Description
Everything we do at the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) aims to create the right environment for colleges and universities to thrive.
The Scottish Funding Council is Scotland’s tertiary education and research authority. Our ambition is to make Scotland an outstanding place to learn, educate, research, and innovate – now and for the future. So, naturally, we have a clear focus on recruiting the best people and developing them throughout their career.
We invest around £2 billion every year, and our funding enables colleges and universities to provide life-changing opportunities for over half a million people.
We’re not only looking for the best people to come and work for us, but also people who will connect with our guiding principles which include working in partnership, championing diversity, and supporting sustainability for future generations.
By fostering our guiding principles, we are very proud of the inclusive working environment that we have created. We are committed to attracting people of all backgrounds: we want our colleague base to reflect the people and communities that we serve.
The purpose of this role is to provide a high-quality business management function for the directorate and lead the provision of Business Support to the Director and Deputy Directors. 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.
Sifting will take place from 16 February 2025. Interviews will take place week commencing 23 February 2025.
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:
o 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.
o 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.
o Lead on the planning of the directorate’s delivery of high quality, timely papers for Board, committee and group meetings.
o Managing workflows within the directorate to feed into corporate deadlines and maximising opportunities for cross-directorate working.
o 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.
o 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).
o 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.
o 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 criteria:
Essential:
* 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:
* 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.
Benefits
* For this role, hours of work are 17.5 hours per week. We will consider flexible working arrangements. A flexi-time system is in operation.
* Annual leave entitlement of 26.5 days pro-rata, rising to 30 days pro-rata after 2 years’ continuous service. 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.
* Support for continuous professional development: as a part of SFC, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive support for continuous learning and professional development.
* Support for health and wellbeing, including generous occupational sick pay, free access to confidential advice and support through our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme.
* 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, and interest-free loans for bus or rail season tickets.
About Scottish Funding Council
We are the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, more commonly known as the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
We are Scotland’s tertiary education and research authority and our purpose is to sustain a world-leading system of tertiary education, research and innovation that enables students to flourish, changes lives for the better, and supports social, economic and environmental wellbeing and prosperity.
We do this by investing around £2 billion of public money to deliver:
* Tertiary learning and teaching.
* Skills and apprenticeships.
* Student support and participation.
* Research, innovation and knowledge exchange.
* Data collection and dissemination.
* National quality assurance and enhancement processes.
* Capital and digital infrastructure for the sector.
* Strategic change, responsive provision and research priorities.
As a non-departmental public body established by the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005, we are directly accountable to Scottish Government Ministers and the Scottish Parliament.
You must already be eligible to work in the UK to apply for these roles. SFC do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skills Worker License and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.
We are pleased to support applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender, sexual orientation, sex, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, as well as those who have skills in Scottish Gaelic or British Sign Language, who have the right skills for the job.
Although most roles are advertised as full time positions (35 hours a week), we are happy to discuss part-time or compressed hours to suit a candidate's circumstances. We also operate a flexible working scheme to work around a candidate's other commitments such as caring responsibilities.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and actively encourage interviews through the scheme.
Further information about SFC is available on our website Scottish Funding Council home page (sfc.ac.uk). Additional information about our recruitment process can be found at Recruitment FAQs | Scottish Funding Council Careers (sfc.ac.uk).
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