Scottish Government
Strategic Workforce Planning Coordinator
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Want to play a key role in building the workforce of the future at SAAS?
The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government responsible for providing information, support, assessment and funding to Scottish Students undertaking a course of Higher Education (HE) within the UK. More information on SAAS can be found on our website https://www.saas.gov.uk/
SAAS administer budgets of around £1.4 billion each year, making payments to both higher education institutions and over 190,000 students a year. We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the clients we serve.
This role is based in the SAAS People and Performance Team. The team comprises of 7 members of staff (including this post) who deliver people services to around 250 SAAS colleagues. We are a small and busy team who provide both operational and consultancy-based services on a wide range of people-related matters in the areas of:
- Human Resources
- Resourcing & Workforce Planning
- Organisational Learning & Development & Employee Engagement
- Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Responsibilities
- Provide high-quality secretariat support to key forums, including Workforce Planning and the Trade Union Partnership Forum, by capturing clear, outcome-focused records, contributing to papers and tracking actions, using digital and AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency, accuracy and accessibility.
- Managing and maintaining workforce planning data, including large and complex spreadsheets, ensuring accuracy, version control and auditability, and supporting reporting through tools such as Excel and Power BI.
- Manage and maintain Oracle position management (as Senior Business Manager), using Oracle reporting tools and the SAAS workforce plan, working with large, complex datasets to ensure accuracy, version control and alignment with organisational priorities.
- Support workforce planning activity, working collaboratively across teams and organisations to ensure workforce data is accurate, aligned and supports strategic decision-making in a wider public sector reform context.
- Support/signpost hiring managers with recruitment (inc. Oracle HR reporting).
- Partner with line managers and HR Consultants to coordinate and support HR casework (including sickness absence, disciplinary, performance management and Occupational Health referrals), ensuring cases are managed efficiently, sensitively and in line with policy. Maintain accurate case data, track progress and provide insight to support timely, consistent decision-making.
- Support L&D activities/events (planning, organising, scheduling, evaluation, Pathways, reporting).
- Monitor all mailboxes and be first point of contact for people queries (including Oracle HR system issues), escalating and signposting where necessary.
- Raising purchase orders and receipting invoices when required.
- Contribute to cross-agency working aligned to public sector reform, supporting shared people priorities and improving consistency, insight and service delivery across organisational boundaries.
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SUCCESS PROFILE
Technical / Professional Skills:
- Understanding key HR policies and processes.
- Strong Excel skills (including managing large datasets, formulas, validation and reporting) and experience of, or ability to quickly learn, tools such as Power BI and Oracle for workforce reporting and insight.
Experience
- Experience providing administrative and secretariat support (ideally within HR/People), including supporting HR casework, coordinating activities, maintaining accurate records and handling sensitive information with discretion.
- Experience working with workforce data and HR systems (e.g. Oracle), using spreadsheets and reporting tools to manage, analyse and report on data-heavy HR and workforce planning activity.
Behaviours:
- Communication and influencing – Level 1.
- Delivering at Pace - Level 1.
- Working together - Level 1.
Find out more about Success Profiles.
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 against the criteria for the role.
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.
If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and presentation.
Assessments are scheduled for late-October however this may be subject to change.
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.
QUALIFICATIONS
About us
The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government responsible for providing information, support, assessment and funding to Scottish Students undertaking a course of Higher Education (HE) within the UK. More information on SAAS can be found on our website https://www.saas.gov.uk.
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SAAS administer budgets of around £1.4 billion each year, making payments to both higher education institutions and over 190,000 students a year. We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the clients we serve.
Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service [https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/about-us/], 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 https://www.jobs.gov.scot/what-we-offer.
Working pattern
Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options depending on the needs of the role. SAAS have a hybrid working arrangement with colleagues expected to attend the office (Saughton House, Edinburgh) a minimum of 6 days per month.
SAAS have separate Public and Privilege holiday arrangements and are fully closed between Christmas and New Year.
If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact Peter Hamilton [peter.hamilton2@gov.scot].
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.
Please apply before 23:59 - 05/10/26
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