Are you an HR professional who enjoys providing expert advice, shaping people policies and helping to ensure an organisation remains a lawful, trusted and effective employer?

The HR Policy Team sits within the Employee Experience Division in the People Directorate. We are a small team of HR professionals responsible for developing and maintaining clear, consistent and evidence-based HR policies that support effective people management, organisational compliance and a positive employee experience across the Scottish Government.

Working closely with colleagues across the Scottish Government, public bodies and sponsor teams, we develop and maintain policies and guidance covering areas including attendance, conduct, discipline, grievance, performance, wellbeing, propriety and the prevention of harassment. We also provide expert advice to managers and staff and support organisational governance through activities such as scrutiny of severance and settlement cases.

As an HR Policy Officer, you will support the development, implementation and continuous improvement of HR policy by providing professional advice, undertaking research and analysis, managing policy enquiries and contributing to governance, reporting and service improvement activities. You will work closely with HR Policy Managers and a wide range of stakeholders to ensure policies remain effective, legally compliant and aligned with organisational priorities. 

The team comprises Head of HR Policy (C2), Deputy Head of HR Policy (C1), two HR Policy Managers (B3) and two HR Policy Officers (B2).

As an HR Policy Officer, you will provide professional HR policy advice and support the HR Policy Managers in the development and ongoing management of HR Policies. This post holder will have a particular focus on propriety policies (eg Civil Service Code, Gifts and Hospitality, Declaration and Management of Outside Interests and Political Activities.) You will also provide policy advice and support over the broader range of HR policies within the team remit, as required. Working collaboratively with colleagues and key stakeholders you will respond to complex queries, undertake research and analysis, and support governance and compliance activities. 

The role offers the opportunity to build strong stakeholder relationships, influence policy development and contribute to projects and service improvements that strengthen HR services across the Scottish Government and its public bodies.

Key responsibilities

• Provide accurate, timely and high-quality HR policy advice to colleagues across SG Main, delivery bodies, sponsor teams and public bodies to support effective decision-making and risk management. 

• Manage and respond to queries via HR Online and other channels within agreed timescales. 

• Lead on scrutiny of settlement and severance cases, ensuring compliance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM), Scottish Government guidance and employment law. 

• Support the HR Policy Manager in the development, review, implementation and communication of HR policies, guidance and associated documentation, particularly propriety policies and undertake including Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs) and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) 

• Undertake research, benchmarking, analysis and evidence gathering to inform policy development, decision-making and continuous improvement. 

• As required, monitor legislative and employment law developments, identifying potential implications and proposing changes for consideration by HR Policy Managers to ensure policies remain up to date and compliant. 

• Develop and maintain positive working relationships with key stakeholders, colleagues across the Division and Scottish Government, including Public Bodies Unit, Severance Policy, Communications, Ministerial Private Offices, trade unions and staff networks. 

• Support stakeholder engagement activities and meetings, including engagement with trade unions and networks, and maintain accurate records of discussions and actions. 

• Prepare FMQ briefing notes and draft responses to Ministerial correspondence, Parliamentary Questions (PQs), Freedom of Information (FoI) requests and reactive media enquiries within prescribed timescales. 

• Lead on quarterly reporting of Special Adviser gifts, hospitality, expenses and media meetings. 

• Compile and analyse management information and performance data, including HR Online query trends and response rates, and provide reports and insights to support HR Policy Managers and wider governance requirements. 

• Maintain and review HR Policy Saltire pages, ensuring content is accurate, accessible and up to date. 

• Maintain policy and guidance ownership records, governance documentation, team operating procedures and associated eRDM records in line with information management requirements and record-keeping processes, and contribute to wider team reporting, planning and continuous improvement activities. 

• Support Oracle Cloud maintenance, reporting, testing and continuous improvement activities, including implementation of policy, process and system changes within the team's remit.

Qualifications

You should hold a HR professional qualification and/or CIPD accreditation at associate level or above.

Proof of qualifications will be checked at the assessment stage.

Success Profiles

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:

• You must be an experienced HR professional and have experience of working in a human resources role, ideally with HR policy and/or HR advisory experience.

• You must be digitally proficient with the ability to source, analyse and use data to provide advice and solutions in an HR context.

Technical / Professional Skills:

• HR policies and Employment Law - You must be knowledgeable about key HR policies, processes, and legislation, and how to research, interpret and apply these when providing advice to customers. You must be able to assess employment issues and risks and escalate when required.

Behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing - Level 3 

• Managing a Quality Service - Level 3 

• Making effective decisions – 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

Further information about this opportunity is available from Samantha.kellock@gov.scot and/or Julie.Macfadyen@gov.scot

How to Apply

Please submit an Expression of Interest (maximum 1000 words), describing how your skills, qualities and experience make you suitable for the role. You should make particular reference to, and structure your supporting statement around, the Success Profile noted in the job advert.

Vacancies close at 11:59pm on the date displayed in the table, unless otherwise stated on the job advert.