Improvement Support Officer – Quality Improvement Support Team
Job Title: Improvement Support Officer – Quality Improvement Support Team
Salary: £30,495 - £31,740
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: Flexible (Any Care Inspectorate office)
Contract: Temporary to 17 March 2026
About us
We are the independent scrutiny and improvement support body for social care and social work services in Scotland. We provide assurance 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 for world-class social care and social work in Scotland, where everyone in every community experience high-quality care, support, and learning, tailored to their rights, needs, and wishes.
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, which enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. We are moving towards the expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week.
About the role
To backfill a secondment, we are looking for an Improvement Support Officer to join the Quality Improvement Support Team (QIST).
The QIST team provides specialist quality improvement knowledge and skills to the social care workforce, provider groups and Care Inspectorate colleagues. We support, educate, and enable others to improve how they help people who experience care in Scotland. Working collaboratively is key to how we work, whether that work is universal, targeted or specialist.
Our wide-ranging experience of quality improvement helps us to have meaningful conversations with all partners. Using the Model for Improvement, including PDSA cycles, we enable services to develop, implement and reflect on their change projects.
We work collaboratively with our Scrutiny and Assurance colleagues to ensure that improvements are made alongside existing inspection frameworks and services’ own self-evaluation processes.
This role requires a high level of engagement with the Health and Social Care Improvement team and other associated improvement projects, our inspectors, service providers, external partners as well as stakeholders from across the organisation.
The purpose of the role is to provide effective high-quality projects and business support to the QIST team. The role supports the implementation of improvement approaches to support the Care Inspectorate’s improvement strategy, which is aligned to the Corporate Plan. Also, to support the delivery and implementation of QIST improvement work, ensuring the needs of all customers are met in a consistent, efficient, and effective manner.
About you
The successful candidate will be educated to SCQF level 5 (for example, credit standard grade, national 5, skills for work national 5, national certificate, national progression award, modern apprenticeship or SVQ) or have relevant skills and experience in administration or business support. The ideal candidate will have a suitable qualification in administration and business studies at SCQF level 6 or greater.
You’ll be an excellent communicator, highly organised and able to plan and manage your time and work streams efficiently and effectively. In addition, you’ll understand that priorities and deadlines can change quickly, and you’ll respond flexibly and effectively. You’ll be confident in using your own initiative and keen to support the QIST team to continually improve. Your attention to detail is meticulous and you’ll have a clear commitment to maintaining high standards.
The preferred candidate will be a great team worker and nurture good working relationships. Excellent word processing and IT skills with experience of Microsoft applications are needed as well as diary management and minute taking.
This post will give the opportunity for the post holder to learn more about quality improvement methodology and support the wider quality improvement activities of the team, such as improvement workshops, webinars, and projects. There will also be the opportunity to undertake a quality improvement qualification appropriate to the role.
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: Louise Kelly Senior Improvement Adviser on 078 258 42156 or 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 application form and return it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 08.00 on Monday 24 June 2024. Potential candidates must also fill in this equal opportunities monitoring survey.
The selection for this post will include an interview and a skills exercise. It will be held online using Teams on Thursday 11 July 2024.
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Person specification
Job title: Improvement Support Officer – Quality Improvement Support Team (QIST)
Attributes
Experience
Essential
• Experience of providing high quality business and customer support.
• Experience of servicing meetings, including scheduling and minute taking.
• Experience of working autonomously.
• Co-ordinating and supporting multiple projects.
Desirable
ICT technical support/ organising and facilitating webinars.
Education, training and qualifications
Essential
The successful candidate will be educated to SCQF level 5 (for example, credit standard grade, national 5, skills for work national 5, national certificate, national progression award, modern apprenticeship or SVQ) or have relevant skills and experience in administration or business support.
Desirable
Qualifications or skills and experience at SCQF 6 in administration or business studies.
Skills and knowledge
Essential
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Good working knowledge of IT packages, including spreadsheets, Microsoft Applications, and database input.
• Experience of developing processes and procedures. § Ability to manage conflicting priorities and work to tight deadlines/plan and prioritise workloads.
• Ability to translate plans into action.
Key Performance Outcomes
Effective communication
Essential
• Ability to prepare reports and other written communication to a high standard.
• 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.
Desirable
Experience communicating/ liaising with senior members of the organisation.
Objective decision making
Essential
• Demonstrates analytical and systematic approach to problem solving.
• Considers Care Inspectorate values in relation to the impact of their decisions.
• Considers the wider context in which the Care Inspectorate operates.
• Understands the limits of their knowledge and experience and when decisions need to be referred to others.
Desirable
Ability to express and present complex information.
Planning and organisation
Essential
• Ability to react to changing priorities and to prioritise conflicting demands.
• Ability to plan workload effectively in the short, medium, and long term in conjunction with their line manager and work to strict deadlines.
• Demonstrates attention to detail for both numerate and literate work.
• Ability to show initiative and work without close supervision.
Flexibility
Essential
• Encourages a flexible, positive approach to work in their team.
• Applies rules and procedures sensibly and understands where flexibility is required.
Improvement focus
Essential
• Contributes to the development of operational processes and systems.
• Ability to use knowledge and experience to gather and consolidate information to make appropriate improvements.
• Demonstrate initiative, drive and determination to complete tasks and achieve objectives.
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.
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Communications Co-ordinator (Safe staffing programme)
Job title: Communications Co-ordinator (Safe staffing programme)
Salary: £38,553 to £42,597
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: Flexible - Any Care Inspectorate office
Contract: Temporary until 31 March 2025
About us
We are the independent scrutiny and improvement support body for social care and social work services in Scotland. We provide assurance 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 for world-class social care and social work in Scotland, where everyone in every community experiences high-quality care, support and learning, tailored to their rights, needs and wishes.
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. We are moving towards an expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week.
About the role
We are offering an excellent temporary opportunity for an energetic and creative communications coordinator to join our communications team at the Care Inspectorate. You will be a key member of our team, providing a wide range of skills, experience, knowledge, and advice to support communications activity around the safe staffing programme, and for other projects as required.
In April 2024 the new Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 came into force. The Safe Staffing Programme team are working in collaboration with stakeholders to support care services in Scotland to have the right people, in the right place, with the right skills at the right time working to ensure people experience the best health and care outcomes. The Communications Coordinator will work with the team to promote its work and engage with the sector on this important area of legislation.
About you
You will be educated to degree level or equivalent, you will have a successful record of accomplishment in communications with extensive experience of delivering a wide range of creative solutions across the broad spectrum of communication channels.
You will be highly motivated and enthusiastic with excellent interpersonal skills along with the ability to react to changing priorities and conflicting demands while building effective working relationships.
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 Vanessa O'Loughlin (Communications Manager) at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please include a contact telephone number and times that would be best to reach you in your email.
If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please download and complete an application form and an equal opportunities form and submit by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 08:00 on Monday 17 June 2024
*Please note that if we receive a sufficient number of applications, the advert may close earlier on Monday 10 June 2024.
Assessment and Interviews are expected to be in person at our Dundee Headquarters office, Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, date to be confirmed.
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Job profile
Job title: Improvement Support Officer – Quality Improvement Support Team (QIST)
Responsible to: Senior Improvement Advisor – Quality Improvement Support Team (QIST)
Principal working contacts
• Quality Improvement Manager – QIST
• Quality Improvement Support Team / improvement programmes and leads
• Improvement support officer / assistants
• Health and Social Care Improvement Team
• AHP Consultant / Chief Nurse
• Equalities and Involvement Team manager and team
• Care Inspectorate scrutiny teams / senior colleagues
• Intelligence Team / Communication Team / policy analysts
• External partners and agencies
Job purpose
• To provide effective high quality project and business support to the Quality Improvement Support Team
• To support the implementation of the quality improvement and involvement strategy and Improvement and participation yearly Plan, aligned to the Corporate Plan, which is delivery focused, ensuring the needs of all users are met in a consistent, efficient and effective manner.
Key responsibilities
• Organise and plan work appropriately to ensure the provision of efficient business and project support to the Quality Improvement Support Team which supports the implementation of the Quality Improvement and Involvement Strategy and the delivery and implementation of their Quality Improvement work.
• Maintain appropriate systems for supporting the Quality Improvement Support Team’s work and activity.
• Undertake specialist activities, in accordance with procedures or instructions, to support the Quality Improvement Support Team.
• Prepare agenda and paperwork for meetings as required.
• Organise, attend and participate in quality improvement workshops, events and meetings as required to take attendance, evaluations, notes, actions from meetings, prepare minutes/feedback and distribute.
• Arrange local / national improvement visits / workshops / webinars and other visit arrangements, liaising with service providers and other external agencies to agree arrangements.
• Update computerised information systems, extracting and collating information from manual files and other records as required.
• Distribute information within the Care Inspectorate to the Quality Improvement Support Team, Scrutiny & Assurance colleagues and external agencies as required.
• Obtain information from the team and/or other external agencies as required.
• Act as the initial point of contact for the team, including assessing priorities, managing time, diaries, arranging meetings, managing enquiries and requests as necessary.
• Organise and communicate project timelines appropriately to ensure the smooth running of quality improvement workshops / team projects, other activities.
• Provide and maintain high quality statistical information and data analysis from workshops, projects and other records as required together with distribution of information to the team.
• Update the Quality Improvement Support Teams’ Hub and intranet pages.
• Promote the team’s work using social media and the intranet.
People management
• 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
• Establish and maintain good working relationships the Quality Improvement Support Team and all internal and external stakeholders associated with the team to ensure effective and efficient business and project support.
• Establish good working relationships with service providers and other external agencies and promote the role and function of the Quality Improvement Support Team.
• Promote the principles of partnership working throughout the organisation and embrace this as the agreed way of working.
• Ensure effective communication of the Care Inspectorate's work with people who use care services, carers, relatives and advocates.
• 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 some travel and may involve 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.
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Person specification
Job title: Communications Co-ordinator
Attributes
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrates a successful record of accomplishment within a relevant role.
Education, qualifications and training
Essential
- Qualifications or skills and experience at SCQF Level 9 or above.
Desirable
- Membership of a relevant professional body such as Chartered Institute of Public relations or Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Skills and knowledge
Essential
- Excellent communication skills.
- Excellent literacy skills.
- Consistently delivers creative solutions.
- Manages conflicting priorities and works to tight deadlines.
- Flexible and responsive, reacting positively to rapidly changing priorities and demands.
- Works on own initiative and prioritises workload.
- Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office software.
- Excellent understanding of social media in an organisational setting.
- Up-to-date knowledge, understanding and experience of the range of today’s communications disciplines and channels.
- Understands how to monitor, measure and demonstrate success through analytics and appropriate performance measures.
Desirable
- Experience using Joomla, Wordpress, Umbraco and other content management software. Knowledge of the social care sector.
Key performance outcomes
Effective communication
Essential
- Expresses ideas clearly and concisely and to adapt communication to suit different audiences.
- Produces written and verbal communication which is clear and concise.
- Listens actively to people, questions and checks understanding.
- Develops and maintains positive working relationships at all levels.
Desirable
- Plain English training or qualification.
- Copywriting or proofing training or qualification.
Objective decision making
Essential
- Understands the limits of their knowledge and experience and when to refer decisions to others.
- Acts consistently with the Care Inspectorate values to achieve the desired outcomes.
- Keeps aims and objectives consistently at the heart of decision making.
Planning and organisation
Essential
- Plans workload effectively in the short, medium and long term in conjunction with their line manager and work to strict deadlines.
- Demonstrates attention to detail in all areas.
- Shows initiative and proactively works without close supervision.
Team working
Essential
- 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.
- Cooperates with and supports others.
Personal accountability and responsibility
Essential
- Takes responsibility for actions.
- Maintains a high standard of work and actively looks for opportunities to improve their work.
- Demonstrates initiative within own areas of expertise.
- Ambitious and positive in quality assuring their work.
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.
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