Location
Edinburgh
Office
Office of the Chief Executive
Advertising Salary:
£54,792 to £65,800
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  • Internal Candidates Only, Permanent Head of Secretariat, Chief Executive Office, Full-time

About The Role

Working pattern: This is a full-time post however we are happy to talk about flexible working.  We’re committed to supporting staff to achieve a healthy work-life balance. This is a hybrid role, working from Holyrood, and from home. During parliamentary term time, the role requires 3 or 4 days working from Holyrood. 

This is an excellent opportunity to join the Chief Executive’s Office as Head of Secretariat.  

The Chief Executive’s Office works at the centre of the Parliament, directly supporting the work of the Clerk/Chief Executive in leading the organisation across the full range of his responsibilities. The office provides a full secretariat and support service to both the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) and the Senior Executive Team (SET), as well as liaising with parliamentary officeholders and centrally managing and co-ordinating a range of cross-cutting activities. 

The Chief Executive’s office is made up of seven staff. As Head of Secretariat, you will work closely with the Head of Operations to provide a proactive and responsive full secretariat and support service to the SPCB and SET, to enable them to meet their objectives. This will involve acting as the Secretary to the SPCB, and leading a small team supporting the SPCB, SET and individual SET members.  

You’ll be working directly with senior colleagues on a daily basis, supporting and advising them in leading management of cross-cutting initiatives and handling difficult and contentious issues.  

You’ll encourage a culture where your team members are empowered to deliver high quality work which will enhance the reputation of the Parliament. 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. 

For further information about the role or to have an informal, confidential discussion in advance of applying, please contact Allan Campbell, Head of Operations, [email protected] 

Please apply before 23:59 on Wednesday, 18 September, 2024.  Full details of our selection process is outlined below. 

About You

The successful candidate will have knowledge, understanding and experience of advising on parliamentary issues, and the ability to operate at pace and under pressure, where ambiguity exists. 

You’ll have a proactive approach to work and to developing and improving services, and the ability to work with colleagues at all levels. You’ll be adaptable and flexible to changing demands and needs and innovative in responding to issues and problems. 

You’ll also have excellent organisational skills and the ability to deal with many competing priorities, alongside an ability to advise and influence senior 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.  

As a manager you’ll be resilient and inspire colleagues to deliver high performance results in line with our values. You’ll have a proven track record of working inclusively with a diverse range of people and groups. You’ll have outstanding mentoring and coaching skills and be passionate about contributing to an inclusive and collaborative working culture which values diversity and encourages openness. For full information about the role, have a look at the job description.

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. You’ll need to provide examples to cover each point in all the sections entitled “and in delivering these you will have”.
  • 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 in person panel interview. Interviews will be held on 8 October although this is subject to change.  

Feedback will be provided on request. 

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. 

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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