Police Forensics Policy Team Leader
Scottish Government RecruitmentJob Title: Forensics Policy Team Leader
Directorate: Safer Communities, Police Division
Location: 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: 6 months
Eligibility: Expressions of interest are invited from eligible staff in Bands A – 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
The Forensics team has a sponsorship role with the SPA Forensic service, maintaining constructive and strategic relationships to ensure they meet their statutory duties. The team is supporting the development of SPA Forensic services full business case for the Long Term Sustainable Model for drug driving testing, providing scrutiny and challenge to ensure best value.
In addition, the team maintains a strategic relationship with the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner, a public office holder accountable to the Scottish Parliament. This includes engagement on ensuring that the use of biometric technologies by policing bodies is lawful, ethical and proportionate. The team also has statutory responsibilities this year, including carrying out a review of the Commissioner’s functions and laying a report before the Scottish Parliament by November. It will engage on the Commissioner’s review of his statutory Code of Practice and lay the necessary regulations to bring the revised Code into effect. Connected to this, the UK Government will shortly introduce a Bill to establish a new legal framework for live facial recognition technology and wider biometric oversight. The team must be fully engaged in cross‑government discussions and prepared to advise Ministers at pace.
Police Division’s primary role is to oversee and support the policing system in Scotland, as established through the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, providing challenge where appropriate. The division holds the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), including their Forensic Services, to account, ensuring that policing operates within robust governance frameworks and is transparent, fair, and committed to continuous improvement.
We are looking to recruit a C1 team leader for a temporary period of six months, who will play a pivotal role in meeting these statutory requirements and parliamentary expectations.
Key Responsibilities
- Retention period review: Working group with Police Scotland, SPA and Scottish Biometrics Commissioner (SBC) on options appraisal for biometric data retention and thereafter provide advice to ministers on whether legislative change is necessary.
- Strategic engagement with UKG on their proposals to legislate this year on the use of biometric technologies by policing bodies, including Live Facial Recognition. Provide advice to Ministers on how we should respond in Scotland.
- Oversee the statutory review of the SBC’s functions and consideration of any consequential legislative changes, ensuring effective project planning, governance and resourcing to deliver the statutory report to Parliament by November 2026 and support any ensuing legislative activity.
- Oversight of SPA delivery of drug driving and development of their Long Term Sustainable Model.
- Provide strong and effective leadership and cross team collaboration within the division, serving as a strategic link between our units to ensure alignment and prioritisation of workstreams.
- Line management of one B3 and countersigning responsibility for one B2.
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.
Experience
A proven track record of providing high quality policy advice, including to ministers and senior officials, and of explaining complex issues in a way that is easy to understand.
Behaviours
Communicating and influencing – Level 4
Making effective decisions – Level 4
Seeing the big picture – Level 4
You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here: Behaviour levels - Success profiles: candidate guide
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.
Further Information
Further information about this opportunity is available from kevin.lee@gov.scot
How to apply
Please submit an Expression of Interest (maximum 750 words) outlining your suitability for the role, relevant skills and experience, and what you would bring to the team. Please align this to how you meet the behaviours, experience and technical skills listed in the Success Profile above.
Vacancies close at 23:59pm on Wednesday 7 October.
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 informal interview scheduled for w/c 19 October, however this may be subject to change.
Temporary Promotion (If Applicable)
Please click the link to access further guidance and information on overview and eligibility Temporary promotion
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: 07/10/2026 (23:59). This role is open to internal candidates and common citizenship organisations only.