His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland

Fixed Term Appointment or Secondment for 23 months, with the possibility of an extension

Are you a transformational change leader looking for your next challenge?

We are looking for a Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland, on a secondment or fixed term appointment basis, to provide significant national leadership, working with leaders across education and Government.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing significant reform to secure better outcomes for children and young people across Scotland. With statutory powers about to be conferred upon HMCIE, this is an exciting opportunity for a transformational change leader to establish a new independent education inspectorate, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), and to deliver cultural and system level change.

Advising on complex issues in areas of strong public, media and political interest and scrutiny, you will provide information and evidence to influence educational policy, improve educational practices across Scotland, and communicate inspection findings to diverse audiences including media, internationally and parliamentary committees.

We are seeking a highly respected and influential education leader to deliver a system-wide impact in a short timeframe. The successful candidate will take ownership of complex decisions and deliver measurable results.

Responsibilities

You will have statutory responsibility for setting inspection plans and overseeing the inspection of learning, teaching and assessment to drive improvement, resulting in better outcomes for current and future generations.

Key deliverables in year one:

• In support of the Government’s overall vision for Scottish education, develop and deliver a two-year strategy for HMIE, integrating new legislative requirements to maximise the inspectorate’s role to promote improvement in education and work in partnership with others.
• Building on work already underway, improve and innovate the approach to inspection and ensure that inspections are conducted to the highest standards, maximising their contribution to educational improvement, within finite resources.
• Drive changes in working practices and behaviours which will underpin improved impact from inspection activity and increased efficiency. For example, evidence that the organisation is orientated to system improvement, and sharing practice which is achieving excellence and equity for learners. Form a close relationship to the education system that it seeks to improve, with more frequent feedback and sharing evidence of what is working well.
• Drawing on an existing reputation as a respected education leader, communicate inspection findings by engaging with senior system leaders, including in schools, local authorities, professional associations, Education Scotland and Scottish Government. Through excellent communication skills cultivate improvement through relationships, challenging policy and practice where necessary to raise standards in performance for learners, based on robust evidence and sound judgement.
• Development and implementation of a sustainable financial and operating model for the new organisation.

Success Profile

Experience Criteria:

• A highly respected and influential education leader, with suitable teaching experience and relevant experience of acting in a senior leadership role in an educational establishment is essential.
• Proven success in both strategic and operational leadership, communicating a clear vision and driving improvements in excellence and equity in education.
• A track record of delivering high-profile cultural and transformational change, with the ability to drive rapid, system-level impact, taking ownership of complex decisions and ensuring delivery.

Behaviours

The following behaviours at Level 6 are required for success.

• Leadership
• Developing Self and Others
• Seeing the Bigger Picture
• Delivering at Pace
• Changing and Improving

You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here: Success Profiles – Civil Service Behaviours (publishing.service.gov.uk)

How to apply

Candidates must apply online, providing a CV and supporting statement (of no more than 500 words) that directly addresses the Experience Criteria listed in the Success Profile above. General or unrelated statements will not be accepted and may result in your application being sifted out. Please ensure your statement clearly demonstrates how you meet the specified experience requirements.

During the interview and assessment process we will test your skills and experience as well as behaviours aligned to this role.

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.

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.

If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview, a stakeholder panel and a staff panel.

Closing date: 12 November 2025.

Assessments are scheduled for w/c 17 and 24 November and 1 December however this may be subject to change.