Job profile
Job title: Finance Officer
Responsible to: Accountant
Principal working contacts
- Head of Finance and Corporate Governance
- Finance & Procurement Manager
- Senior Accountant
- Accountant
- Budget holders
- Transactions Manager
- Procurement Officer
- Care Inspectorate finance staff
- External stakeholders
Job purpose
Support the Accountant, Senior Accountant and the Finance and Procurement Manager to deliver a comprehensive finance service to the Care Inspectorate in line with Care Inspectorate policies and procedures.
Key responsibilities
Accounting and other tasks
- Help prepare the annual Care Inspectorate budget.
- Support budget holders with the management of their budgets by holding monthly monitoring meetings, providing budget monitoring information, variance analysis, financial advice, costing information and guidance in line with financial regulations and other financial processes to make sure the operational requirements of the Care Inspectorate are met.
- Provide financial training to budget holders and support staff to make sure they comply with financial processes and procedures.
- Perform monthly reconciliations for suspense accounts, control accounts, bank accounts and monthly fees, investigating and reporting discrepancies as required.
- Prepare and post journals into Oracle Cloud.
- Help produce the Care Inspectorate’s statutory annual accounts and notes, supported by comprehensive working papers and in accordance with the approved timetable, and liaising with auditors providing information and evidence as required.
- Liaise with internal and external audit as required.
- Develop and update procedures for tasks carried out in the role.
- Participate in compliance and best value reviews.
- Assist in the development of new financial and other initiatives from a financial viewpoint.
- Gather financial information for Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, sustainability reporting, Scottish Government returns, VAT returns, statistical returns, performance and benchmarking data.
- Participate in supporting achievement of the Care Inspectorate’s sustainability objectives.
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.
- Ensure effective working protocols in accordance with the Care Inspectorate’s Communications, Human Resources, Finance, IT and Operations function.
- Promote the principles of collaborative working throughout the organisation and in all working practices in accordance with the Partnership Agreements with the trade unions.
- 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.
Finance Officer
Job title: Finance Officer
Salary: £31,938 - £35,328
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: Flexible (Any Care Inspectorate office)
Contract: Permanent
About us
We are the national regulator and scrutiny body responsible for providing assurance and protection for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is that people across Scotland experience high quality care that meets their needs, rights and choices.
We are a scrutiny body that supports improvement. We inspect individual care services and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas.
Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. Our hybrid working policy gives you the flexibility to mix working from home with attendance at your base office and other work locations, spending no more than 60% of your working time working from home, measured over a 4-week period.
About the role
We are looking to recruit to the role of Finance Officer within our Accounting and Budgeting Team.
Working in a busy team you will:
- help prepare the annual Care Inspectorate budget
- perform monthly reconciliations for suspense, control accounts, bank accounts and monthly fees
- support budget holders with the management of their budgets
- help train and develop finance and non-finance staff
- help produce our statutory annual accounts
- prepare information for financial or statistical returns
About you
You will have a thorough knowledge of integrated financial accounting systems and an understanding of financial controls and financial environment. You will have good judgement and decision-making skills. In addition, you must have excellent IT skills, be able to work to tight deadlines in an organised manner and be able to work effectively as part of a team.
You should hold a finance related qualification (eg HNC, AAT), although candidates with significant relevant experience may be considered.
The successful candidate will be expected to travel to HQ Dundee and on occasion to other offices in Scotland as required.
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.
If you would like more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Dawn Johnston at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
If you believe that your skills, experience and motivation make you a suitable candidate for this post, please complete an online application form by 08:00 on Monday 11 November 2024.
It is anticipated that interviews will be held week commencing 2 December 2024.
Health and Safety Officer
Job title: Health and Safety Officer
Salary: £30,495 – £31,740
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: Flexible (Any Care Inspectorate office)
Contract: Permanent
About the role
We’re looking for a dedicated Health and Safety Officer to join our team and make a real difference. In this key role, you’ll work closely with the Estates and Health and Safety Manager to drive safety excellence across the organisation, ensuring a safe and well-maintained workplace for all employees.
The successful candidate will assist in the provision of professional advice and guidance to employees on managing Health and Safety and discharging their responsibilities to ensure safe working environment and practice. In addition, deliver an excellent estate maintenance service to our internal and external customers.
About you
We are seeking a skilled Health & Safety Officer to join our team. The ideal candidate will bring considerable experience in a similar role, alongside a NEBOSH Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health (or a willingness to undertake this qualification).
- Proven experience in a similar role
- Ability to manage and track compliance with Health & Safety regulation
- Strong organisational skills, with attention to detail
- A proactive approach to problem-solving and incident management
- Maintain accurate maintenance records and statutory Health & Safety documentation
- Raise purchase orders and process receipts when goods/services are received
- Conduct DSE assessments, risk assessments, and assist with initial incident investigations.
- Full UK driving licence with fewer than six penalty points.
Where previous applicants have further skills, experiences and qualifications to enhance their application please consider re-applying.
Starting salary
Please bear in mind that new entrants start on the minimum grade for the role.
However, we have a great benefits package; including flexible working, defined benefit pension scheme (CARE) on a career average basis, family focused policies and a generous annual leave package; starting at 32 days (rising to 37 after five years of service) plus 6 public holidays, to see the many more other benefits Care Inspectorate offer please see our website.
About us
We are a unique Estates, Health and Safety team who provides shared services to the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) at the Compass and Quadrant Houses, Dundee.
We are the national regulator and scrutiny body responsible for providing assurance and protection for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is that people across Scotland experience high quality care that meets their needs, rights and choices.
We are a scrutiny body that supports improvement. We inspect individual care services and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas.
Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. Our hybrid working policy gives you the flexibility to mix working from home with attendance at your base office and other work locations, spending no more than 60% of your working time working from home, measured over a 4-week period.
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.
If you would like more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Recruitment team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
If you believe that your skills, experience and motivation make you a suitable candidate for this post, please complete the online application form by 08:00 on Monday 13 January 2025.
It is anticipated that interviews will be held on Wednesday 29 January at our Dundee office.
Person specification
Job title: Health and Safety Officer
Attributes
Experience
Essential
- Considerable experience in a similar role.
- Experience of maintaining statutory H&S information, preparing performance information and case management.
- Delivery of a high standard of customer support.
- Communication with all stakeholders including Executive Team, Partnership Forum representatives and staff.
- Completion of DSE Assessments, risk assessments and initial incident investigation.
Education, qualifications and training
Essential
- NEBOSH Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health or be willing to undertake this.
- Full UK driving license with less than six penalty points.
Desirable
- IOSH membership.
- Fire Door Visual Inspector.
Skills and knowledge
Essential
- Excellent working knowledge of all MS Office 365 applications.
- You will have good communication skills with an excellent attitude towards delivering a high standard of customer support to our internal and external customers.
- A general knowledge of health, safety and fire regulations and requirements, as well as data protection.
- Ability to manage conflicting priorities and work to tight deadlines.
- Aptitude for developing effective solutions to health and safety issues.
Desirable
- Working knowledge of MS Teams, Sharepoint
- Experience of MS Forms, Power Automate, Power BI, providing H&S training to others.
Key Performance Outcomes
Effective communication
Essential
- Ability to select appropriate communication, style and methods depending on the needs and abilities of the audience.
- Demonstrate clear and concise verbal and written communication skills.
- Listens actively and questions to check understanding.
Partnership working
Essential
- Respect others, recognise and value difference and diversity and be aware of the impact of your views on others.
- Ability to quickly build rapport and collaborative working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Objective decision-making
Essential
- Demonstrates analytical and systematic approach to problem solving.
- Understands the limits of their knowledge and experience and when decisions need to be referred to others.
- Ability to act consistently with Care Inspectorate values to achieve the desired outcomes.
Planning and organising
Essential
- Ability to plan workload effectively in the short, medium and long term in conjunction with others.
- Ability to forward think and be innovative in developing solutions.
- Ability to prioritise effectively and achieve deadlines in a changing environment.
- Demonstrates initiative, drive, and determination to complete tasks and achieve objectives.
Team working
Essential
- Works collaboratively with a wide range of teams across the Care Inspectorate and SSSC.
- Demonstrates personal commitment when working with colleagues.
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.
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.
Job profile
Job Title: Health and Safety Officer
Responsible to: Estates, Health and Safety Manager
Principal Working Contacts
Head of Finance and Corporate Governance
Estates, Health and Safety Manager
Estates, Health and Safety Assistant
IT Team
Job Purpose
You will be responsible for providing support and assistance to the Estates, Health and Safety Manager in the delivery of the health and safety function; including advising managers and employees on health and safety issues, training, health and safety reporting information and the development of new health and safety policies, guidance, procedures and risk assessments. This role will provide shared services to the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) based in Dundee.
Key Accountabilities
Operational Management
Health and Safety
• Promote a positive health and safety culture within the organisation through communication and engagement initiatives.
• To assist in the development, delivery and implementation of the health and safety management system.
• To provide professional advice and guidance to employees on managing Health and Safety and discharging their responsibilities to ensure safe working environment and practice.
• To advise on specialist areas such as stress, lone working and fire precautions.
• To carry out health and safety audits, inspections and risk assessments as directed by the Estates, Health and Safety Manager.
• The review of all risk assessments to check they are completed and to therequired standard and meet regulatory requirements.
• To maintain systems and procedures for recording and analysing all health and safety management information including incident statistics, KPIs, RIDDOR reporting.
• To notify to the Health and Safety Executive if required.
• To ensure that all reported incidents and near misses are recorded, assist in their investigation and record the lessons learned.
• To maintain a record of staff health and safety training and ensure the CI is compliant with the provision of first aiders, fire wardens etc.
• Assist in the implementation of emergency response plans and conduct regular drills in Compass / Quadrant House.
• Organise and deliver health and safety training programs to employees' core safety subjects, risk assessment, display screen equipment, office safety and fire safety and specialist health and safety areas.
• To assist in the provision of Health and Safety progress reports to the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee, the Strategic Management Group and the Finance and Resources Committee.
• Completion of DSE assessments both in person and on Teams, recording ofthe results and the selection / purchase of reasonable adjustment equipment.
• To assist in the preparation of the Annual Health and Safety Report.
• To work with the HR operational team in relation to linked subjects – for example, sickness absence, DSE assessments, OH referrals.
• To update the Estates, Health and Safety Manager on progress of all tasks within your area of responsibility.
Estates
• The team also provides the Estates function to the Care Inspectorate so it is expected that there will be some overlap in responsibilities and that the postholder will provide cover for the Estates, Health and Safety Manager and the Estates, Health and Safety Assistant when required.
• Assistance with the management of office moves and relocations as instructed by the Estates, Health and Safety Manager.
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 organisation.
• 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
• Develop partnerships with appropriate staff, internal and external to the Care Inspectorate to ensure a comprehensive and integrated health and safety management service.
• 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 may require travel and some overnight stays and unsocial hours.
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.
Person specification
Job title: Executive Personal Assistant (PA)
Attributes
Experience
Essential:
- Extensivesecretarial/business support
- Experience of interpreting the business conducted at meetings and producing accurateminutestoreflectdiscussionand
- Experienceofproviding secretarial/business support at senior management level.
- Experienceofpreparingbasicreportsfor submission to senior members of staff.
Desirable:
- Ability to develop and produce correspondence and emails on behalf of senior executives.
Education, qualifications and training
Essential:
- Educated to Standard Grade level or equivalent.
Desirable:
- Hold a relevant qualification in administration, and/or secretarial studies e.g. HNC/D or equivalent.
Skills and knowledge
Essential:
- Excellent communication and negotiation
- Excellent organisational, planning and decision making skills.
- Ability to manage conflicting priorities and work to tight deadlines/plan and prioritise workloads.
- Experience of developing processes and procedures.
- Good working knowledge of IT packages including Microsoft Applications and database input.
- Ability to translate plans into action.
Key performance outcomes
Effective communication
Essential:
- Ability to prepare written communication to a high
- Ability to express ideas clearly and concisely and to adapt communication to suit different audiences.
- Ability to form constructive working relationships with people at all levels in the organisation.
- Regularly communicates with and ensures they are accessible to colleagues and key contacts.
- Ability to communicate decisions to colleagues and key contacts.
Objective decision making
Essential:
- Demonstrates ananalytical and systematic approach to problem solving.
- Encourages and supports decisions of colleagues and key contacts.
- Considers Care Inspectorate values in relation to the impact of their decisions.
- Considers the wider context in which the Care Inspectorate operates.
Desirable:
- Ability to expressand present complex information.
Planning and organising
Essential:
- Ability to react to changing priorities and manage conflicting demands.
- Ability to forward plan and prevent any operational difficulties.
- 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.
- Follows directions and procedures.
Flexibility
Essential:
- 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.
- Ability to apply skills flexibly as required.
Personal accountability and responsibility
Essential:
- Contributes to the development of operational processes and systems.
- Demonstrate initiative, drive and determination to complete tasks and achieve objectives.
- Improve the development and quality of services.
- 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.
Job profile
Job title: Executive Personal Assistant (PA)
Responsible to: Executive and Committee Support Manager
Principle working contacts
- Chair and Board members
- Chief Executive
- Executive Directors
- Strategic Management Group
- Executive and Committee Support Manager
- Executive PA to the Chief Executive and PAs to Executive Directors
- Scottish Government and other external bodies and partners
Job purpose
- To provide high quality confidential PA support to the Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Services and the Chair of the Care Inspectorate Board
Key accountabilities
- Organise, plan and delegate work appropriately to ensure the provision of efficient and highly confidential PA support to the Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Services and the Chair.
- Check and prioritise all email correspondence and meeting invitations on behalf of the Executive Director and the Chair.
- Develop and administer a system for dealing with enquiries on behalf of the Executive Director and the Chair, including composing responses to routine correspondence.
- Maintain appropriate ways of working for supporting the Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Services, the Chair and Board members.
- Manage and co-ordinate the Executive Director’s and Chair’s diaries, making appointments and arranging meetings, events, booking venues, organising catering and hospitality for visitors as necessary.
- Make travel and accommodation arrangements for the Executive Director and the Chair.
- Prepare agendas and collate, check and distribute paperwork for meetings as required.
- Make seminar/conference and other visit arrangements.
- Maintain and ensure that all types of filing systems, registers and records are up to date, including review and updating of the Board’s Register of Interests.
- Attend meetings as required at our head office and at various locations across Scotland, in order to take notes/minutes and prepare action records.
- Assist the Executive and Committee Support Manager in administrative tasks related to Board and Committee meetings.
- Establish good working relationships in regular communication with other officers of the CareInspectorate, external partners and Scottish Government.
- Assist other members of the Executive and Committee Support team when required.
- Assist in the preparation of PowerPoint presentations/speeches as required.
- Provide PA support cover in the absence of the Executive PA to the Chief Executive.
- 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
- Ensure productive and smooth working arrangements and protocols between staff delivering businesssupport and all other Care Inspectorate employees.
- Develop and maintain constructive and co-operative working relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective and efficient executive support.
- DemonstrateacommitmenttotheCareInspectorate’saims,vision and values and to the Care Inspectorate’s overall objective of improving care in Scotland.
- Ensure effective communication of the Care Inspectorate's work with people who use care services, carers, relatives and advocates.
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.
This job may also require some travel to other offices of the Care Inspectorate.
Executive Personal Assistant
Job title: Executive Personal Assistant (PA)
Salary: £30,495 to £31,740
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: Dundee
Contract: Permanent
About us
We are the national regulator and scrutiny body responsible for providing assurance and protection for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is that people across Scotland experience high quality care that meets their needs, rights and choices.
We are a scrutiny body that supports improvement. We inspect individual care services and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas.
We desire to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. Our hybrid working policy gives you the flexibility to mix working from home with attendance at your base office and other work locations, spending no more than 60% of your working time working from home, measured over a 4-week period.
Starting salary
Please bear in mind that new entrants start on the grade minimum for the role. However, we have a generous benefits package which you will find on our website.
About the role
We have a permanent vacancy for an Executive Personal Assistant working within the Executive and Committee Support Team. This is a critical role that requires exceptional planning and organisational skills, providing PA support to the Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Services, and to the Chair of the Care Inspectorate Board. It requires a high level of confidentiality and sensitivity due to access to senior leaders’ correspondence and their work.
Working in a busy team, and alongside the Executive PA to the Chief Executive, you will be responsible for checking and prioritising the email correspondence and meeting invitations on behalf of the Chair and Executive Director. Your other key responsibilities will be:
- to develop and maintain a system for dealing with enquiries on behalf of the Chair and Executive Director, including composing responses to routine correspondence
- to manage and co-ordinate the Chair’s and Executive Director’s diaries, making appointments and arranging meetings, events, booking venues, organising catering and hospitality for visitors as necessary
- to make travel and accommodation arrangements for the Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Services and the Chair
- to prepare agendas and collate, check and distribute paperwork for meetings as required
- to maintain and ensure that all types of filing systems, registers and records are up to date, including review and updating of the Board’s Register of Interests
- to attend meetings as required at our head office and at various locations across Scotland, in order to take notes/minutes and prepare action records
- to support the Executive and Committee Support Manager in administrative tasks related to Board and Committee meetings
- to establish good working relationships in regular communication with other officers of the Care Inspectorate, external partners and Scottish Government
- to provide PA support cover in the absence of the Executive PA to the Chief Executive.
To succeed in this role, you will have experience of providing PA support to senior management in a fast-paced changing environment. You will be highly organised and able to plan and manage your time and workstreams efficiently and effectively. You understand that priorities and deadlines can change quickly and you respond flexibly.
You will have a proactive approach and be confident in using your own initiative. Your attention to detail is meticulous and you will have a clear commitment to maintaining high standards and working to the Care Inspectorate values.
You are an enthusiastic team player and are able to build and maintain good working relationships. You will have excellent IT skills with experience of Microsoft applications. You will also have proven experience of diary management, arranging meetings and other events, along with good writing and minute-taking skills.
Next steps
If you believe that your expertise, skills and motivation make you suitable for this post, please complete our online application by no later than by 08:00 on Monday 28 October 2024.
Interviews will be held at our Head Office in Dundee on Monday 11 November 2024.
You will find more information in the job profile and person specification.
If you require any further information, or for an informal chat, please contact Fiona McKeand – Executive and Committee Support Manager via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Children’s rights, care experience and corporate parenting plan 2024 - 2027
What is corporate parenting
A corporate parent is an organisation or person who has special responsibilities to care experienced babies, infants, children, and young people.
The Care Inspectorate is a corporate parent.
This means we should understand and respond to your needs as any parent should. We will do as much as we can to make sure you feel in control of your life and able to overcome any barriers you face. We must publish detailed corporate parenting plans and reports, collaborate with other corporate parents, follow direction, and provide relevant information to Scottish Ministers.
Care experience
The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 provide legal definitions for the terms ‘looked-after’ and ‘care-leaver’. Throughout this plan we will use the term ‘care experienced’. This is more inclusive language which many in the care experienced community prefer, as it speaks to the diverse range of experiences and the lifelong impact of care experience. This term includes those looked after at home, or away from home in kinship, foster, residential or secure care.
We made the decision to include:
- those who are adopted
- a lifelong recognition of care experience by removing the age 26 barrier for care experienced individuals being involved in opportunities with the organisation.
Children’s rights
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty that covers all aspects of children’s lives. The United Nations Conventn the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2023 and from 16 July 2024 is now a part of Scottish Law.
As a public body, we play a role to support Scottish Government to promote, uphold and fulfil children’s rights and wellbeing across policy and practice for all children and young people, and in particular people where we have responsibility as a Corporate Parent.
Article 20 of the UNCRC highlights the importance of:
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The Plan 2024 - 2027
This high-level plan will cover the period April 2024 to December 2027. It details our commitments and recognises that all staff at the Care Inspectorate are Corporate Parents. The priority actions and commitments in this plan were consulted on with:
- our young volunteers with care experience
- children’s rights and care experienced group
- national organisations
- care experienced adults.
They also come from the development areas as noted in the 2021 – 2023 Corporate Parenting triennial report.
To achieve everything set in this plan, we will:
Work in partnership
Engage in meaningful participation
Be trauma informed
Be rights-based
Promote young people's right to continuing care and enduring relationships
To help us achieve the commitments in the plan, and meet our responsibilities under section 58 of the act, we will be:
- alert to all matters that affect the wellbeing of our children and young people
- strong when challenging the disadvantages that our children and young people face
- leaders by driving improvements and working with other corporate parents to raise society’s expectations for our children and young people
- responsive in how we assess the needs of our children and young people, or any service or support provided
- active in providing our children and young people with real opportunities within our organisation, so that they grow and develop skills for the future.
Commitment 1: Children’s rights
Promote, uphold, and fulfil children’s rights for all connected by our work, particularly those where we have corporate parenting responsibilities.
We will:
-
Promote an approach that reduces the use, and eliminates the misuse, of restraint and restrictive practice
-
Improve the ways children and young people who are connected by our work, can offer / receive feedback and access independent advocacy
-
Use accessible and inclusive communication with all infants, children and young people
Commitment 2: Participation
Strengthen our participation and equalities practice to support care experienced individuals.
We will:
-
Work towards acknowledging care experience as a protected characteristic
-
Work closely with other corporate parents and participate in national groups to share good practice and learning
-
Use the Lundy model of participation to inform how we meaningfully involve individuals.
Commitment 3: Development
Provide flexible and supportive development, volunteering, and employment opportunities for care experienced individuals.
We will:
- Deliver a volunteer development scheme
- Provide accessible, supportive, and tailored development opportunities.
Person specification
Job title: Service Manager Early Learning and Childcare
Attributes
Experience
Essential:
- Experience of managing and delivering scrutiny and assurance activity.
- Experience of managing scrutiny and assurance teams operationally.
- Direct experience of supporting improvement and building capacity through self-evaluation.
- Highly skilled and experienced in the ‘art of inspection’.
- Experience of planning scrutiny and assurance programmes, including those delivered in partnership with others.
- Significant experience in social work/social care in children’s services.
- Experience of stakeholder engagement at both a strategic and operational level, particularly during the inspection process, delivering feedback and dealing with challenges to the inspection processes and findings.
- Experience in quality assurance, self-evaluation, performance management and the recruitment, training, development and support of staff.
- Significant experience operational scrutiny activity and professional regulatory practice within the health and social care, or other relevant sectors.
- Demonstrable evidence of embedding sustainable transformational change.
Desirable:
- Direct experience of developing and applying quality frameworks to support self-evaluation, scrutiny and improvement.
Education, qualifications and training
Essential:
- Educated to Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SQCF) Level 9 or above, for example degree level or equivalent
- Appropriate professional qualification.
- Commitment to own CPD.
Desirable:
- A qualification in quality management/ assurance and improvement such as EFQM and PSIF.
Skills and knowledge
Essential:
- The ability to provide leadership and direction to a diverse, multi-disciplinary team of professional staff.
- Demonstrate significant knowledge and direct first hand experience of inspection/regulation of care in a children’s setting.
- Demonstrate significant skills and knowledge of quality assuring inspection processes and reports.
- Demonstrate commitment to the principles of the Public Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 and the principles of better regulation.
- Be adept at challenging traditional thinking in a positive and constructive way.
- Excellent communicator, both verbally and in written form.
- Politically astute.
- Ability to translate plans into action.
- Excellent negotiation and influencing skills.
- Demonstrate broad knowledge of working with inspection/regulation of care.
- Knowledge of trends and changes within social work and social care with an understanding of Equality and Diversity issues.
- IT literate, using the most effective methods to communicate and manage information.
Desirable:
- Knowledge and understanding of health/social care practice, theory, policy and research.
- Demonstrate understanding of corporate social responsibility, whereby social and environmental concerns are voluntarily integrated to business operations and stakeholder interaction.
- Understanding of, and ability to demonstrate, the management of complex projects.
Key performance outcomes
Leading others
Essential:
- Ability to provide credible and authentic professional leadership, with a clear sense of purpose and direction to effectively lead a key professional function within the Care Inspectorate.
- Ability to effectively deploy staff and other resources to achieve performance objectives.
- Ensure that staff working in inspection in respect of children’s services conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of integrity, probity and openness through the implementation of robust corporate governance.
- Demonstrate ability to provide leadership and strategic management direction for multi disciplinary, professional teams and bring together groups from different disciplines/bodies.
Management of resources
Essential:
- Ability to bring together the overall work of a multi-disciplinary team of staff.
- Ability to manage resources in achievement of the Care Inspectorate’s objectives.
- Ability to bring together the overall work of a team of staff, determining the “tone” for a significant area of the organisation’s work and promoting a corporate vision.
- Ability to manage resources in achievement of the Care Inspectorate’s objectives.
Desirable:
- Ability to drive continuous improvement and manage business planning and performance processes.
Effective communication
Essential:
- Articulate and positive communicator both in verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to engage, influence and lead the development of a wide range of key stakeholder relationships, both internally and externally.
Desirable:
- The ability to build and guide key stakeholder strategies and manage relationships to secure or improve delivery of key programme or service outputs.
Impact and influence
Essential:
- Evidence of building positive relationships, engaging and collaborating effectively with others internally and externally.
- Demonstrate personal resilience, being able to work flexibly under to deliver tangible results.
- Demonstrates ability to influence at all levels.
- Ability to promote, lead and implement strategies and change programmes to improve the development and quality of services.
- Evidence of building positive relationships, engaging and collaborating effectively with others internally and externally.
- Demonstrates personal resilience, being able to work flexibly under pressure with stamina and tenacity to deliver results.
Desirable:
- A proven track record of promoting, leading and implementing strategies and change programmes to improve the development and quality of services
- Ability to take account of wider political and organisational sensitivities to deliver strategic objectives.
Objective decision making
Essential:
- The ability to assist the Chief Inspector Early Learning and Childcare Services to set, in consultation with others, the overall agenda, long term objectives and performance standards for the Directorate.
- Demonstrate analytical and systematic approach to problem solving.
- Ability to make appropriate and realistic judgments, based on relevant, up to date and verifiable information.
- The ability to take responsibility for difficult decisions and to remain resilient against possible criticism.
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.
Download the person specification in PDF format here.
About Us
Inspector - Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) (0)
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.