The Scottish Government
HR Business Partner
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Job Description
Ready to make a real impact? Join us as an HR Business Partner and play a key role in shaping our people strategy, driving performance, and creating an exceptional employee experience.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) was established by the Food (Scotland) Act 2015 as a non-ministerial office and forms part of the Scottish Administration, alongside, but separate from, the Scottish Government. Our primary concern is consumer protection, ensuring that food is safe to eat, that consumers know what they are eating, and that nutrition is improved.
You will proactively advise and support senior leaders, managers, and staff across Food Standards Scotland (FSS) throughout all stages of the employee lifecycle. You will influence and coach stakeholders towards effective people and business solutions while undertaking a range of project work to support organisational priorities.
Our HR team sits within the Corporate Services Division, which supports FSS in delivering its strategy, statutory obligations, and corporate priorities. The team consists of five people: the HR Manager, who leads the team; two HR Business Partners; an HR Co-ordinator; and a Learning and Development Business Partner.
Responsibilities
- Support management teams in applying Scottish Government (SG) HR policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with current legislation and best practice.
- Handle a range of casework, including attendance management, disciplinary, grievance, and performance matters.
- Provide advice and support throughout the recruitment process and ensure local governance processes are followed.
- Undertake a range of project work and activities to support the delivery of the FSS People Strategy and Workforce Plan.
- Ensure systems and processes are effective and identify opportunities to continuously improve service delivery.
- Utilise a range of data to analyse and produce accurate reports and HR metrics, identifying trends and risks to support business decision-making.
- Matrix manage the HR Co-ordinator, building capability and ensuring the delivery of high-quality services and customer support across areas such as casework, recruitment, and project work.
- Represent HR by attending a range of working groups and programme boards, collaborating with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
Qualifications
- Associate level membership of the CIPD or equivalent.
- Proof of qualifications will be checked at the assessment stage.
Success profile
Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of behaviours, experience, and technical criteria (if applicable) that candidates will be assessed on.
Technical / Professional Skills
- People policies and Employment Law - Knowledgeable about key HR policies, processes, and legislation, and how to research, interpret, and apply these when providing advice to customers and managing casework and processes. Able to assess issues and risks and escalate when required. - Lead Criteria
- Digital and Data Skills - Able to use HR systems and source and interpret data to understand and resolve customer enquiries and issues, and to evaluate and improve services. Ensures system data is effectively recorded and maintained.
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You can find out more about the skills required, here: HR Success Profiles Matrixes and CIPD Profession Map
Experience
Building and managing relationships and partnerships, building capability, and using data and evidence to make decisions and influence.
Behaviours
- Communicating and Influencing - Level 3
- Working Together - Level 3
- Making Effective Decisions - Level 3
- Managing a Quality Service - Level 3
Find out more about Success Profiles.
In the event of a high volume of applications, candidates will have their applications initially assessed against the Technical criteria - People policies and Employment Law above. Candidates who pass this initial sift will have their applications fully assessed against all criteria. At interview/assessment if there is a tied score, performance in the Technical criteria - People policies and Employment Law.
How To Apply
Apply online, providing a CV and supporting statement (of no more than 1000 words) providing evidence of how you meet the behaviours, experience, and technical skills listed in the Success Profile above. Both the CV and the supporting statement provided will be assessed at the sift stage against the Experience and Behaviours criteria for the role. Technical/Professional Experience will be assessed at the interview stage.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.
Skilled Worker Sponsorship
Skilled Worker sponsorship is not available for this role. As a result, we are unable to appoint candidates who require Skilled Worker sponsorship now or in the future. Applicants must have an existing and ongoing right to work in the UK.
If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and presentation.
Assessments are scheduled for mid September 2026, however this may be subject to change.
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Recruitment Principles
As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.
About Us
The Scottish Government is the devolved government for Scotland. We have responsibility for a wide range of key policy areas including: education, health, the economy, justice, housing, and transport. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles.
Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service, observing the Civil Service Code and working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland.
We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer.
As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.
Working pattern
This post is based in Pilgrim House, Aberdeen. Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options depending on the needs of the role, including Flexi-leave. In line with our current ways of working, our team follows a hybrid working approach, where colleagues use a mix of office-based and remote working (working from home) depending on the requirements of the role and personal circumstances.
The post is a full-time role, but staff with different working patterns are invited to apply, and we will assess proposed working patterns against the business requirements for this post.
Security checks
Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks – Identity, Right to work, Employment History, and a Criminal Record check (unspent convictions).
You can find out more about BPSS on the UK Government website, and read about the Government Vetting Charter, or about all the different levels of security checks in our Candidate Guide.
Internal candidates may need to gain higher security clearance than they currently hold if successful in their application.
Equality statement
We are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation.
Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.
Further information
Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members, and how to apply on our Careers Website.
Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.
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