Role sits within dedicated Corporate Transformation and Workplace Directorate and comes with remit to understand the current state of workforce services, and then create and deliver plans for their future

The Scottish Government is seeking to recruit a senior manager to spearhead a corporate reform drive to modernise services and systems that have not kept pace with wider digital transformation.

The role as deputy director of transformation design and architecture comes with a salary of £86,398 and a remit to help revamp services and platforms used by the government’s workforce.

This includes transforming “corporate services, systems and processes put in place some time ago [that] are no longer fit for the government we have become, and for the journey ahead”, according to the job advert.

“Corporate services and capabilities need [to be] refreshed by: creating new levels of service; ease of use; and productivity gains,” it added. “There is much work to do to understand the target state for corporate services, and the journey taking us there.”

A “major transformation” encompassing the government’s finance and HR services has already begun – but “this is just the beginning”, candidates are advised.

“A range of initiatives delivering short-, medium- and long-term gains need to come together within an overall portfolio of work, drawing upon the skills and contributions of many parts of  the corporate [directorate] and beyond,” the advert adds.

Applicants are instructed that they will become a senior member of a team whose “focus is delivery”.

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“We aren’t a policy function,” the job ad says. “Our value within the organisation is in problem resolution and the creation and delivery of services that enables the organisation as a whole. The directorate will be responsible for many programmes and initiatives as we grow; these will be critical to the ongoing development of the Scottish Government.”

The chosen candidate will first be expected to undertake efforts to develop a “detailed understanding” of the “current state… of corporate services, [including] their current health, interdependencies, and challenges”.

The role will then require the development of the necessary “relationships and underlying solutions to produce the target operating model”.

This will involve “developing and socialising a view of priorities and their rationale”, as well as “building a library and knowledge base for corporate services” – including “blueprints” to help these services reach their desired state.

The postholder will also be tasked with “identifying opportunities within existing business models to create efficiencies, synergies and performance improvements”, alongside efforts focused on “networking across the Scottish Government and wider public sector to form a picture of related work and identifying opportunities for collaboration and cohesion”.

The role further requires the technical know-how to oversee work on “building, leading and continuously improving the business analysis, architecture and analytical service capabilities within the directorate”, in addition to “ensuring that detailed technical architecture is sympathetic to the overall blueprint, roadmap and strategies for the corporate platform as a whole”.

Applications for the role are open until 11.55pm on 26 July.