Director of Data & Digital at Skills Development Scotland (SDS)

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Dear Applicant,

My sincere thanks to you for taking the time to show interest in this key role of Director of Digital and
Data. I hope that this Position Profile pack provides sufficient detail to inform your decision to apply
and that the following provides insight to how invaluable I consider this role in the context of our
current and future operating environment.

This role is pivotal for our future delivery as a public body focused on working with Government to
re-imagine a learning and skills system which is fit for the future. Making best use of our digital
platforms presents the greatest opportunity to set out much clearer learner pathways through our all
age and stage careers services enabling people to make more informed choices about the
pathways they pursue, the support that is available and the likely outcomes that people can
achieve.

We are committed to continuing to deliver in a challenging time of transformation and change as
part of the public sector reform agenda and through this role we intend to build on the expertise
established in recent years of our digital delivery. In the coming months we will be progressing a
collaborative programme of work with Scottish Government to take forward Government’s early
priorities following publication of the Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape, the Hayward Review
and the Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills. Our digital services
and data management capabilities will be key in transforming the services our customers’ need,
equipping Scotland’s people and businesses with the skills they need to thrive in a changing world.
With high levels of employee engagement, as evidenced in an overall mean point score of 8.1 in
satisfaction with working at SDS, we pride ourselves on investing in the skills and diverse talents of
our people, listening to and acting on their feedback and on the flexible working environment we offer.
We are also proud to be the first public sector organization in Scotland to be awarded “7-star
recognition” from the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) for the way we focus on
performance improvement and managing change. A reform agency at heart we are strong advocates
of transformational change and continuous improvement as we seek to meet the ever-changing needs
of both businesses and people across Scotland.

The successful candidate will take a collaborative approach to leading the transformation and delivery
of our customer-focused digital services and implement an information management strategy that
advances our data capabilities and culture. This will be achieved by enabling our people to re-imagine
our digital capabilities, enhance our organisational effectiveness, and continually improve how we
manage change. Colleagues all across the organisation demonstrate terrific motivation in the way
they feel empowered to put customers at the heart of all we do and in their commitment to own
innovation in service development and delivery.

If you are up for a challenge in the context of the pervasive, perpetual and exponential rate of change
in the world of work, share our values and ambitious vision to enable many more people and
businesses to realise their full potential, then we’d be delighted to talk with you further about joining
us on this journey of reform and transformation.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) is the national skills agency. With more than 1,500
colleagues working in schools, careers centres, partner locations and with businesses across
the country, we are passionate about people and skills.

Our ambition is that skills contribute to a thriving, productive and inclusive Scotland. The
key to Scotland’s future prosperity is to ensure that its people and businesses are inspired
and enabled to develop the right skills for a changing world. SDS collaborates across the
skills ecosystem to make this happen.

We achieve this through intelligence-led delivery of Scotland’s Career Service,
Apprenticeships, national and regional skills planning, supporting Scotland’s employers and
other learning and skills interventions in support of Scottish Government ambitions.
Through the sharing of expertise, intelligence, and extensive partnership working,
particularly with our agency colleagues, we enable the development and delivery of
innovative solutions to Scotland’s skills and labour market challenges.

The work we do is crucial given Scotland’s changing demographics, reduced inward
migration, increased economic inactivity, and entrenched structural inequality, all present
significant challenges to the current and future supply of labour in the economy, with
implications for fiscal sustainability. The inter-play between all these drivers is impacting on
both productivity and the labour market in Scotland.

Against this challenging backdrop, the whole of the Scottish skills system and SDS must act
urgently to ensure it maximises its contribution to generating the change that will lead to
inclusive growth, greater productivity, achieving a just transition to net zero, a more
prosperous and skilled workforce, and a fairer, more equal society.

Our vision is that Scotland has an agile, dynamic, and employer-led skills and careers
ecosystem which enables all people to develop the skills, adaptive resilience, and personal
agency to thrive in a vibrant and inclusive labour market.

This vision is one for Scotland and cannot be achieved by SDS alone. We recommit to
working with Scottish Government, agency colleagues, and partners across the whole of
the skills and careers ecosystem to generate real change and achieve shared outcomes.

SDS is an award-winning equal opportunities and fair work employer. Our values and culture are owned and driven by our colleagues and show our commitment to our customers – the people of Scotland. We prioritise employee engagement, wellbeing and development, making us a great place to work.

If you are interested in working with us in the role, please contact our retained advisor Alistair Shaw at: [email protected]

The recruitment for this position is being managed by our advising consultants, Livingston James

Interested candidates should provide a tailored CV to [email protected]

The recruitment of this position is managed by Livingston James