Application Deadline: 31 May 2026

Department: Corporate Services

Location: Edinburgh - Hybrid

Compensation: £40,965 to £48,243. Civil Service Pension with Employer Contribution of 28.97%. Flexible Working Hours. Hybrid Working.

Description

Our ambition is for Scotland to be the best place in the world to learn, educate, research and innovate, so that all of our nation can flourish.
Our purpose is to create and sustain a world-leading system of tertiary education, research and innovation that changes lives for the better, enriches society and supports sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

In this role you will provide a high-quality business management function for the directorate and lead the provision of Business Support to the Director and Deputy Directors. You will lead on co-ordination and implementation of directorate planning, operating processes and business improvement, and serve as a driver and enabler for cross-directorate working and cooperation.

We expect that this role will end in February 2027.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the management of the Director's business and supporting the PA to ensure effective flow of information.
Support the Directorate Senior Team with strategic planning and oversee reporting against corporate compliance requirements related to the Business Managers’ responsibilities, including risk management and other activities required by the annual business cycle. Report regularly to the Director and directorate Senior Team on operational and strategic performance against a range of measures.
Work collaboratively and proactively with SFC’s Senior Business Manager and Business Management Network to align processes, share ideas and good practice, coordinate deadlines, feed into corporate business planning and information sharing, and identify/facilitate opportunities for closer cross-directorate working.

Oversee and ensure the flow of information and smooth running of operations within the directorate, including:

Managing directorate process for handling corporately focused correspondence, working with the wider directorate business support team to ensure a professional and timeous response to requests for engagement, advice and support.
Developing clear and robust processes for the handling of day-to-day work across the directorate and contributing to business process improvement for the wider organisation.
Lead on the planning of the directorate’s delivery of high quality, timely papers for Board, committee and group meetings.
Managing workflows within the directorate to feed into corporate deadlines and maximising opportunities for cross-directorate working.
Leading on horizon scanning/forward planning to identify deadlines for consultations and other external business, upcoming papers that will require development and sign-off, and wider internal or external business that will require briefing.
Leading the establishment of proportionate directorate administration systems and processes that will produce management information (e.g. staff flexi-time accruals, staff wellbeing indicators, on-boarding, objective setting, performance management and annual leave planning across the directorate).
Developing and implementing an appropriate approach to records management ensuring full compliance with SFC’s corporate policies. Support and provide guidance to colleagues within the directorate to operate within these processes.
Working with Finance to monitor directorate budgets and input to annual budget preparation responses to key financial activities. Provide support to financial processes within the directorate.

Deliver a high-quality, comprehensive secretariat service for committees and groups as required.

Provide leadership and line management support to colleagues as required.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

It is important through your CV / Cover Letter that you give evidence of proven experience of each of the following essential criteria:

ESSENTIAL SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

Experience of leading or working as a part of a high-quality team working as a PA, Executive Assistant, Business Manager, Team Coordinator or equivalent background.
Experience of using IT systems – such as MS Teams, trackers, shared mailboxes etc. – to streamline and make more effective the flow of business within and between business areas.
Proven ability to analyse, understand and respond to complex issues in an appropriate manner, demonstrating good judgement in a politicised environment.
Highly developed interpersonal skills, with the ability to form effective relationships at all levels to generate confidence, respect, collaborative working with an openness to change.
Excellent written and oral communication skills, and the ability to produce high quality written work independently.
Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to respond to a diverse and changing workload while maintaining a high degree of attention to detail.
A resilient, positive, and flexible approach.

DESIRABLE SKILLS:

Experience of working in or closely with public sector organisations.
Experience of supporting or managing projects and working with departmental running costs budgets.
Ability to work at pace, using a range of skills to secure momentum, change and positive outcomes.
A good track record of collaborating with others to streamline processes, and the ability to lead on the design and delivery of continuous business improvement
Understanding of SFC’s strategic corporate priorities, and ability to use this wider awareness to represent their directorate’s interests in corporate forums and meetings

Good awareness of compliance and corporate reporting responsibilities, for example Information Governance requirements and corporate performance monitoring.

Terms and Benefits

· Normal full-time hours of work are 35 per week. We will consider flexible working arrangements. A flexi-time system is in operation.

· Annual leave entitlement of 30 days pro-rata, plus public and privilege holiday entitlement of 13 days pro-rata.

· A flexible approach to hybrid working, giving you flexibility to work from home anywhere in the UK for some of the time while also maintaining regular in-person contact with colleagues.

· Annual pay review: approved within the framework of the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Pay Policy and negotiated with our recognised trade union, Unite. Salaries are reviewed annually in April for employees who commence employment prior to 1 October in the preceding year.

· Eligibility to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme. With its low member contribution rates and generous employer contributions, this gives you a secure, inflation-proof pension for life with no investment uncertainty. Details of contribution rates together with further details of the pension benefits are available on the Civil Service Pensions website. There is also the option of a Partnership pension account.

· Support for continuous professional development: as a part of SFC, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive support for continuous learning and professional development. Civil Service-Learning curriculum has thoughtfully designed to cater to various learning preferences, allowing employees to engage in a manner that best suits their needs. All our educational resources are conveniently accessible through the CSL website.

· Support for health and wellbeing, including generous occupational sick pay, free access to confidential advice and support through our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, Special Leave (paid and unpaid), a contribution to learning outside work through our Lifelong Learning Fund, free winter flu vaccination, and access to occupational health support.

· We provide support to SFC employees with Volunteering Days.

· Support for travel to and from work, including a salary sacrifice cycle loan scheme, cycle storage and shower facilities, an interest-free loan for bus or rail season tickets and free office car parking for employees on a first-come basis.

Although most salaried roles are advertised as full time positions (35 hours a week), we are happy to discuss part-time or compressed hours to suit a candidates circumstances. We also operate a flexible working scheme to work around a candidate's other commitments such as caring responsibilities.

We will consider secondment applications for most salaried fixed-term or temporary positions and in many cases also for salaried permanent positions. If you are interested in applying on a secondment basis and this option is not explicitly mentioned in the job advert, please contact recruitment@sfc.ac.uk for further information.

Temporary Directorate Business Manager (Grade E2)

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