Statistician

Job Title - Statistician

Business Area/Directorate - Office of the Chief Statistician, Digital Directorate

Location - Victoria Quay / St Andrews House

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 - C1

Advert type - Temporary promotion or level transfer

Duration - Maternity leave cover up to 9 months.

Eligibility - Expressions of interest are invited from colleagues in bands B-C for this vacancy.

Sponsorship: 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

A unique opportunity to combine statistical leadership, technology innovation and stakeholder influence to shape the future of the profession.

We have an opportunity for a C1 Statistician to join the Move2 unit on a temporary basis for 9 months to support delivery of the cloud migration and Open Source Software Roll Out programme. This is an ideal development opportunity for someone looking to broaden their experience in the statistics profession.

Team and Business Area

The Office of the Chief Statistician (OCS) sits within the Digital Directorate and provides leadership, strategic direction and support for Scotland's statistics profession. The team works across Scottish Government, agencies and analytical professions to drive statistical transformation, promote innovation, strengthen analytical capability and ensure statisticians have access to the tools, skills and infrastructure needed to deliver high-quality statistics and maximise value from data.

About the Role

This role leads the Statistics Group's Open Source Software Roll Out programme, supporting the transition to cloud-based analytical platforms and modern statistical production methods. The post holder will work with senior stakeholders across Digital, analytical professions and partner organisations to champion open-source tools, Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAP), AI-enabled innovation and skills development. The role will have a significant impact on improving efficiency, strengthening analytical capability and ensuring statisticians are equipped to meet future data and technology challenges.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead delivery of the Open Source Software Roll Out programme and support the migration from SAS-based processes to cloud-based analytical platforms.
• Develop and implement training, guidance and support for the use of R, RAP, Git/GitHub and other modern analytical tools.
• Engage and influence stakeholders across Scottish Government, agencies and Digital teams to ensure analytical platforms and services meet the needs of statisticians.
• Promote innovation through the adoption of AI, open-source technologies and more efficient approaches to statistical production.
• Develop and maintain technical guidance, learning materials and community support networks to build capability across the statistics profession.
• Support the delivery of Statistics Group strategic priorities by enabling more efficient, collaborative and future-focused analytical practices.

Success Profile

Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of behaviours, experience and technical criteria (if applicable) that candidates will be assessed on.

Technical / Professional skills:

• Acquiring data and Understanding customer needs.

Behaviours - Level 4

• Seeing the big picture
• Changing and improving
• Leadership
• Communicating and influencing

You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here:
Behaviour levels - Success profiles: candidate guide

Working pattern

This role is a temporary position with an expected commitment of up to 9 months.

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.

Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options depending on the needs of the role, including Flexi-leave. Scottish Government staff in hybrid-compatible roles should aim to work in-person 40% of the time, either in an office or other agreed work location.

Further information

Further information on this opportunity is available from David.grzybowski@gov.scot

Selection Process

Applications will be reviewed by 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.

Interviews are expected to be scheduled for week beginning 14th September 2026.

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.

About us

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 observing the Civil Service Code and 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. Find out more about what we offer.

As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

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, or read about the different levels of security checks in our Candidate Guide.

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.

Apply before: 08/09/2026 (23:59). This role is only open to internal candidates and common citizenship organisations only.