This is a temporary promotion / level transfer opportunity with an expected minimum commitment of 3 months with a possibility of a further 3 month extension. Expressions of interest are invited from eligible A grade colleagues.
This role sits within the SAAS People and Performance Team, a small, high-performing team delivering people services to around 250 colleagues across HR, Resourcing and Workforce Planning, Learning and Development, Employee Engagement, and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion.
As People and Performance Coordinator, you will provide essential administrative and operational support across all key people-related functions, helping to ensure the smooth delivery of people services and supporting the SAAS People Strategy.
You will coordinate a varied range of activities including providing secretariat support to key people forums such as workforce planning, updating Oracle HR, updating workforce data and supporting recruitment activity and HR casework. Acting as first point of contact for queries from staff and managers, you will deliver timely, accurate and professional customer-focused services.
You will work closely with managers, HR Consultants and partners across SAAS and the wider public sector to deliver a coordinated and high-quality people service, contributing to broader reform and improvement activity.
This is a varied, fast-paced role requiring strong organisation, a proactive approach and excellent attention to detail, particularly when working with complex workforce data and spreadsheets. You will need sound judgement, including handling sensitive information with professionalism and discretion, alongside the ability to analyse and present data clearly to support workforce planning and decision-making.
Key Responsibilities
Provide high-quality secretariat support to key forums, including Workforce Planning and the Trade Union Partnership Forum, by capturing clear, outcome-focused records, contributing to papers and tracking actions, using digital and AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency, accuracy and accessibility.
Managing and maintaining workforce planning data, including large and complex spreadsheets, ensuring accuracy, version control and auditability, and supporting reporting through tools such as Excel and Power BI.
Manage and maintain Oracle position management (as Senior Business Manager), using Oracle reporting tools and the SAAS workforce plan, working with large, complex datasets to ensure accuracy, version control and alignment with organisational priorities.
Support workforce planning activity, working collaboratively across teams and organisations to ensure workforce data is accurate, aligned and supports strategic decision-making in a wider public sector reform context.
Partner with line managers and HR Consultants to coordinate and support HR Casework (including sickness absence, disciplinary, performance management and Occupational Health referrals), ensuring cases are managed efficiently, sensitively and in line with policy. Maintain accurate case data, track progress and provide insight to support timely, consistent decision-making.
Supporting/signposting hiring managers with recruitment (inc. Oracle HR reporting). Monitoring all mailboxes and be first point of contact for people queries (including Oracle HR system issues), escalating and signposting where necessary.
Contribute to cross-agency working aligned to public sector reform, supporting shared people priorities and improving consistency, insight and service delivery across organisational boundaries.
Success Profile
Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on.
Technical/Professional Skills:
Experience:
Experience providing administrative and secretariat support (ideally within HR/People), including supporting HR casework, coordinating activities, maintaining accurate records and handling sensitive information with discretion.
Experience working with workforce data and HR systems (e.g. Oracle), using spreadsheets and reporting tools to manage, analyse and report on data-heavy HR and workforce planning activity.
Behaviours:
You can find out more about Success Profiles here: Success profiles: candidate guide - gov.scot
How to apply
Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 1000 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above.
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 our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.
Vacancy closes at 23:59pm on Sunday 12 July.
Applications will be reviewed by panel. Shortlisted candidates who are considered to have the skills and experience will be invited to a discussion with the Hiring Manager and another panel member.
Discussions will be scheduled for w/c TBC.
For any questions relating to your application please contact peter.hamilton2@gov.scot
About Us
The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government responsible for providing information, support, assessment and funding to Scottish Students undertaking a course of Higher Education (HE) within the UK. More information on SAAS can be found on our website https://www.saas.gov.uk.
SAAS administer budgets of around £1.4 billion each year, making payments to both higher education institutions and over 190,000 students a year. We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the clients we serve.
Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service, 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
Working pattern
Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options depending on the needs of the role. SAAS have a hybrid working arrangement with colleagues expected to attend the office (Saughton House, Edinburgh) a minimum of 6 days per month.
SAAS have separate Public and Privilege holiday arrangements and are fully closed between Christmas and New Year.
If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact Peter Hamilton
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 our Candidate Guide
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.
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 our Careers Website Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.
The devolved government for Scotland is responsible for matters that are devolved from Westminster. Areas of responsibility include the economy, health, education, justice, rural affairs, environment, and transport.
