Head of Policy in Glasgow

Looking to step into a senior leadership role influencing safeguarding policy across Scotland?

Disclosure Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government, is seeking a Head of Policy to lead its Policy Team at a critical point following the implementation of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020. The team is responsible for developing policy on criminal record disclosure and the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme, supporting Ministers, and ensuring safe and fair recruitment across Scotland.

In this senior leadership role, you will shape and deliver policy, lead a team of policy professionals, and drive forward implementation of the remaining elements of the Disclosure Act while influencing future policy direction. Your main objective will be to ensure effective policy development, strong stakeholder engagement, and alignment with Disclosure Scotland’s strategic priorities within the wider safeguarding landscape.

• Lead on support Disclosure Scotland’s Leadership Team in providing advice to Scottish Ministers in relation to the state disclosure and barring regime in Scotland.
• Act as the focal point for policy matters within Disclosure Scotland, including day to day responsibility for ensuring all Ministerial correspondence, Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests, briefings, are completed within assigned deadlines.
• Lead development of the required impact assessments in support of policy changes within Disclosure Scotland.
• Oversee the policy development and implementation of the remainder of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020.
• Work closely with other Heads of Service and teams within Disclosure Scotland as part of specific programmes of work, or as part of the organisation’s governance arrangements, to provide policy input.
• Lead on the development of policy options and policy instructions as required, working closely with key stakeholders within the Scottish Government, including Scottish Government Legal Directorate and Parliament and Legislation Unit.
• Identify, commission and participate in effective stakeholder engagement to inform policy development.
• Effective risk management, including management of reputational risk.
• Line management of 3 Policy Managers, and countersigning responsibility for 2 Policy Officers .
• Support the Director of Policy, Customer Engagement and Communications in other organisation wide matters as required.

Disclosure Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, operating on behalf of Scottish Ministers to deliver a vital safeguarding role for the people of Scotland. Our work directly supports the Scottish Government’s National Outcomes for Children and Young People, Economy, Fair Work and Business, Communities, and Human Rights.

We provide two core services, managing and delivering the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme and processing disclosure applications to enable safer recruitment decisions. These are exciting times for Disclosure Scotland as we continually improving our services for customers and stakeholders.