Job profile
Job title: Accountant
Responsible to: Senior Accountant
Principal working contacts
- Head of Finance and Corporate Governance
- Finance & Procurement Manager
- Senior Accountant
- Finance Officers
- Transactions Manager
- Procurement Officer
- Senior Managers in the Care Inspectorate
- Internal and External Auditors
Job purpose
Support the Finance and Procurement Manager and the Senior Accountant to deliver a comprehensive finance service to the Care Inspectorate in line with Care Inspectorate policies. This role also supports the provision of financial services to the Scottish charity regular, OSCR.
Key responsibilities
Annual budget:
- Supporting the preparation of the annual budget, including reviewing financial plans to ensure high quality budget setting and monitoring.
Budget monitoring:
- Preparing monthly budget monitoring information to budget holders to meet their individual needs.
- Support budget managers with the management of their budgets by providing financial advice and guidance in line with financial regulations and other financial processes to make sure the operational requirements of the Care Inspectorate are met.
- Ensuring financial transactions are properly recorded.
- Developing financial management reports within the financial management system.
Reconciliations and ledger control:
- Reviewing suspense and control account reconciliations monthly.
- Ensure all month and year end procedures are performed within the timescales agreed with the Senior Accountant.
- Leading on the financial management of specific grant funded projects.
- Managing cashflow and banking arrangements for the Care Inspectorate.
- Prepare monthly grant in aid claims.
Annual accounts:
- Assisting in the production of the Care Inspectorate and OSCR’’s annual statutory accounts. This includes liaising with finance staff, budget holders and auditors, and ensuring all working papers are prepared to a high standard.
- Review monthly analysis to ensure information is accurate for our statutory accounts.
Other tasks:
- Prepare draft reports to Senior Managers and Committee.
- Providing financial training and ongoing support to non-finance staff.
- Developing procedures to ensure the integrity and accuracy of financial data.
- Maintaining and developing finance systems and processes including undertaking process improvement and LEAN reviews.
- Preparing or reviewing statutory returns, as required.
- Preparation and submission of quarterly VAT returns.
- Participation in Best Value reviews, including reporting on the findings.
- Supporting the maintenance and development of the financial system.
- Working in partnership with managers and key stakeholders to jointly develop finance plans necessary to support their operational plans.
- Support the Senior Accountant to risk assess applications to register services to ensure that services understand their responsibilities and are financially resourced to establish, maintain and improve service provision.
- Keeping up to date with developments in financial regulations/legislation and best practice, sharing knowledge across the team to ensure continuous development and improvements in the service offered.
- Actively contributing to the wider aims, workload and objectives of the finance function, ensuring that they are consistent with best practice and ensuring the provision of a sound finance service across the Care Inspectorate.
People management:
- Lead, manage and provide professional advice to the Finance Officers.
- Support, develop and coach direct reports through regular 1-1 supervision and appraisal and lead on consistent, high-quality practice amongst staff and support development.
- Promote a positive and inclusive working environment which supports continuous professional development.
- Manage the Finance Officers, reviewing work, prioritising and managing workload. Carry out training and development, recruitment and absence management.
- Promote the health, safety and welfare of employees, with responsibility for ensuring that the Care Inspectorate health and safety policies, procedures and practice and legislative requirements are met across the team.
- Carry out your duties in accordance with our Health and Safety policies, procedures, guidance, practices and legislative requirements, taking reasonable care for your safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do or fail to do while at work.
- Promote diversity, equality of opportunity, fairness, dignity and trust, ensuring that these principles are upheld across all areas of service delivery.
Relationship management:
- Model corporate behaviour and demonstrate commitment to organisation values.
- Develop and maintain constructive and co-operative working relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective and efficient directorate support.
- Promote the principles of collaborative working throughout the organisation and in all working practices in accordance with the Partnership Agreements with the trade unions.
- Ensure effective working protocols in accordance with the Care Inspectorate’s Communications, Human Resources, Finance, IT and Operations function.
- Project a professional image for the Care Inspectorate when dealing with colleagues and external stakeholders.
- Demonstrate a commitment to the Care Inspectorate’s aims, vision and values and to the Care Inspectorate’s overall objective of improving care in Scotland.
Other duties
This job profile is a broad picture of the post at the date of preparation. It is not an exhaustive list of all possible duties, and it is recognised that jobs change and evolve over time. Consequently, the post holder will be required to carry out any other duties to the equivalent level that are necessary to fulfil the purpose of the job, and to respond positively to changing business needs.
Job profile
Job title: Payroll and Workforce Information Assistant
Responsible to: Payroll and Workforce Information Manager
Principal working contacts
- All Human Resources staff
- Finance Assistants/Officers
- Other staff within Corporate and Customer Services Directorate (eg Estates, Health and Safety, ICT)
- Managers and employees of the Care Inspectorate & SSSC
- Third party service providers
Job purpose
To assist in the provision of a payroll advisory and support service for the Care Inspectorate and Scottish Social Services Council.
Key responsibilities
- Process and maintain accurate pay and pension data, including but not limited to:
- All information required for the monthly payroll (eg post/hours changes, starter details, leaver details)
- Employee pensions (processing details, cessations and estimates).
- Act as the first point of contact for payroll and data queries, taking ownership of any issues and referring/escalating these where necessary. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Use of payroll systems
- Employee data and Management Information requests
- Payroll policies, processes or procedures.
- Annual leave and sickness
- Pay, pensions and expenses.
- Working with members of the accounting team, coordinate monthly payroll and pension processing activities.
- Liaise with third party providers where necessary (e.g. payroll services provider, pension scheme provider).
- Support the management information service. This will include presenting the information in a variety of formats (e.g. tables, charts, graphs) using various tools including Microsoft Excel and Power BI. Information provided will include but is not limited to:
- Benchmarking and workforce analysis
- Assurance Reports
- Establishment Control
- Absence
- Performance Review
- Equality Data
- Staff lists
- Process and maintain an up to date and accurate staff record in our payroll and related systems, including but not limited to:
- Core employee details (names, contact details, bank details, emergency contacts, etc)
- Contractual details (core employment details such as hours of work, post holdings, salaries, pensions)
- Attendance and absence details (work patterns, overtime, sickness, annual leave, special leave, flexi time)
- Equality and diversity information
- Other relevant employee information
- Assist with the gathering of information for benchmarking and workforce analysis.
- Assist with the production management information for reporting purposes.
- Assist with the development of and updates to payroll and related systems and processes including:
- Testing
- Design
- Data clean-up and data migration
- Training staff
- Development of guidance and procedure manuals
- Assist in the development of new processes and procedures, making full use of information technology where appropriate.
- Participate in working groups and attend associated meetings, as and when required.
- Undertake any other duties and/or responsibilities commensurate with the nature of the job
- Carry out your duties in accordance with our Health and Safety policies, procedures, guidance, practices and legislative requirements, taking reasonable care for your safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do or fail to do while at work.
People management
- Demonstrate commitment to the safety and security of the Care Inspectorate’s data, information systems and devices.
- Promote the health, safety and welfare of employees, with responsibility for ensuring that the Care Inspectorate health and safety policies, procedures and practice and legislative requirements are met across the team.
- Carry out your duties in accordance with our Health and Safety policies, procedures, guidance, practices and legislative requirements, taking reasonable care for your safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do or fail to do while at work
- Promote diversity, equality of opportunity, fairness, dignity and trust, ensuring that these principles are upheld across all areas of service delivery.
Relationship management
- Model corporate behaviour and demonstrate commitment to organisation values.
- Develop and maintain constructive and co-operative working relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective and efficient directorate support.
- Promote the principles of collaborative working throughout the organisation and in all working practices in accordance with the Partnership Agreements with the trade unions.
- Ensure effective working protocols in accordance with the Care Inspectorate’s Communications, Human Resources, Finance, IT and Operations function.
- Project a professional image for the Care Inspectorate when dealing with colleagues and external stakeholders.
- Demonstrate a commitment to the Care Inspectorate’s aims, vision and values and to the Care Inspectorate’s overall objective of improving care in Scotland.
Other duties
This job profile is a broad picture of the post at the date of preparation. It is not an exhaustive list of all possible duties, and it is recognised that jobs change and evolve over time. Consequently, the post holder will be required to carry out any other duties to the equivalent level that are necessary to fulfil the purpose of the job, and to respond positively to changing business needs.
Job profile
Job title: Information Governance Lead
Responsible to: Head of Intelligence
Principal working contacts
Internal
- Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO)
- Deputy SIRO
- Executive Directors and senior managers
- Information Asset Owners and Administrators
- Internal subject matter experts in related disciplines
- Head of IT Service Delivery, Organisation and Workforce Development, Legal
- Services and Customer Services
- Information Governance Team
- Managers and employees of the Care Inspectorate
External
- UK Information Commissioner
- Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC)
- National Records of Scotland
- Care Inspectorate strategic partners
- Care service providers and people experiencing care
- Members of the public
Job purpose
The post holder will provide the Care Inspectorate with leadership in information governance and assurance, internally & externally. They will be the prime source of expert advice and policy development, to create and maintain high level awareness, profile and understanding of the strategic and operational importance of information governance. They will also assure the Care Inspectorate that it is meeting its statutory and legal obligations and be capable of acting as Data Protection Officer as defined under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 and Data Protection Act 2018.
The post holder will lead on delivering information governance support across the Care Inspectorate, supported by the Deputy SIRO and the Information Governance team, and will bear responsibility for performance and/or service delivery. The post holder will be responsible for managing their own and their team’s workload ensuring that work is completed to the required high standard in a timely fashion. The post holder must possess highly developed specialist knowledge, underpinned by theory and experience.
Key responsibilities/accountabilities
Operational management
- Develop and implement corporate strategy, policies and procedures to support IG and effective use of information, in line with business and legal requirements and ensure that they are kept up to date and in line with changes to the Care Inspectorate’s internal and external operating environment.
- Coordinate the identification, assessment, reporting and management of risk in relation to all aspects of information governance (IG) within the Care Inspectorate, including regular review of the Information Risk Register and reporting to the Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) and Senior Management Team.
- Monitor and report on compliance and performance as required by Care Inspectorate governance arrangements and lead on creating and implementing improvement plans.
- Be capable of acting as Data Protection Officer for the Care Inspectorate and acting as key contact with the supervisory authority and leading on preparations for and on-going compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation and revised UK Data Protection Act.
- Support the proportionate, lawful and secure use and sharing of personal data, implementing, monitoring, auditing and reviewing the Data Processing Contracts, Information Sharing Protocols, Privacy notices, Data Protection Impact Assessments and Compliance Checks.
- Develop, oversee and monitor IG training for staff, implement clear and robust information and data handling standards and procedures, raise awareness of IG responsibilities, and promote awareness and best practice.
- Coordinate and manage the organisation’s response to information security vulnerabilities and incidents.
- Coordinate and manage responses to all statutory requests for information received by the organisation, including Subject Access Requests and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act requests.
- Develop and maintain corporate information governance tools and standards, for example, business and security classifications, metadata schemes, lifecycle retention schedules and information asset registers and ensure local implementation and compliance.
- Manage delivery of the Care Inspectorate’s Records Management.
- Improvement Plan and act as the statutory contact for Records Management, as required under the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.
- Support improvement of current record creation and record keeping standards to ensure that the Care Inspectorate is holding adequate records of business activity and decision making to meet statutory and legal requirements and as evidence of its accountability and transparency.
- Ensure that information governance requirements are integrated into business processes, standard operating procedures and organisational change.
- Advance the “digital by default” agenda and exploit opportunities to automate information governance through technology solutions and tools electronic record-keeping within Care Inspectorate systems.
- Observe the provisions of and adhere to all Care Inspectorate policies and procedures.
- Carry out your duties in accordance with our Health and Safety policies, procedures, guidance, practices and legislative requirements, taking reasonable care for your safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do or fail to do while at work.
Relationship management
- Demonstrate a commitment to Care Inspectorate’s aims, vision, values and overall objective of improving care in Scotland.
- Prepare and deliver briefings, reports and presentations on IG to colleagues within and outside the Care Inspectorate in a manner that is informative, contextual and easily understood.
- Provide advice and guidance to staff on IG issues, including statutory and regulatory compliance.
- Act as a subject matter expert and staff mentor on all aspects of information governance.
- Liaise with and build professional working relationships with partner organisations on IG matters.
- Monitor individual and service performance.
- Line manage and motivates staff.
- Conduct staff appraisals.
- Ensuring that the team deliver the information governance service to the required high standard.
Other duties
This job description is a broad picture of the post at the date of preparation. It is not an exhaustive list of all possible duties, and it is recognised that jobs change and evolve over time. Consequently, the post holder will be required to carry out any other duties to the equivalent level that are necessary to fulfil the purpose of the job, and to respond positively to changing business needs.
Job profile
Job title: Business Support Assistant
Responsible to: Business Support Officer
Principle working contacts
- Business Support Officer
- Managers and employees of the Care Inspectorate
- External agencies/service providers/service users and carers
- Members of the public
Job purpose
To provide comprehensive business support to various functions within the organisation as well as general office administration support within individual offices, in line with Care Inspectorate policies and procedures.
Key accountabilities
Operational management:
- Provide business support to Care Inspectorate operational staff ensuring a high level of security and confidentiality within the office.
- Prepare information/correspondence in a clear and concise manner ensuring accuracy and compliance with Care Inspectorate’s style.
- Undertake specialist activities, in accordance with procedures or instructions, to support the effectiveness of the various functions and the Care Inspectorate as a whole.
- Prepare all letters, correspondence and any information relating to the work of Care Inspectorate using the Care Inspectorate’s ICT systems.
- Input, update and extract information from the Care Inspectorate’s ICT systems and/or manual records as required.
- Provide general office business support as required as part of the office team. This may include:
- Reception cover
- Stationery management
- Booking travel/accommodation
- Recording/submitting travel and subsistence claims
- Supporting room booking system in relation to setting out rooms.
- Carry out your duties in accordance with our Health and Safety policies, procedures, guidance, practices and legislative requirements, taking responsible care for your safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do or fail to do while at work.
Relationship management:
- Ensure effective communication of Care Inspectorate’s work with people who use care services, carers, relatives and advocates.
- Ensure effective working protocols in accordance with Care Inspectorate’s Communications, Human Resources, Finance, ICT and Operations function.
- Demonstrate a commitment to Care Inspectorate’s aims, vision and values and to Care Inspectorate’s overall objective of improving care in Scotland.
Other duties
This job profile is a broad picture of the post at the date of preparation. It is not an exhaustive list of all possible duties, and it is recognised that jobs change and evolve over time. Consequently, the post holder will be required to carry out any other duties to the equivalent level that are necessary to fulfil the purpose of the job, and to respond positively to changing business needs.
We’ve agreed to investigate a complaint
- Introduction
- Our investigation
- Outcomes of investigations
- Post investigation review
- Outcome of the review
Introduction
This leaflet tells you how we will deal with the complaint that has been raised with us now that we have decided it meets our criteria as a complaint that requires formal investigation.
It tells how you can support our investigation and the important role you play in giving us information.
We hope you find this useful but if any of this is not clear to you, please discuss with the inspector who is investigating the complaint.
Our investigation
We aim to establish all the relevant facts and give complainants and those complained against a full, objective, and proportionate response that represents our final position.
It is important that we gather all relevant information about the complaint from the complainant and the complained against. Therefore, it is important that you give our investigating inspector all relevant information and any documents that have a bearing on the areas of the complaint.
Please tell the investigating inspector if you think you have relevant information that they have not asked for.
Where it’s appropriate, we will interview staff members and observe practice within the service. We will need a private space somewhere in the service to speak confidentially with relevant staff and we will ask the service to make this available. We will try to minimise any disruption to the service, but we do recognise that there will be some disruption of the normal day.
We aim to complete our investigation within forty working days. If this timescale needs to be extended, we will tell you why and give you an expected completion date.
Outcomes of investigations
When we have completed our investigation, we will speak to the complainant and the complained against. We will tell them our findings and the conclusion that we have reached. This is an important part of the process as it allows both parties to tell us about any issues, they feel we have not taken account of in reaching our conclusions.
We will then send a report to both the complainant and the complained against giving our findings and stating whether or not the complaint has been upheld.
There are two possible outcomes for a complaint investigation.
Upheld
We say we have upheld a complaint where we have investigated and found evidence to substantiate the allegations made. We may also uphold a complaint when we believe that on the balance of probability the issues raised in the complaint are valid. Where we have upheld a complaint, we may identify action for the service to take. We will also tell the person who has made the complaint about any requirements or areas for improvement we have made of the care service they have complained about.
Not upheld
We say we have not upheld a complaint where we have investigated and found there is a lack of evidence to validate the complaint.
Post investigation review
Once we have sent our complaint report to the complainant and the complained against, each party has ten working days from the date we sent the report to ask for a post investigation review if they have concerns about the outcome. We will not consider a request for review if we receive it after this period of ten working days has expired.
If you believe we have made a mistake in our findings or that we have come to the wrong conclusion, you can ask for a post investigation review by completing the relevant form.
You can ask for a post investigation review if you consider that:
- we made our decision based on important evidence that was inaccurate and you can show this using readily available information
- you have new and relevant information that was not previously available about the complaint we investigated, and which affects the decision we made
If you ask for a post investigation review, we will let the other party know we have received a request.
Outcome of the review
Once the ten working days are up, we will consider any request for a review.
We will decide whether to:
- investigate further
- update the report to reflect comments received
- update or change the outcomes of the complaint
- not make any changes to the outcomes.
We will write to you to explain the outcome of the review and the decision we have reached. If the complaint outcomes have changed, we will issue an amended complaint report and if no changes are made, we will confirm the report you received as final. Both the complainant and complained against will receive this information regardless of who has requested the review.
Once we have concluded our review and informed you of our final position, no further appeal or review is possible.
We aim to do this within 20 working days of the final date for submission of a post investigation review request.
Once the review has taken place, we will reach our final position and you cannot appeal the complaint outcome.
Once all the relevant steps in the processes described above are completed, and if we decide the service needs to improve, it will have to give us an action plan within fifteen working days, which details how they will improve outcomes for the people who use their service.
We may also regrade a service following a complaint. Where a complaint has been upheld, we will post a summary of the complaint and any requirements or area for improvement that we have made on our website alongside the service’s other information. You can search for individual services by clicking on the Find care tab at the top of our homepage at careinspectorate.com
Person specification
Job title: Information Analyst
Attributes
Experience
Essential
- Providing a professional service with a significant level of autonomy.
- Using a range of analytical methods to gain insight from complex data.
- Apply coding skills to access and manipulate large volumes of data from a variety of sources as well as identifying data inconsistencies and ensuring data quality.
- Experience in some of the following:
- statistical analysis and reporting
- intelligence analysis
- data management. - Experience in working with internal and external partners at all levels.
- Experience in presenting complex information and analysis to a range of different audiences.
Desirable
- Developing data standards and definitions.
- Official statistics production.
Education, qualifications and training
Essential
- Educated to Degree level (SCQF Level 9) with a significant numeric component.
- Evidence of commitment to continuing professional development.
Desirable
Intelligence Analysis qualification.
Skills and knowledge
Essential
- Advanced data, statistical and analytical skills.
- Competent and experienced user of MS packages.
- Experienced user of statistical, query and data management software for ETL and reporting purposes (e.g. SAS, SQL, DAX, R, Python).
- Previous use of business Intelligence tools (e.g. PowerBI, Tableaux).
- Excellent data management and manipulation skills.
- Understanding of data quality issues and validation techniques.
Desirable
- Research experience.
- Knowledge of relevant national data sources including open data.
- Public Sector / social care experience.
- Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
- Qualitative data analysis.
Key performance outcomes
Effective communication
Essential
- Articulate and positive communicator on a 1-1 basis and in larger groups.
- Ability to express complex ideas clearly and concisely and to adapt communication to suit different audiences.
Impact and influence
Essential
- Demonstrates ability to influence at all levels.
- Ability to give realistic advice, based on relevant, up to date and verifiable information.
- Evidence of building positive relationships, engaging and collaborating effectively with others internally and externally.
Improvement focus
Essential
- Identifies gaps in information and makes appropriate suggestions for improvements.
- Aware of trends and changes and maintains professional knowledge and skills.
- Listens to feedback and ideas and takes considered and appropriate action.
- Uses knowledge and experience to gather and consolidate information in order to make appropriate changes and improvements.
- Ability and willingness to learn new skills quickly.
Objective decision making
Essential
- Demonstrates analytical and systematic approach to problem solving.
- Ability to make appropriate and realistic judgments, based on professional expertise, relevant, up to date and verifiable information.
- Ability to analyse complex information.
Planning and organisation
Essential
- Involves others where appropriate and optimises resources to achieve desired results.
- Regularly reviews joint goals and targets and reprioritises where necessary.
- Recognises the need to be flexible in order to meet changing priorities.
- Ability to manage workloads under pressure to tight deadlines.
Team working
Essential
- Contributes to and supports the work and decisions of the team.
- Contributes to the shared vision and purpose and shares this effectively.
- Works collaboratively with a wide range of teams across the Care Inspectorate and external colleagues.
- Willingness to share expertise and knowledge with colleagues.
Please note – these are key performance outcomes to be used to recruit into the role.
Successful applicants will be assessed against all the performance indicators used in the Performance Development Review System once established in the role.
Person specification
Job title: Accountant
Attibutes
Experience
Essential:
- Demonstrable experience in a Finance environment.
- Experience of managing and leading a team.
Desirable:
- Knowledge of process improvement and LEAN techniques.
- Experience and knowledge of Public Sector.
Education, qualifications and training
Essential:
- Educated to SCQF level 9
- Membership of the Association of Accounting Technicians or part qualification with a Committee of Consultative Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) or equivalent.
Desirable:
- Membership of a CCAB accounting body.
Skills and knowledge
Essential:
- Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office suite, particularly Excel.
- A thorough knowledge of integrated financial accounting systems
- Accounting expertise in interpreting and applying accounting standards and guidance and other resource information.
- Experience of working in a business partnering role to support budget managers
- Ability to prepare financial reports.
- Annual Accounts preparation.
- Budgeting and budgetary control.
- Excellent negotiation and influencing skills.
- Good judgement and decision-making skills.
- Ability to analyse numerical and written information and present results in a clear and concise format.
- Concise and clear oral, written and presentation skills.
- Ability to work under pressure with strict deadlines.
- Planning and organisation skills.
Desirable:
- Oracle financial systems experience.
- Experience of a coaching culture and using coaching to support staff.
Key performance outcomes
Effective communication
Essential:
- Articulate and positive communicator on a 1-1 basis and in larger groups.
- Ability to express ideas clearly and concisely and to adapt communication to suit different audiences.
- Ability to explain complex financial information to a range of audiences including non-specialists.
- Listens to feedback and ideas from others and takes appropriate and considered action.
Impact and influence
Essential:
- Demonstrates ability to influence at all levels.
- Ability to give realistic advice, based on relevant, up to date and verifiable information.
- Evidence of building positive relationships, engaging and collaborating effectively with others internally and externally.
Improvement focus
Essential:
- Identifies gaps in process and performance and makes appropriate suggestions for improvements.
- Aware of trends and changes and maintains professional knowledge and skills.
- Uses knowledge and experience to gather and consolidate information in order to make appropriate changes and improvements.
Objective decision-making:
Essential:
- Demonstrates analytical and systematic approach to problem solving.
- Ability to make appropriate and realistic judgments, based on professional expertise, relevant, up to date and verifiable information.
- Ability to analyse complex information.
Planning and organising
Essential:
- Involves others where appropriate and optimises resources to achieve desired results.
- Regularly reviews joint goals and targets and reprioritises where necessary.
- Recognises the need to be flexible in order to meet changing priorities.
Team working
Essential:
- Contributes to and supports the work and decisions of the team.
- Contributes to the shared vision and purpose and shares this effectively.
- Works collaboratively with a wide range of teams across the Care Inspectorate.
Please note – these are key performance outcomes to be used to recruit into the role.
Person specification
Job title: Customer Support Adviser
Attributes
Experience
Essential:
- Demonstrate a successful track record within a similar role.
Desirable:
- Experience of working with external/internal contacts at all levels.
- Experience of working within the social care sector.
Education, qualifications and training
Essential:
Desirable:
- NVQ/SVQ level 2 or 3 in Customer Service or Call Handling.
Skills and knowledge
Essential:
- Excellent communication skills.
- Excellent verbal communication techniques in order to draw out and gather correct information and gain confidence from caller.
- Knowledge of customer service principles and practice.
- Listening skills.
- Problem solving skills.
- Good data entry/keyboard skills
- Ability to work on own initiative and prioritisation of workload.
- Ability to meet deadlines.
- Ability to use own judgement within identified boundaries.
- Ability to remain professional even when dealing with difficult or confrontational callers.
Key performance outcomes
Effective communication:
- Portrays a positive image of the Care Inspectorate when communicating both inside the organisation and externally.
- Selects appropriate communication, style and methods depending on the needs and abilities of the audience.
- Listens actively to people, questions and checks understanding.
Planning and organising:
- Uses a systematic approach to make efficient use of time and manage workload.
- Recognises the need to be flexible in order to meet changing priorities.
- Prioritises work effectively to meet deadlines and objectives.
Flexibility:
- Demonstrates a flexible, positive approach to work.
- Listens to feedback and ideas from people and will take appropriate and considered action.
- Adapts well to change, adjusting priorities as required.
- Is able to work confidently within a changing environment.
Team working:
- Remains tolerant and fair towards others, values diversity and is non-discriminatory in their actions.
- Values and makes use of the skills, knowledge and experience of others.
- Works co-operatively and supportively with others.
Personal accountability and responsibility:
- Takes responsibility for decisions and actions taken.
- Maintains a high standard of work and actively seeks out continuous improvement.
- Demonstrates initiative within own area of expertise.
- Takes responsibility for identifying and addressing areas of personal and professional development.
Please note – these are key performance outcomes to be used to recruit into the role.
Subcategories
Inspector - Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
The early learning and childcare expansion…
Role: Inspector - Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
Location: Forth Valley, Borders, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh & Glasgow
Salary: £31,083 - £39,069 plus excellent benefits
Hours: 140 hours to be worked over a 4-week period
Contract: Permanent or 2-year secondment (would be considered)
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 experienced in your field, we’d love to hear from you.
About us
As a national scrutiny body that supports improvement. We inspect care services and partnerships across Scotland, report on the quality of care people experience, and support improvements in services to facilitate improvements in outcomes for people.
We inspect care services individually. We also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in local areas.
We champion high-quality care whenever we encounter it across the thousands of inspections, we carry out each year, and we work closely with all care providers to support them to improve all the time. We collaborate with other organisations too, supporting improvement across public services. Our work plays a big role in reducing health and social inequalities between people and communities.
We are looking for talented people to join us in making a difference - specialists who understand how to put people’s needs, rights and choices at the heart of delivering social services – and how to lead improvement too. Our 600 staff work with services across the public, voluntary and private sectors. We have offices across Scotland and many of our staff work from home.
About you
Whether early or established in your career, you will share our determination that care, social work and justice services should work well for people – every time. You’ll be confident about what good-quality care looks like and how to deliver it. You’ll be good at analysing information and evidence. You will have excellent writing skills for narrative inspection reports that are clear, concise and focused on outcomes. You will be confident in working with a wide range of people and at supporting and advising on improvement.
You’ll currently be working, or have significant experience in, social care, social work, health, children’s services, early learning, child protection, or community learning and development. You will be registered or eligible to register with a professional body like the SSSC, NMC or GTC.
About the role
Our care inspectors work with care services: childminders, nurseries, care homes, care at home, housing support and a host of other specialist services. A specialist in your field, you may have helped lead a service and have a strong track record in delivering quality. You’ll be adept at leading improvement and influencing others. You will work with people experiencing care, and care service providers, managers and staff.
Why join us?
We strive to be a great employer, knowing that competitive salary, leave and pension schemes are only part of that. We pride ourselves on the values we hold, person-centred; fairness; respect; efficiency and integrity - all supported with a culture of care and kindness.
We believe in collective leadership and innovation. You’ll have a lot of autonomy to manage your own work and use the professional skills you’ve honed during your career – but in new ways. Starting on day one, our learning and development support will help you become confident in the craft of scrutiny and in supporting improvement. Because a lot of your role is about sharing effective practice across Scotland, the impact you can have on experiences and outcomes for people is significant. You will draw on management and leadership skills you’ve developed in the past.
We’re proud to be a progressive, supportive employer – we’re happy to talk about flexible working with you and we’re members of the Disability Confident Scheme, aiming to make the most of the talents disabled people can bring to the workplace.
New appointments will normally be placed on the minimum grade for the role; a higher starting salary may be offered in exceptional circumstances only.
ELC expansion
The Scottish Government is committed to expanding the provision of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) from 600 hours to 1140 hours per year by 2020. The expansion of ELC is aimed to support the reduction in the poverty-related attainment gap and improve long term outcomes for children and families.
Due to the ELC expansion programme we are looking for 7 further ELC Inspectors in addition to the “business as usual” Inspector campaign launched recently.
Principles and aims
The priority for the expansion to 1140 hours is to improve children's outcomes and close the poverty-related attainment gap. In addition, the expansion aims to support parents into work, study or training. The Scottish Government's four principles of the ELC expansion are: quality, flexibility, affordability, and accessibility.
The Scottish Government has stated that quality is 'at the heart' of the expansion and that achieving a high-quality ELC experience for children is a key objective.
Use and provision
A 2018 survey found that the main reason why parents use funded ELC is that they consider it beneficial for their child's learning and development. In addition, parents reported using the funded hours to either work, increase the number of hours they work, or look for work.
Funded ELC in Scotland is delivered by a wide range of providers including nurseries, crèches and playgroups, from across the public, private and third sectors. A small number of childminders also deliver funded ELC, but the Scottish Government hopes this number will increase under the expansion to 1140 hours.
Criteria to apply
- We require you to hold a relevant qualification (minimum SCQF Level 9), register with either the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) or any other relevant professional body and undertake PVG checks.
- You must also be prepared to do a Professional Development Award in Scrutiny and Improvement (Social Services) at SCQF level 10 with appropriate support from the organisation.
- You will have a minimum of three years recent and demonstrable management experience in a relevant field. You must also be willing to travel with overnight stays as required.
Before you apply
- Please contact the relevant body directly to resolve any queries you have regarding registration or eligible qualifications for registration (SSSC, NMC and so on) before submitting your application.
- For an informal chat about the job role, please contact (Who?) You or Kim Connolly, Team Manager on 07766133161
- For all other queries, please contact Human Resources at recruitment@careinspectorate.gov.scot
To apply
- If you are interested, please see the minimum criteria to apply as an Inspector and the specific guidance and directions to apply. Thereafter, click on the gateway questions link to apply.
- Your completed application form (campaign number C39 only forms) and equal opportunities form should be returned to recruitment@careinspectorate.gov.scotno later than Monday, 14 October 2019 at 8.00am.
- We anticipate that selection days will take place in the week commencing Monday, 18 November 2019.
