Modern Apprentice – Business and Administration SVQ qualification

Salary: £23,511 – £24,213 plus excellent benefits

Contract: Temporary for one year.

Location: Dundee – with an opportunity to work from home, in the office or to use a hybrid approach.

Hours: 35 hours per week

Join us and make a difference – for you, for everyone

It’s our job to ensure care for everyone, everywhere in Scotland is as good as it can be. If you are as passionate about high-quality care as we are, and you’re keen to learn, we’d love to hear from you. We are looking for talented Care Experienced people to join us in making a difference.

About us

As a Corporate Parent organisation, we understand the importance of supporting Care Experienced individuals as they transition into the workforce. We believe in providing opportunities for those who have been in care to empower them to reach their full potential.

Our commitment to employing Care Experienced people stems from our belief in creating a diverse and inclusive workplace that values the unique perspectives and contributions of every individual.

About you

We’re looking to attract two modern apprentices aged 16 - up to the age of 29 for completion of the qualification, who would like to pursue a career in business administration. These opportunities are ringfenced for Care Experienced people as we understand the unique barriers you face.

We are different because of our great benefits, our investment in learning and development, and giving you the opportunity to help shape care in Scotland. We will provide a tailored programme for the year including help to find your next steps and support your job search. There will also be plenty of support – you’ll have a mentor, a buddy, a training provider, and team members who are all keen to help you achieve.

What you will be doing as modern apprentice

You will undertake a range of administrative duties to support team delivery. Building your skillset, improving your knowledge, and understanding of the work of the Human Resources (HR) and Organisation Workforce Development (OWD) teams or the Participation and Equalities team.

The skills you’ll need

Whilst it is important to have the basics, we will support you in developing your skillset throughout your journey with us. You must be a keen learner, have a positive attitude, be well presented, and have a good knowledge of computers, particularly Microsoft Office suite packages.

You will have on the job training and support and gain invaluable paid work experience whilst working towards a recognised qualification. The Scottish vocational qualification will be from the business and administration framework.

All new entrants will start on the first point of the grade for the role. We have a generous benefits package which is highlighted below. For more information on our benefits please see our Total rewards package that can be found on our website.

This job may require some travel and may involve some overnight stays and costs for this will be covered.

In addition to our excellent benefits package, we also pride ourselves on the values we hold, person-centred; fairness; respect; efficiency and integrity - all supported with a culture of care and kindness. We’re proud to be a progressive, supportive employer, and equality, diversity and inclusion are important to us.

Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, which enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. We are moving towards an expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week.

What next?

You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.

To find information about our Care Experienced guarantee interview scheme, follow this link to our recruitment webpages .

For an informal chat, please contact the recruitment team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The recruitment team can also provide support to help you decide to apply, how to complete our application form and how to prepare for an interview for either post.

If you’re ready to apply now, please send your completed application form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than 08.00 on Monday 12 August 2024.

The Care Inspectorate is committed to recruiting, keeping, and developing a workforce that reflects the diverse communities that we serve. It is vital that we check and analyse diversity information so that we can identify how we can improve the way we meet the needs of our applicants and staff. To aid us to monitor the effectiveness of our equality and diversity practices, we would encourage you to complete and send in the equalities monitoring form by email with your completed application form.

We expect to hold an in person selection process at our Dundee office no earlier than 26 August 2024. The selection process will include a group exercise followed by a short informal interview. There will also be information on how to gain the relevant SVQ qualification and the support that can be provided.

Our Board

The Chair and the members of our board set the strategic direction of the Care Inspectorate, taking into account legislation and policy guidance set by the Scottish Government. Each member of the Board brings a wealth of experience and wide-ranging skills, along with a passionate interest in social care. Read our Board members biographies below.

The Care Inspectorate has an Audit and Risk Committee which supports the Board in its responsibilities for issues of risk, control and governance and associated assurance through a process of constructive challenge.  The Committee meetings are not held in public, but papers can be viewed here. 

Our public Board meetings are held at least four times a year and members of the public are welcome to join us at these meetings.

You can download a copy of the papers from our Board meetings here. The minutes of Board and Committee meetings do not appear within the published papers until after they have been approved.

Our Board meeting dates for 2024/25 are:

• 9 May 2024
• 15 August 2024
• 14 November 2024
• 13 February 2025
• 27 March 2025

All meetings run from 10:30-13:00.

The meeting is open to members of the public to join, as observers only, via Microsoft Teams video-conference.  In order to enable members of the public to join for the public business of the meeting, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than seven calendar days prior to the date of the meeting. 

In this event, in providing your email address you are consenting for us to use your contact details to invite you to the Teams meeting for the duration of the Board proceedings that are being held in public. 

Please note that members of the public and representatives of the press who attend a meeting of the Care Inspectorate Board will do so in an observer-only capacity, and may not participate in the meeting unless invited to do so by the Chair. 

If you do not have a Microsoft Teams account, you can find instructions on how to join here. Papers for our Board meetings will normally be published seven days in advance of the date of the meeting and will be available to view here.

Minutes of meetings of the Audit and Risk Committee, being a sub-committee of the Board, can be found incorporated within the Board papers.

Read the Board’s Code of Conduct and the register of members interests 2024.

Biographies

Doug Moodie, Chair

Doug Moodie has Chaired the Board of the Care Inspectorate since 1 September 2022.

Doug is currently a Chair of Falkirk Children’s Panel, Chair of HELM in Dundee who provide support, learning, and guidance to over two hundred care experienced young people, Chair of Clackmannanshire Business Improvement District (BID), and a Director/Treasurer of Home Start (Clacks) who received a Queen’s Award in 2022 for service to many families needing their help and support across the local community.

You can find out more about Doug here.

Sandra Campbell

Sandra was appointed as Convener of the Scottish Social Services Council in September 2019. She has over 40 years’ experience in the public sector, both in Scotland and England, holding senior management posts. Sandra is a qualified social worker and has a keen interest in services for looked after children. Her first experience of social care was working for Dundee Cyrenians in the homeless shelter which shaped her future career choice. She has also worked with health services in Highland and in Liverpool where she was a Governor at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Sandra was appointed in 2022 as a Panel member for Redress Scotland.

Naghat Ahmed

Naghat is a Law and Accountancy graduate. Her current role at Glasgow City Council includes both programme and project management. She has previously worked on policy and strategy development, equality and diversity, change management, corporate governance and utilising project methodologies.

She previously worked in the Commission for Racial Equality and NHS24, specialising in equality and diversity. Naghat is a carer for relatives who have disabilities.

Since 2018 Naghat has also been a member of the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland and since September 2021 has been a non-executive member for Social Security Scotland.

Carole Wilkinson

Carole Wilkinson was appointed to the Chair of Healthcare Improvement Scotland in October 2018, for a term of four years and was appointed for a further four years from October 2022. She has been a member of the General Teaching Council Scotland since June 2018. She is a former Non-Executive member of NHS Education for Scotland and a former Chair of the Board of Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. She was also Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) from 2001-2009, establishing the organisation and overseeing the implementation of the regulation and registration of social services workers.

Before moving to the SSSC, Carole held the post of Director of Housing and Social Work for Falkirk Council and during her career has held a number of senior management posts in England and also spent a period in higher education teaching social workers and social care staff. She has also served on a number of Scottish Government working groups advising on workforce development matters and on future workforce needs and how health and social care staff could be supported to work and learn together.

Carole was elected Vice Chair of the NHS Chairs Group in May 2021 taking up the position in August 2021, she will assume the role of Chair of the Group in August 2023.

Dr Bill Maxwell

Bill has extensive experience of developing national approaches to quality assurance and improvement and leading public sector reform, gained within Scotland and beyond. After a decade working as an educational psychologist, Bill joined the Scottish Education Inspectorate in 1994. Following a range of roles and a two-year secondment to the Scottish Government, Bill moved to Wales as HM Chief Inspector of Education in 2008, leading of the Welsh inspection system. He returned to Scotland as HM Chief Inspector of Education for Scotland in 2010 and shortly afterwards was appointed to lead the creation of Education Scotland, a new type of public service improvement agency which incorporated the functions of an inspectorate with a wider range of services to promote national improvement and the effective delivery of the Government’s major reform programmes in education. Bill retired from Education Scotland in 2017 and is now consulting on education quality assurance, including projects for the European Commission and the OECD. He is also a member of the British Council's Advisory Committee for Scotland. Bill was appointed as a Board member of OSCR, the Scottish Charity Regulator, in March 2022.

Rognvald Johnson

Rognvald commenced his career working for The Royal Bank of Scotland, serving in a number of branches/departments, including the Bank’s Internal Audit Department, before retiring as Senior Manager for the Orkney Branches. After a spell working at Orkney College as Development Officer, he was engaged as Project Director, successfully developing and delivering a Business Improvement District in Kirkwall. Rognvald was appointed as a Non- Executive Director with NHS Orkney in July 2012 until June 2018, during which time he served as Chair of the Finance and Performance Committee, as well as Vice Chair of the Audit Committee. During the latter part of his term, Rognvald represented NHS Orkney on Orkney Integrated Joint Board, responsible for the provision of Health and Care in the County, also serving on its Audit Committee.

Rognvald is also a Director on the Board of Orkney Hyperbaric Trust, a Charity Registered in Scotland, and which provides decompression facilities, if required, to divers.

Rona Fraser

Rona has over 30 years of experience as a social worker and manager within the field of criminal justice social work. Her commitment to partnership working, the values of social work and public service remain as strong now as when she started working as a social worker. She was formerly the Senior Manager for Community Justice for the City of Edinburgh Council. She has a particular interest in cross-cutting issues such as domestic abuse, women in the criminal justice system and the development of trauma informed services and leadership and has had a key role in developing services in these areas. She has also had extensive experience of the risk assessment and management of offenders, including establishing the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements within Edinburgh, working closely with partners across key agencies.

Professor Paul Gray

Paul is an experienced senior executive leader at CEO level. He places a strong emphasis on ethical and compassionate leadership, transparency and collaborative working. Committed to public accountability, he is experienced in leading delivery and change in complex systems and has had significant exposure to scrutiny in highly visible and politically contested sectors. Paul is currently an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, a Senior Faculty Member at the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh), Scotland’s member of council at the Open University, a Civil Service Commissioner, and a Lay Adviser to the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland. He is also a Senior Adviser to strategic communications firm Charlotte Street Partners, Patron of Medics Against Violence, and a coach and mentor to a number of senior executives.

From December 2013 to February 2019, Paul was Chief Executive NHS Scotland and Director General for Health and Social Care in the Scottish Government, responsible for the delivery of health and care services through 22 Health Boards, and partner organisations, with accountability for an annual budget of £13bn and a staffing complement of around 160,000.

Charlotte Armitage

Charlotte is a Care Experienced third-year History and Sociology Student at the University of Glasgow, due to graduate next summer.

Aside from her passion for history, Charlotte brings to the board her extensive knowledge of the care system in Scotland gained from her own lived experience, five years of professional experience within the third sector, and as a consultant for CELCIS, The National Leadership Network, as a former group member of the Workforce Group of the Independent Care Review.

This knowledge ranges from a deep understanding of local delivery through her work with East Lothian Champions’ Board, to high-level project development skills that have seen internationally recognised campaigns emerge; as well as legislative and policy changes, such as the guaranteed offer to university for Care Experienced applicants and the extension of free childcare for Care Experienced parents, implemented under her leadership during her time working for Who Cares? Scotland. These skills and experience are further complemented by her in-depth political research experience, passion for social justice forged from her career in public affairs at the Scottish Parliament, and her COSCA Counselling Skills diploma.

Audrey Cowie

Audrey is a trustee and governor at St Columba’s Hospice Care in Edinburgh. She has also held non-executive director roles with the Scottish Social Services Council and the General Teaching Council for Scotland. Audrey is a first level registered nurse with over 40 years experience and was appointed in May 2022 as the nurse to sit on the Care Inspectorate Board. During her career, Audrey has held senior managerial roles in the NHS; advisory roles in Scottish Government; and regulatory and quality assurance roles nationally, regionally and locally.

Audrey has extensive experience in the professional regulation of nurses and other professions, and in the scrutiny and improvement agenda in both Scotland and Europe and has an enduring personal professional interest in governance, regulation, scrutiny and inspection.

Maria McGill

Maria McGill has 40 years’ experience as a nurse, leader and Chief Executive working in the NHS and voluntary sector.

The last 30 years of her career was spent in palliative and end of life care. For the last 10 years, Maria was Chief Executive of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), Scotland’s only children’s hospice organisation.

Maria is also a member of The Promise Scotland Oversight Board and a Trustee of Marie Curie UK.

Rosanna Moore

Rosie Moore is a qualified Social Worker with First Class Honours from the University of Strathclyde. Having grown up in care herself, she has a particular passion for working with looked after children and young people and their families.

In 2017, Rosie was nominated by the Coalition of Care Providers Scotland to become a Discovery Group member for the Independent Care Review. She was then asked to stay on for the duration of the Review, becoming a co-chair of the working group for LOVE and latterly as the participation lead for those with seldom heard voices and young people in secure care.

Rosie is currently at the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS), where she has worked for several years, with a focus on social policy and participation of those with lived experience.

Rosie has won several awards for her work in the sector, including Young Scot’s 30under30 and Strathclyde’s Women in Leadership. Rosie also holds positions on the Management Group of the Each and Every Child Initiative and as a Board Member for Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare (STAF).

Edward McGrachan

Ed McGrachan has had an international career in IT, Telecommunications and Business Transformation, with time spent working for Nortel Networks and BT on major projects in North America, Continental Europe and the UK. He also served as Non-Executive Board Member and Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee at the Student Awards Agency Scotland, with board oversight of the digital transformation of systems and processes aligning with the Scottish Government’s Digital First strategy.

Ed has worked with various public and charitable organisations; Member of the Diocesan Board of Education for the Church of England in Devon; Treasurer of Citizen Advice in Devon and elected Lead Governor of South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust; providing him with a broad spectrum of Governance experience. He was appointed Chairman of the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee for West Scotland, a Non-Departmental Public Body working across both devolved and reserved Government sectors in support of Veterans issues.

Currently, he serves as Non-Executive Member at Glasgow Colleges Regional Board, where he chairs the Audit and Assurance Committee. He is an Appointed Member on the Partnership Board of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, where he is a member of the Strategy and Programmes Committee.

Jennifer Trott

Jenny Trott is an experienced unpaid carer who has spent the past 10 years managing a team of carers in her family home to provide high-quality care for her disabled son. She is a strong advocate for inclusion and equality, and she has a passion for promoting excellent care standards for all.

Jenny was the founder director of Mecoco, a social enterprise that provided disabled adults and young people with valuable workplace experience. In addition, she has extensive experience in residential dementia care and community brokerage.

Recently, Jenny has undertaken a new challenge, training as a life coach to support women navigating life-changing experiences. She uses her training and expertise to help her clients achieve their best lives. Through her work, Jenny is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of those around her.

Our Executive Team

Our Executive Team is responsible for the management and strategic leadership of the Care Inspectorate.  

Jackie Irvine, Chief Executive

Jackie qualified in Scotland before starting her career in London, moving back to Scotland in 1991. 

Jackie has been a Chief Social Work Officer for over 10 years and comes to the Care Inspectorate from her current post as Service Director, Children and Families and Justice Services within the City of Edinburgh Council. 

Jackie has over 30 years’ experience of working in the public sector and has also managed community health services for children. 

Edith Macintosh, Executive Director of Strategy and Improvement

Edith was appointed as Executive Director of Strategy and Improvement in August 2020 after acting in the role as an interim from December 2018.

Edith qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1983 and worked across health and social care holding a variety of roles across Scotland predominantly in the NHS and latterly was service manager for Occupational Therapy services in the NHS in Perth and Kinross until 2009.  From there she joined the Care Inspectorate (then Care Commission) in September 2009 as the Rehabilitation Consultant and provided leadership and improvement expertise for several national initiatives and publications to support providers and partnerships to improve health and wellbeing in the social care sector. 

Edith was in her previous role as Head of Improvement Support since January 2017 and had strategic oversight for developing and strengthening the Care Inspectorate’s improvement support role across Scotland supported by a team of improvement advisors.  She designed the CAPA improvement programme and was the programme lead.  Edith’s great passion is to inspire people and services to improve, realise their full potential and to make a positive difference to the lives of others.

Follow Edith on Twitter @EAMacahp

Kevin Mitchell, Executive Director of Scrutiny and Assurance 

Kevin was appointed Executive Director of the Care Inspectorate’s Scrutiny and Assurance Directorate in February 2016 and led the directorate’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He has lead responsibility for all the regulated care service inspections (children and adults) and the complaints and registration functions.  He also has lead responsibility for the strategic scrutiny of services for children, justice and protection as well the joint inspections of integrated health and care services and services for adults.

Kevin joined the Care Inspectorate in 2011 from the then Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) having been involved in the programme of joint inspections of child protection from 2005.  He was appointed Head of Analysis and Business Planning at the Care Inspectorate in March 2013 and Acting Deputy Director of Inspection (Children's Services & Criminal Justice) in January 2015.

Kevin was previously a senior detective officer in Lothian and Borders police and graduated MSc in Advanced Practice Child Protection from Edinburgh Napier University in June 2014.

Follow Kevin on Twitter @CIKevinMitchell

Jacqueline Mackenzie, Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Services

Jacqueline was appointed as Executive Director for Corporate and Customer Services in November 2020.

Jacqueline has a BA in Accountancy and Business Law from the University of Stirling and is a graduate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland with extensive experience of leadership and strategic management having held a variety of roles in both the public and private sectors.

She has excellent experience in financial and resource management, change management and team building. Jacqueline is skilled at understanding complex organisations and providing the leadership and influencing skills to motivate staff across functions and disciplines to work together to achieve the strategic goals.

Gordon Mackie, Executive Director of IT & Digital Transformation

Gordon was appointed as Executive Director of IT & Digital Transformation in July 2021 after acting in the role as interim from April 2020.

As an experienced IT & transformation leader with a wealth of experience and a sustained record of success across diverse sectors both in the public and commercial environments. 

Gordon boasts a wealth of exposure within aligning technology to business strategies; leading specialist teams and delivering complex, full-cycle business change, transition and transformation projects.  Adept at building and maintaining key relationships at all levels, including clients, stakeholders and suppliers; effectively translating requirements and overseeing all issues through to completion.  Well versed in managing the end-to-end delivery of complex projects across conflicting programmes and proven ability to drive businesses forward.  Experienced in engaging and communicating with relevant internal and external stakeholders, inclusive of C-Level management in all programmes of work.  Both a team player and an independent thinker, with valuable problem solving and decision-making skills and the ability to coordinate with senior leaders to ensure needs are identified and fully addressed. 

Our recruitment process

How we recruit

How we recruit inspectors