Person specification

Job Title: Information Governance Lead

Attributes

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrate a successful track record within a similar role.
• Experience of developing, implementing and maintaining information governance tools and standards, for example, business and security classifications, metadata schemes, life-cycle retention schedules and information asset registers
• Experience of writing policies, procedures and guidance
• Experience of working with and influencing stakeholders and partners
• Experience of undertaking information and process surveys, current state assessments and compliance audits
• Developing and/or delivering training programmes
• Experience of designing, developing and maintaining information management systems
• Line management experience
• Experience of working with the ICO and other regulatory bodies

Desirable

• Experience of working within the social care sector
• Experience of working with IT and business colleagues to integrate IG into technology platforms and business systems

Education, qualifications and training

Essential

Educated to degree level unless has proven experience in senior information governance role in a similar public body

Desirable

• Graduate or post graduate degree, or other qualification in IG-related discipline e.g. Records Management, Data Protection, Freedom of
• Information, Information Security and Assurance
• Legal qualification

Skills and knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge and understanding of the relevant legislation in the context within which the Care Inspectorate works e.g. UK GDPR, DPA 2018
• The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Public services reform (Scotland) Act 2010, Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 and associated legislation.
• Knowledge and understanding of the importance of confidentiality and information governance and security principles
• Ability to interpret and present information governance concepts and terminology legal information in lay terms
• Excellent all-round IT skills, including familiarity with the Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Explorer) and Adobe Writer.
• Proven analytical and problem solving skills

Desirable

Good working knowledge of project planning and process tools such as MS Project, Visio, and data analysis and productivity tools such as DROID and TreeSize

Key performance indicators

Key performance outcomes

Effective commmunication

Essential

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to explain specialist/complex issues to non-specialist staff at a variety of levels and to draft clear and concise written reports.
• The ability to foster good working relationships with a range of colleagues, providing expert or professional advice, both internally and externally.
• 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.
• Possesses and displays self-confidence, enthusiasm, motivation, tact and diplomacy when communicating both inside the organisation and externally.
• Focus on representing the work area or function with the main emphasis on advising, guiding, and persuasion; to be instrumental in resolving tensions and difficulties.
• Senior representative in their area of expertise with external contacts.

Planning and organising

Essential

• 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.
• Ability to multi-task, deal with work within tight/conflicting deadlines and prioritise work appropriately.
• Excellent planning and project management skills and ability to deliver work to specified timescales.
• Responsible for a discrete area of the Care Inspectorate’s work, policy, functional or operational area of activity and for managing projects and associated resources.
• People management responsibilities in terms of planning, leading, organising and controlling the work of others.
• Plan, having an impact across the organisation or affecting the sector, externally.

Flexibility

Essential

• Demonstrates a flexible, positive approach to work and in all duties performed.
• Listens to feedback and ideas from people and will take appropriate and considered action.
• Adapts well to change, adjusting priorities as required.
• Understands where a flexible approach is required.
• Adopting creative approaches and flexibility in the use of judgement which will be influenced by a number of variables requiring significant levels of discretion.

Team working

Essential

• Remains tolerant and fair towards others, values diversity and is nondiscriminatory in their actions.
• Values and makes use of the skills, knowledge and experience of others.
• Works co-operatively and supportively with others.
• Will develop ideas and contribute directly to parts of the Corporate Plan, having an impact across the organisation or affecting the sector, externally.

Personal accountability and responsibility

Essential

• Ability to work on own initiative and exercise own judgment with discretion.
• Takes responsibility for decisions and actions taken keeping line management informed of developments or issues as they arise.
• Maintains a high standard of work and actively seeks out continuous improvement.
• Demonstrates initiative within own area of expertise with limited line management experience.
• Takes responsibility for identifying and addressing areas of personal and professional development.
• To work independently on particular aspects of projects, reporting progress and liaising as necessary.
• Provide information which typically influence decision makers and will take the lead on organisation wide projects reporting directly to a member of the ET.

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: Transactions Assistant

Attributes

Experience

Essential

• Previous administrative experience.
• Operating within a busy environment.
• Experience of communicating with the general public by telephone, letter and email.
• Experience of working effectively to meet deadlines and achieve objectives.
• Experience of managing and prioritising own workload.

Desirable

• Experience of working with finance software.
• Experience of working with internal and external contacts at all levels.
• Demonstrate a successful track record within a similar role.
• Advanced knowledge of all Microsoft Office applications.

Education, qualifications and training

Essential

• Educated to Standard Grade level or equivalent (SCQF level 4/5).

Skills and knowledge

Essential

• Thorough knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Word.
• Understanding of financial controls and financial environment.
• Use of office systems and procedures.
• Concise and clear oral and written skills.
• Excellent customer services skills.
• Demonstrate an appreciation of the importance of attention to detail.
• Effective organisational skills and time management, able to meet deadlines.
• Effective administrative skills.
• Excellent numeracy and communication skills.
• Prioritise own workload under broad guidance.

Desirable

• Ability to understand the limits of their knowledge and experience and when decisions need to be referred to others.
• Database administration.
• Advanced knowledge of all Microsoft Office applications.

Key performance outcomes 

Effective communication

Essential

• Portrays a positive image of the Care Inspectorate/SSSC 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 organisation

Essential

• 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

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.
• Understands where a flexible approach is required.

Team working

Essential

• 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

Essential

• 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. Successful applicants will be assessed against all the performance indicators used in the Performance Development Review System once established in the role.

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.

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.

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.