Senior Recoveries Officer in Edinburgh

Do you want an exciting opportunity to join the Recoveries team within the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) as a Specialist Recoveries Officer? You will play a pivotal role in the recovery process and work as part of a fast-paced team. Undertake work where escalation of our standard recovery process is required, progressing civil route and dealing with specialist bursaries. Work as part of the wider recoveries team providing support and advice to Recoveries Officers but have no line management responsibility. You will have excellent communication skills, communicating with internal and external stakeholders via email and telephone, supporting students and linking to our SAAS corporate value ‘to put customers at the heart of everything we do.

Responsibilities

• Managing the overpayments of students which include specialist funded schemes, gathering and maintaining an accurate record of repayments.
• Assisting Managers with forecasting and providing Management Information, running reports.
• Investigating and progressing complex cases and providing support to Recoveries Officers.
• Coaching, mentoring and training new members of staff on current processes and proven ability to work effectively in a changing environment and contributing to overcoming challenges.
• Adding cases to the Debt Management System, identifying and implementing appropriate debt recovery action by email, telephone call or by letter following appropriate guidelines.
• Liaising with Solicitors and Sheriff Officers to begin legal actions and progressing court action and making decisions within current guidelines on whether court action is necessary and appropriate.
• Working closely with Finance colleagues in the reconciliation of overpayments.
• Investigating payments that cannot be reconciled and refunding debtors in the case of overpayments.
• Assist with the complex Dentistry intake and reviewing all the correspondence from Policy and Solicitors following the outcome of the current legal hearing.
• Assist with the HMRC data pilot.

Success Profile

Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on.

Experience

• Experience in using IT packages such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Behaviours

• Making Effective Decisions – Level 1
• Communicating and Influencing – Level 1
• Working Together – Level 1
• Delivering at Pace - Level 1

How to Apply

Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 1000 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills and experience listed above. 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.

If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and presentation. Assessments are scheduled for w/c 8th June 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: SAAS is an executive agency of the Scottish Government and responsible for assessing and paying student awards for Scottish domiciled students in Higher Education throughout the UK. We administer budgets of around £1.4 billion each year, making payments to both educational institutions and over 190,000 students a year. We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the clients we serve.

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, 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.

Working Pattern

Our standard hours are 35 hours per week. This role requires in-person attendance of 6 days per month. We offer a range of flexible and hybrid working options depending on the needs of the role. Flexible working patterns will be considered in line with business needs. SAAS has separate arrangements from core Scottish Government for Public and Privilege holidays. SAAS office is fully closed between Christmas and New Year.

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. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us on SAAS_Resourcing@gov.scot. Apply before 23:59 on 26th May 2026. This post is open to internal candidates and Common Citizenship Organisations only. External candidates and staff from UK Other Government Departments are not eligible to apply for this vacancy.