Policy Officer
| Posting date: | 20 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £39,579 to £46,611 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 01 February 2026 |
| Location: | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 5 days per week |
| Company: | Scottish Funding Council |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: |
Summary
To support delivery against SFCs statutory duties and strategic framework in relation to student interests and high-quality learning and teaching. This role will support SFC to better understand the student, learner and apprentice experience.
Key responsibilities
1. Work with the Senior Policy Officer: Student Interests to implement SFC’s approach to student interests, in particular:
• The delivery of opportunities for students, learners and apprentices to engage with and participate in the work of SFC. This may include the provision of advice and training to staff at all levels of the organisation.
• Identification of current student interest priorities to support focused and meaningful action to reduce or remove barriers to success.
2. Work with others to develop and support student interests related external communications activity including contributing to the development and delivery of a range of engagement events and activities to support SFC to develop their understanding of the student experience.
3. Contribute to the reporting of the outcomes of student interests' activity, by supporting students, learners and apprentices, recent graduates and practitioners to engage with the activities themselves as well as the outputs.
4. Provide advice to senior officers and assist in drafting a range of policy and strategy papers including committee and board papers, particularly enabling consideration of the impact on the student experience.
5. Maintain and develop your knowledge of the tertiary system and relevant policy areas and use this information to support the development of SFC’s work to enhance the student experience.
6. Provide information, advice, updates and guidance to institutions and stakeholders (both internal and external) as required and represent the SFC on relevant committees and working groups
7. Working in partnership with the Senior Policy Officer and Internal Communications Officer contribute to the student interests internal communications activity in line with SFC’s Internal Communications Strategy.
8. Provide project management support for the monitoring and reporting of national programmes and initiatives.
9. Contribute flexibly to the work of the wider directorate and other groups in SFC as appropriate and when required. From time to time this may include deputising for your line manager or other colleagues.
Skills, qualifications and experience
Essential
• Experience of community engagement and/or working in partnership with service users and delivering outcomes that enhanced their experience
• Effective interpersonal skills, including experience of building/developing and maintaining work relationships with internal and external stakeholders, as well as to working flexibly with colleagues in other parts of the organisation.
• Excellent research, analytical and reporting skills to provide advice and respond to complex issues
• Proven written communication skills, including the ability to analyse, understand and respond to complex issues in an appropriate manner, demonstrating good judgement and awareness of the audience’s level of understanding.
• Strong organisational and project management abilities to cope with diverse and changing workload in a politicised environment
• Demonstrable policy development or implementation experience.
• SCQF level 7 or equivalent experience relevant to the role as outlined by this job description.
Desirable
• Experience of working in partnership with students, learners and/or apprentices and delivering outcomes that enhanced the their experience
• Knowledge of the further and/or higher education sector and some awareness of the current Scottish political and government environment
• Some experience of delivering training or similar activities to a range of audiences
Key responsibilities
1. Work with the Senior Policy Officer: Student Interests to implement SFC’s approach to student interests, in particular:
• The delivery of opportunities for students, learners and apprentices to engage with and participate in the work of SFC. This may include the provision of advice and training to staff at all levels of the organisation.
• Identification of current student interest priorities to support focused and meaningful action to reduce or remove barriers to success.
2. Work with others to develop and support student interests related external communications activity including contributing to the development and delivery of a range of engagement events and activities to support SFC to develop their understanding of the student experience.
3. Contribute to the reporting of the outcomes of student interests' activity, by supporting students, learners and apprentices, recent graduates and practitioners to engage with the activities themselves as well as the outputs.
4. Provide advice to senior officers and assist in drafting a range of policy and strategy papers including committee and board papers, particularly enabling consideration of the impact on the student experience.
5. Maintain and develop your knowledge of the tertiary system and relevant policy areas and use this information to support the development of SFC’s work to enhance the student experience.
6. Provide information, advice, updates and guidance to institutions and stakeholders (both internal and external) as required and represent the SFC on relevant committees and working groups
7. Working in partnership with the Senior Policy Officer and Internal Communications Officer contribute to the student interests internal communications activity in line with SFC’s Internal Communications Strategy.
8. Provide project management support for the monitoring and reporting of national programmes and initiatives.
9. Contribute flexibly to the work of the wider directorate and other groups in SFC as appropriate and when required. From time to time this may include deputising for your line manager or other colleagues.
Skills, qualifications and experience
Essential
• Experience of community engagement and/or working in partnership with service users and delivering outcomes that enhanced their experience
• Effective interpersonal skills, including experience of building/developing and maintaining work relationships with internal and external stakeholders, as well as to working flexibly with colleagues in other parts of the organisation.
• Excellent research, analytical and reporting skills to provide advice and respond to complex issues
• Proven written communication skills, including the ability to analyse, understand and respond to complex issues in an appropriate manner, demonstrating good judgement and awareness of the audience’s level of understanding.
• Strong organisational and project management abilities to cope with diverse and changing workload in a politicised environment
• Demonstrable policy development or implementation experience.
• SCQF level 7 or equivalent experience relevant to the role as outlined by this job description.
Desirable
• Experience of working in partnership with students, learners and/or apprentices and delivering outcomes that enhanced the their experience
• Knowledge of the further and/or higher education sector and some awareness of the current Scottish political and government environment
• Some experience of delivering training or similar activities to a range of audiences
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
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