Associate Director, Digital Learning Infrastructure

Do you have a strong track record of building partnerships and influencing senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries?

Do you thrive in ambiguity, turning emerging opportunities such as AI into clear, ethical and effective action?

Do you combine strategic thinking with a practical focus on delivery, impact and continuous improvement?

Working within the NHS Scotland Academy, Learning and Innovation Directorate, you will help shape a nationally connected approach to learning, workforce development and innovation, supporting partners across health and social care to respond to changing service needs and new ways of working. This role offers the chance to make a visible and lasting contribution to how Scotland develops the skills, capabilities and confidence of its workforce for the future.

Does this sound like you?

What We Love To See

Associate Directors offer a broad range of skills and experience, if you can offer some or all of these, we’d love you to apply:

• Experience of providing strategic leadership in educational technology, digital learning, innovation or transformation within complex health, care, public sector or similarly large-scale environments
• Strong knowledge of emerging technologies, including AI, and the judgement to apply them responsibly, ethically and effectively to support learning, workforce development and service improvement
• A proven ability to build trusted partnerships and influence across national, regional and organisational boundaries
• Experience of developing innovative learning models, workforce capability programmes or new pathways that respond to current and future system need
• The ability to lead through complexity and ambiguity, translating strategic ambition into practical, deliverable and measurable outcomes
• Demonstrate honesty, integrity, care and compassion when dealing with others, utilising tact and persuasion skills when necessary
• Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise own workloads, to meet strict deadlines

Benefits Which Matter

As a valued employee of NHS Scotland, you can enjoy an extensive range of benefits including:

• Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and hybrid working
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Annual incremental salary progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review
• Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday
• NHS discounts and more

Diversity and Inclusion

Developing a successful national service for Scotland means considering the diverse needs, perspectives, and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland. We are focused on hiring the very best talent and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. Our aim to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has a positive recruitment experience—regardless of the outcome.

We welcome applications from all under-represented groups, including racially minoritised people and disabled people. It is not essential to be in an Associate Director role right now—you may be returning from a career break (e.g., maternity, paternity, caring) or coming from another field. Your experiences can bring a fresh perspective to our work.

If you are considering applying and would like to discuss the opportunity, any adjustments or alternative work patterns, please contact Kevin,Kelman@nhs.scot.uk, Director of NHS Scotland Academy, Learning and Innovation.

Next Steps

NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.

All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.

In person OR online interviews including a presentation will take place on a date between the 5th and 10th August 2026. The presentation topic will be sent to candidates selected for interview.

For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.

Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.

Please be advised that if you are successful in being offered the role following the recruitment process, you will be expected to attend the office prior to your start date to complete face-to-face pre-employment checks. If you require any adjustments to support this, please let us know.

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.

As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

For specific types of post, if you do not have the necessary eligibility to work in the UK, it might be possible (though not guaranteed) to secure sponsorship via a UK Skilled Worker/Health & Care Worker Visa. However, this is only possible if the employer is a licenced Sponsor, and if the post does not fall below the current minimum salary threshold or ‘going rate’. Further information on these criteria can be found here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: EoS.ERRS@nhs.scot