Job profile
Job title: Organisation and Workforce Development (OWD) Assistant
Location: Flexible
Responsible to: OWD Advisor (People and Development)
Principle working contacts
- OWD Team
- Head of OWD
- HR colleagues
- Managers and employees of the Care Inspectorate
Job purpose
The main purpose of the role will be to support the OWD Team to commission and coordinate learning and development activity and deliver key OWD projects ensuring that the culture of the Care Inspectorate is equipped to support and improve the overall performance of the organisation.
Key responsibilities
Operational management
- Contribute to the implementation of the Strategic Workforce Plan which supports the Care Inspectorate’s corporate plan, and the development of a healthy, high performance learning culture grounded in core values.
- Commission, plan and co-ordinate learning and development and induction activities
- Provide support in relation to OWD practices, including the provision of advice, guidance and support through an internal consultancy approach.
- Plan, schedule, co-ordinate and compile evaluation reports for all learning and development activities.
- Ensure procurement, financial and other internal governance processes are completed for learning and development activities.
- Contribute to and support the planning and delivery of key OWD projects.
- Lead on the maintenance of the learning management system (LMS) to support learning and development and performance management activities, evaluation and performance monitoring.
- Manage the OWD mailbox and provide advice, guidance and support to Care Inspectorate staff to resolve general enquiries to the team.
- Produce management information reports for learning and development within the Care Inspectorate.
- Develop and maintain positive working relationships with Managers, employees, representatives of external agencies and the general public as appropriate.
- 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
Other duties
This job may require extensive travel and involve overnight stays. 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.
The post holder will be expected to work autonomously in the main but also within a group, with agreed priorities and objectives. Objectives for this post will be agreed jointly with the relevant line manager and director and will be reviewed on a regular basis.
Person specification
Job title: Organisational and Workforce Development (OWD) Assistant
Attributes
Experience
Essential:
- Ability to plan and schedule events and activities.
- Ability to work to deadlines.
- Ability to prioritise workloads.
- Experience of working as part of a team
Desirable:
- Experience of working in an OD/ HR/ L&D function.
- Events planning and co-ordination experience
Education, qualifications and training
Essential:
- Qualifications or skills and experience at SCQF Level 4/Level 5 (i.e. Standard Grades or National Qualifications).
- Commitment to own CPD.
Desirable:
- Qualifications or skills and experience at SCQF Level 9 (i.e. Degree in relevant subject).
- CIPD qualified or working towards.
Skills and knowledge
Essential:
- Excellent organisational and planning skills
- Ability to manage conflicting priorities and work to tight deadlines/prioritise workloads
- Strong IT skills, with good working knowledge of all Microsoft Office packages
- Strong communicator, both verbally and in written form.
Desirable:
- Experience of using Cornerstone learning management system or other learning management systems
- Working knowledge and understanding of OD/HR practices and key policies and procedures.
Key performance outcome
Effective communication
Essential:
- Demonstrate clear and concise verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to select appropriate communication style and methods depending on the needs and abilities of the audience.
- Listens actively and questions to check understanding.
Team working
Essential:
- Ability to contribute to and support the work and decisions of the team.
- Ability to work co-operatively and supportively with others.
- Values and makes use of skills, knowledge and experience of others.
Improvement focus
Essential:
- Contributes to the development of new ideas, policies and procedures where appropriate.
- Aware of trends and changes in processes and procedures and keeps own knowledge and skills up to date.
- Seeks opportunities for learning and personal development.
Personal accountability and responsibility
Essential:
- Maintains a high standard of work, ensuring attention to detail, actively seeking out continuous improvement.
- Demonstrates initiative within own area of expertise.
- Takes responsibility for own actions and decisions.
Working in partnership
Essential:
- Openly shares information as and when appropriate, maintaining confidentiality as appropriate.
- Respects others, recognises and values differences and diversity.
- Keeps others information of progress of work plan, targets, etc.
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.
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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.no 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.