Senior Assistant Statistician

Business Area/Directorate – Justice Analysis and Strategy / Safer Communities

Location - Victoria Quay

Working Arrangement – Staff in roles compatible with hybrid working should aim to spend 40% of their contracted working time working in person at their contractual workplace. More information can be found within Hybrid Working Policy.

Grade - B3

Advert type - Temporary Promotion

Duration - Up to 12 months

Eligibility - Expressions of interest are invited from eligible staff in Bands A - B for this vacancy. Members of staff must be a permanent member of staff who has successfully completed probation and performing at your role at an acceptable level. You cannot apply if you are on a fixed-term appointment or a Cabinet Office fast stream contract. Further details can be found in the SG Temporary Promotion policy and guidance on how the stats profession applies TP.

Skilled Worker Sponsorship not being offered. Skilled Worker sponsorship is not available for this role. As a result, we are unable to appoint candidates who require Skilled Worker sponsorship now or in the future. Applicants must have an existing and ongoing right to work in the UK.

Overview: We have an opportunity for a B3 Senior Assistant Statistician to join the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey team (SCJS) on a temporary basis for 12 months. This would be a rewarding post for an experienced B1 or B2 keen for challenging work.

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) statistics team is part of the Safer Communities Analytical Unit within Justice Analysis and Strategy. This unit includes both statistical and research teams, with a primary focus on crime victimisation and the policing response. The team consists of three statistical posts (C1, B3 and B2 levels) and one social researcher post (B2 level).

The SCJS is a large scale social survey which asks adults in Scotland about their experiences and perceptions of crime and the justice system. This team’s primary role is in managing the delivery of the survey with our contractors at Ipsos and ScotCen and in producing the annual reports based on the latest survey findings.

This position is perfect for someone who is keen to get experience working with a national survey. There is an opportunity to work closely with various stakeholders, including Scottish Government policy teams, justice partners such as Police Scotland and the Scottish Policing Authority, academic users and colleagues from other national crime surveys.

Responsibilities:

• Overseeing the quality assurance processes, alongside our contractors to ensure the survey data is of high quality.
• Line management of the B2 assistant statistician in the team.
• Working alongside the other team members to write the annual publications.
• Presenting the latest results to key stakeholders including policy as well as to justice partner organisations and external users.
• Leading on the analysis and publication of recently improved questions on sensitive topics relating to partner abuse and violence against women and girls.
• Leading work to review how the survey design could be improved for future years, collaborating with colleagues in OCS and other survey experts.
• Maintaining and improving a newly developed R pipeline and continuing work relating to the Move2 programme.

Qualifications:

Person Specification – Success Profiles: If you are interested in these posts please submit a note of interest explaining why you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience suitable, with particular reference to the following criteria:

• Ability to plan, organise and prioritise work to deliver results within deadlines.
• Develop a positive working relationship with stakeholders in order to meet the project's objectives.
• Using professional statistical expertise or technical data skills to produce high quality work.

Behaviours Being Tested:

The selection process will be less detailed than substantive recruitment. Candidates who are considered to have the skills and experience will be invited to a competency-based interview which will assess the following:

• Civil service behaviours (SEO): Delivering at pace.
• Government Statistics Group framework (SStO): Acquiring data and understanding customer needs, Data analysis, Presenting and disseminating data effectively.

Working Pattern:

This post is a full-time role, but we welcome applications from staff with different working patterns; proposed working patterns will be assessed against the business requirements for this post. JAS typically works from Victoria Quay on a Wednesday with unit days scheduled once a fortnight.

Further Information:

Further information about this opportunity is available from Mark Bell (mark.bell@gov.scot).

How to Apply:

Please submit an Expression of Interest (maximum 500), describing how your skills, qualities and experience make you suitable for the role. You should make particular reference to, and structure your supporting statement around, the Success Profile noted in the job advert.

Vacancies close at 11.59pm on 26th July 2026.

Interviews:

Interviews will be scheduled for w/c 10 August.

Selection Process:

Applications will be reviewed by a panel. Shortlisted candidates who are considered to have the skills and experience will be invited to interview with the hiring manager and another panel member. The panel will recommend the candidate considered most suitable for the post.

The sift and interview process for this B3 TP is being run jointly with another B3 TP opportunity in JAS (reference: 3982). Candidates are able to apply for one or both positions. Candidates are only required to submit one application and will only be invited for one interview, regardless of whether they are applying for one or both positions. To note, both roles require demonstration of the same four Behaviours.

At the beginning of your expression of interest, please indicate if you would like to be considered for one or for both of the roles; if you are interested in both roles please clearly indicate your preference (this will not be included in your 500 word limit). Candidates will be ranked on strict merit based on the interview and following this, candidate preferences will be taken into account in assigning posts.

You should have agreement from your line manager that you will be released within 4 weeks of being offered the post, prior to applying for this TP. Following this recruitment exercise, OCS will maintain a reserve list for 12 months for any future temporary B3 positions which might arise.