and Biodiversity Statement. Supporting the Net Zero programme to ensure compliance with public sector net zero requirements. 

Ensuring climate change adaptation plans and risk assessments are conducted as per public sector duties and guidance. 

You’ll also champion collaborative working with colleagues across the parliamentary service, promoting positive and open communication, as well as our commitment to diversity and inclusion. 

We particularly welcome applications from candidates from a Minority Ethnic background and Disabled candidates. All appointments will be made on merit. We have a values-based culture of respect and inclusion embedded in our organisation, and everyone has the ability to make a difference. 

This appointment is also open to people looking to apply on a secondment basis. 

We offer a great range of benefits including: 41.5 leave days (including public holidays), flexible working, paid professional subscriptions, family-friendly policies, Season Ticket advance loans, an onsite gym, Health and Wellbeing Schemes including discounted gym membership, a confidential counselling and information service, and the Cycle to Work Scheme. 

You’ll also have the opportunity to join the Alpha Civil Service pension scheme, where we’ll offer you an employer contribution of 28.97% of your basic salary. 

For further information about the role please contact [email protected]  

Please apply before 11:59 pm on Wednesday, 8 May 2024.  Full details of our selection process are outlined below.

About You

The successful candidate will be experienced in environmental management and carbon accounting. You will ideally have good working knowledge of the ISO14001 Environment Management System, but this is not essential as training can be provided. You will have good numerical and analytical skills with knowledge of how to calculate carbon emissions as outlined in the Greenhouse Gas protocol. You will be methodical with an eye for detail. You will have the ability to manage competing priorities and to work to tight deadlines. You should have excellent IT skills and an interest in using technology to find solutions. Good communication skills are essential as you will need to liaise with different stakeholders both verbally and in writing.  You will enjoy working as part of a busy team and supporting colleagues.   

You’ll demonstrate a high level of personal credibility with excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to develop and maintain positive working relationships.  

For full information about the role, have a look at the job description and read our application pack. 

The Selection Process

Stage 1

How to apply and our selection process

We are a values-based organisation. Our values are a central part of our working culture and our people management processes. We use these to recruit, manage and develop our staff. For more information on our values and behaviours framework, please visit our values pages in our Employee Handbook.

To apply for our roles, click 'apply' and this will allow you to register and upload your CV (if you've not already).

You’ll be asked to write a values-based supporting statement based on the job description of the role you’re applying for. The job description will detail the main recruitment selection criteria under each value, in the sections titled “And in delivering these, you will have”.

Your application will be assessed solely on your statement.

You’ll need to provide one or more examples to cover each bullet point, in the four value sections entitled “And in delivering these you will have”  

Please provide details from your background or career, of where and how you have demonstrated that value.

When completing and submitting the values-based statement to apply of this role:

  • Please provide evidence against each of our four values, a maximum of 400 words is allowed per value 
  • Please use the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to address the key delivery requirements under each value in the Job Description. 
  • Each value should be clearly formatted, and your examples may include specific skills, experience, abilities, knowledge and strengths you have.
  • We have a separate box on our system for you to input each value.
  • Please do not input anything into the values boxes until you’re ready to submit your application.
  • Please complete your answers offline, perhaps in Word, and then copy and paste your answers into the system when you’re ready to submit your application.
  • We recommend that you check your answers, by reading the inputted information in the box, when you’ve copied and pasted the information into the system, just to ensure it’s all there.
  • Please only click ‘Next’ to submit your application when you're content it’s complete. When you click ‘Next’, you don’t have the option to go back.
  • If you 'cancel' then your work won't be saved.
  • The system will time out after an hour and your work will be lost if you don’t complete it in that time. You don't have the option to save your application and return to it later.
  • If the system times out, you can go into your ‘candidate profile’ to access and complete your statement.
  • If you mistakenly submit your statement prior to completing this on the system, please email [email protected] with full details of the role you’re applying for, what has happened, and your completed statement.

Please note that only your supporting statement will be submitted to Hiring Managers, without any personal details, and they will then select candidates for further assessment or interview.

Stage 2

At the final stage, you’ll be invited to attend a virtual panel interview and will also be required to undertake a presentation. Interviews will be held in week commencing 3 June 2024, although this is subject to change.

Feedback will only be provided on request to those who attend interview.

Assessment scoring for this process will be: 

Application – 20% 
Presentation – 20% 
Interview 60% 

 

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please email [email protected].

After the interview

We’ll aim to let you know the outcome of your interview as soon as we can. This will normally be within 10 working days. If you’re unsuccessful at interview stage, you can ask us for feedback. We want to ensure a positive candidate experience, so we’ll also contact you to ask for your feedback on the whole recruitment process. 

Onboarding Process

If you’re successful at interview, you’ll be asked to complete our onboarding process. This includes security clearance and you’ll also be asked to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the United Kingdom. 

We will provide you with details of our security vetting policy and you will be required to complete a security questionnaire. Some of our roles will require membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. For further information, please see our Policy on the employment of ex-offenders and use of disclosure. 

Referees

If you’re successful, we’ll approach previous and/or current employers for a reference. If you have no employment history we may approach any school, college or university you have attended. 

We can only make a formal offer of employment once we have received your security clearance, eligibility to work in the UK and references. Your health assessment will be used to inform us of any adjustments you require before you start with us. 

Our commitment to an inclusive workforce

We are a Disability Confident Leader Employer and guarantee to interview any disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role.  If you have a disability and would like to talk to us about any aspects of this job, please contact us. More details can be found here. 

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