Senior Electoral Practice and Performance Officer Scotland

Job summary

Role: Senior Electoral Practice and Performance Officer Scotland

Basis: Permanent, Full time 36 hours per week

A £312 tax-free working from home allowance is also payable annually.

Location: Edinburgh (Hybrid – min. 2 days in office)

Benefits: Outstanding benefits including Civil Service Pension Scheme, flexible working, 28+ days holiday, and more.

About the Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission is the UK’s independent body overseeing elections and regulating political finance. Everything we do is about ensuring trust, participation, and integrity in the democratic process.

As we continue to deliver our five-year UK Corporate Plan and develop our Corporate Plan for Scotland, the Commission is building on a period of growth and change, expanding our workforce and modernising how we deliver our services to better support the needs of a changing democracy. As our organisation develops and adapts to meet future challenges, this post will play a vital part in supporting that progress and helping ensure we remain responsive to the democratic needs of voters, campaigners, parties and electoral administrators across the UK.

We believe people do their best work when they have the flexibility, support and recognition they need to thrive. That's why we offer flexible and hybrid working arrangements that help colleagues balance work and personal commitments, supported by a flexi-time scheme that gives greater autonomy over the working day. With generous leave allowances, a highly competitive Civil Service pension and performance-related pay, our benefits package is designed to support your wellbeing, reward your contribution and provide security for the future.

Job description

About the role

As a Senior Electoral Practice and Performance Adviser, you'll play a leading role in supporting electoral administrators across Scotland to deliver effective elections and electoral registration services. Working closely with Returning Officers, Electoral Registration Officers and local authority elections teams, you'll provide professional advice and guidance on electoral law, policy and practice, helping stakeholders navigate complex issues and apply legislation effectively.

You'll also lead the delivery of the Commission's performance standards framework in Scotland, analysing performance information, identifying opportunities for improvement and working collaboratively with stakeholders to enhance the quality and consistency of electoral services.

This is a varied and influential role that combines stakeholder engagement, performance analysis, policy interpretation and operational improvement. You'll represent the Commission at meetings, seminars and events, building trusted relationships with senior stakeholders and contributing to the continued development of electoral administration across Scotland.

The Office

Our Edinburgh office is based in the Quay building in Fountainbridge, offering a modern and welcoming place to work. Colleagues here have access to an on-site gym, and the office benefits from impressive views across the city, including Edinburgh Castle. The building sits alongside the Union Canal, providing a pleasant setting for lunchtime walks or time outdoors, with a range of shops, cafés and amenities close by.

The office is conveniently located around a 12-minute walk from Haymarket station, with excellent rail connections as well as frequent bus and tram services, making it easy to commute from across the city and beyond. Combined with our flexible and hybrid ways of working, the Quay building offers an attractive, well-connected and comfortable working environment.

About the team

You'll join a supportive and collaborative team of six colleagues within our Devolution and Law Directorate.

The Scotland team plays a key role in ensuring the views and needs of stakeholders across Scotland are understood and reflected in the Commission's work. We provide expert insight into Scotland's political and electoral environment, helping to support effective regulation, stakeholder engagement and well-run elections.

We're committed to creating an environment where colleagues can grow, learn from one another, and make a visible impact through meaningful work.

Person specification

Who we’re looking for

We're interested in people who can bring strong analytical, stakeholder management and communication skills, alongside the ability to interpret and explain complex information clearly.

You may have gained experience in electoral administration, regulation, governance, compliance, public policy, public sector delivery, performance management, operational improvement or a similar environment where you've provided professional advice and worked with legislation, standards or regulatory frameworks.

To be successful, you'll be able to demonstrate:

• Experience providing guidance, training or advisory services.
• Experience exercising judgement and providing advice on complex legislative, regulatory or operational matters.
• Experience analysing performance information and identifying opportunities for service improvement.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to build effective working relationships.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong analytical skills with attention to detail and the ability to communicate complex information accurately.
• Confidence influencing and engaging stakeholders using tact, persuasion and sound judgement.
• Good numerical and data analysis skills, including experience using spreadsheets such as Excel.
• The ability to work independently and collaboratively, including during busy or high-pressure periods.
• Political impartiality, integrity and a strong commitment to equality.

Experience of delivering or supporting electoral services within the UK would be advantageous but is not essential. We welcome applicants with transferable skills and will provide support to develop specialist knowledge of electoral legislation and practice.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,031, The Electoral Commission contributes

£11,596 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Why work for us?

This is a unique opportunity to:

• Develop specialist expertise in electoral law, electoral administration and performance standards.
• Build relationships with senior electoral stakeholders across Scotland.
• Contribute directly to the delivery of well-run elections and electoral registration services.
• Work on varied, high-profile and operationally significant issues.
• Help improve democratic processes and strengthen confidence in elections.
• Be part of a supportive and collaborative team environment.

We offer a strong total reward package, including:

• Flexible working and hybrid model for office-based staff, with a minimum of 40% of working time spent in the office.
• Flexi-time scheme, allowing flexible hours with the option to accrue and take flexi leave.
• 28 rising to 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Civil Service Pension Scheme (28.97% employer contribution).
• Performance-related pay.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements 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, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

How to apply

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment. To help reduce unconscious bias and ensure all applicants are assessed solely on their skills, knowledge and experience, we use an anonymous recruitment process.

When applying, please provide an anonymised CV which omits your protected characteristics and any personally identifiable information:

Do not include:

• Your name, address, phone number, email or other contact details
• Your date of birth or age
• Gender, ethnicity, nationality or other personal identifiers
• A photo of yourself
• Remove educational dates as these are a clear indication of your age
• There is no requirement to include your primary education details.

Do include:

• Your employment history including employers and dates of employment
• Explanation for gaps in your history
• Your duties, responsibilities and achievements

If your CV contains personal details (such as your name or contact information), we will be unable to consider your application. Please double-check your documents before submitting, including the file name you use to save and upload your CV.

Supporting disabled applicants

The Electoral Commission is proud to be a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. As part of this commitment, we aim to prioritise interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria listed in the job description.

There may, however, be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. For example, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or seasonal recruitment activity, the Commission may need to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both disabled and non-disabled applicants.

If you have a disability and would like to be considered under this commitment, please indicate this when you apply. We also welcome requests for reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process or within the workplace.

Key dates

• Application deadline: 28th of September (23:59)
• Interviews (1st stage): Week commencing 12th of October
• Interviews (2nd stage): TBC
• Anticipated start date: 7th of December

Interviews may be conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams or in-person.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a standard (or equivalent) criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the

Civil Service