Learning & Development Manager

Reference:0472 

Salary:£52,058 - £57,506 per annum 

Working pattern:Permanent, Fully flexible - all options will be considered 

Location:Across Scotland 

Closing date:26 March 2023 at midnight 

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Learning & Development Manager

Location : Our offices are based in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness  

Type : Permanent role 

Salary : £52,058 to £57,506 per annum, plus competitive benefits.  

Hours : 36.25 hours

We are Audit Scotland. We're Scotland’s public sector auditor, independent of government. We employ more than 340 talented professionals who know that their work helps ensure the efficient delivery of public services in Scotland. We believe that public money (around £57 billion a year) should be spent wisely. 

There's plenty of change ahead, and the need for robust public audit that provides assurance about public spending and helps public services improve is more important than ever. We want to make sure Scotland makes the very best of the opportunities and that change is delivered well – transparent financial reporting and delivering value for money are key to this.

There has never been a more interesting or important time to join us. We offer a rewarding place to work, a supportive and open culture and a wide range of professional development opportunities. Benefits include 42 days of annual leave including public holidays, an attractive local government pension scheme with 19.4% employer contributions, personal development allowances and flexible working hours. We’ve also been named one of the top 40 workplaces in Scotland and the UK’s eighth best accountancy workplace in the 2022 Best Companies awards.

Overall purpose of the role

Our Innovation and Quality (I&Q) business group ensures that the quality of audit work across Audit Scotland is outstanding, innovative and at the forefront of the profession, and helps fulfil the vision and strategic objectives of the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission. I&Q’s mission is to innovate and support to elevate our people, our organisation, and public audit, to improve quality and grow our reputation. I&Q achieves this by leading organisational transformation and development; providing technical and professional expertise, and a constructive quality monitoring process; continually enhancing methodologies and best practice and the effective use of new technologies; delivering professional learning and development; and driving Audit Scotland’s role as system leader for public audit in Scotland.

The Learning and Development function within Professional Support and Learning facilitates and delivers a wide range of professional learning activities across Audit Scotland including:

• mandatory training for audit staff on required audit methodologies


• technical accounting and auditing skills (including the use of appropriate technology); and


• important personal development skills for all colleagues (such as professional scepticism, emotional intelligence, critical thinking and handling difficult conversations).

As a manager in the Professional Support and Learning function, you will report to the Head of that function and will lead on the effective delivery of professional learning and development across Audit Scotland with a focus on elevating our people.

You will create professional learning and development arrangements focussed on retaining and developing our current colleagues as well as attracting and recruiting high calibre individuals; ensure that our approach to professional learning and development is tailored to the growth and needs of each person to unlock their potential and enhance Audit Scotland’s reputation as a great place to work; use your experience and knowledge to deliver professional learning that makes a significant impact on the work of Audit Scotland colleagues and have a clear understanding of how the outcomes from these activities affect the audit teams and stakeholders; and generate and lead dialogue about these subjects, facilitating conversation to develop further understanding and share knowledge. In achieving these objectives, you will effectively utilise the learning management system and regularly engage with staff across I&Q and the wider organisation.

How you can help us

The main objective of the role is to apply experience, knowledge and judgement to identify the professional learning needs of colleagues across the organisation, designing solutions, building learning programmes, and evaluating outcomes. Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• managing and developing the corporate Learning Management System (Docebo)


• understanding current best practice in professional learning and development and translating them into initiatives and innovations that improve the efficiency and impact of professional learning across Audit Scotland


• delivering or contributing to a range of reports and other outputs and presenting the findings to colleagues, internal groups including the Personal Development and Growth Group, and external stakeholders


• developing and maintaining productive and professional relationships with colleagues in other business groups at all levels and with other external stakeholders including other audit agencies, learning suppliers and professional bodies


• contributing support and advice to help colleagues and external stakeholders to successfully manage high profile professional learning issues in an authoritative and professional manner


• offering technical expertise and specialist advice to support colleagues and stakeholders to undertake their relevant responsibilities


• monitoring the nature and extent of CPD undertaken by colleagues


• automating and augmenting administrative processes with digital solutions to improve productivitymanaging related corporate activities such as staff surveys, onboarding, performance management systems, and diversity.

Specific knowledge and experience

Essential 

• Associate or Chartered CIPD Membership


• Significant experience as a learning and development professional in a comparable environment


• Proficient in up-to-date technology and best practice in professional learning and development


• High levels of self-awareness and emotional intelligence


• Excellent project management and time management skills


• Experience at developing working relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels


• Skills and experience that give an expert perspective on developing innovative and practical solutions to professional learning issues and objectively evaluating outcomes


• The ability to present balanced findings and recommendations in a clear and persuasive manner


• The ability to give constructive feedback to colleagues on their personal development and skills growth.

Desirable 

• An understanding of the issues faced by an audit organisation


• An understanding of how the Scottish public sector works


• An accounting or auditing qualification

Interested? Next steps 

Click the apply button to complete an application form. If you wish, you can also share your CV. We offer a range of benefits, please visit our careers page for more information. 

Our application deadline is Sunday 26^th March at midnight.

Diversity and Inclusion 

We value the unique perspective a diverse workforce brings to what we do. Therefore, we’re keen to increase representation in our workforce and support progression of minority ethnic groups. We are also a proud disability confident employer. 

How we work 

We employ around 340 staff in a wide variety of roles. They work flexibly at home and in the office as well as from audit sites across Scotland. This isn’t your typical work from home or work from office type job. We’re flexible about working patterns and we’ve transformed how we deliver high-quality public audit. We support you to work in the ways that achieve the best results for you, your team and the business, including your physical location and how you manage your hours. Put simply, we trust you to do your job, and want you to have the ability to have a rewarding work-life balance and best support your individual circumstances, be that childcare, adult carer responsibilities or managing disabilities.  

We welcome applications from across the UK. Some travel to our offices or client sites will be necessary at times, but you don’t need to live in Scotland to work for us. 

Application Options

Additional Information

1. Job description/personal Specification