Policy Officer for Implementing the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025

This is an Expression of Interest (EOI) opportunity, available on a lateral move basis only. Applications are open to Core Scottish Government employees only. Job Title: Policy Officer for Implementing the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 Business Area / Directorate: Land Reform, Rural and Islands Policy Division within Directorate for Local Government and Communities Location: Hybrid (Edinburgh / Glasgow) The Land Reform Unit includes staff based in Atlantic Quay (Glasgow), Saughton House (Edinburgh) and Victoria Quay (Edinburgh) offices. There is flexibility to be based at any of these office locations. In line with our current ways of working, our team follows a hybrid working approach where colleagues use a mix of office based and remote working (working from home) but typically are expected to spend 40% of the working week in the office or engaging stakeholders. Grade: B2 Advert Type: Level Transfer Duration: Permanent Eligibility: Expressions of interest are invited from substantive colleagues from SG Core only on level transfer. 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 Land Reform Unit includes staff based in Atlantic Quay (Glasgow), Saughton House (Edinburgh) and Victoria Quay (Edinburgh) offices. There is flexibility to be based at any of these office locations. In line with our current ways of working, our team follows a hybrid working approach where colleagues use a mix of office based and remote working (working from home) but typically are expected to spend 40% of the working week in the office or engaging stakeholders. Land Reform is a highly political area of policy that has been a priority of successive Governments since devolution. Land Reform at its heart is about how control, influence and ownership over our limited landmass is distributed across society. Policy areas under the broad umbrella of Land Reform, some of which lie outwith the unit, include the various Community Rights to Buy, the Scottish Land Fund, legislation around agricultural tenancies, sponsorship of the Scottish Land Commission, policies relating to transparency of control/ownership of land, projects on how landowners should engage with communities, and production of the government’s Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement. The Government recently passed the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025. This landmark legislation will: Require owners of large landholdings to engage with local communities, including through the development of publicly available Land Management Plans which will be hosted by a public sector agency. Enable communities to be pre-notified of land sales to they have more opportunity to buy land in a way that benefits the local area – including through utilising their Community Right to Buy Give Ministers new powers to require that large estates are sold into separate lots – thereby reducing concentration of land ownership in Scotland Create a new Land and Communities Commissioner (LCC) to be part of the Scottish Land Commission. The LCC will enforce some of the obligations on landowners in the Act and also have a role in advising on the lotting of landholdings. Though the Act has now passed, significant amounts of secondary legislation and guidance are needed before the policies can come into effect. The holder of this policy officer post will play a key role in the implementation of the Act in the coming years. This is an opportunity to work on the delivery of landmark legislation that - once fully implemented - will impact over 50% of Scotland’s land. You will have the chance to work with stakeholders across rural Scotland, and work on policy development and secondary legislation and guidance, all whilst being part of a friendly, supportive and welcoming unit. We are seeking an individual who embraces working with a team to deliver for ministers, who has a strong interest in developing policy and legislation and who has a positive and supportive working style. Key Responsibilities: Stakeholder engagement Lead on planning and co-ordinating internal and external stakeholder engagement, building on existing stakeholder planning work, and working with the wider team to ensure it meets wider team objectives. Provide secretariat support to working groups and stakeholder forums, including arranging meetings, preparing papers and recording outcomes. Policy development and legislation Support policy development workstreams for various areas of the Act, including leading on discrete parts of these policy workstreams with support from senior colleagues. Work with policy colleagues and SGLD on instructions for elements of secondary legislation. Contribute to the drafting of statutory and non-statutory guidance, consultation materials and other areas of policy implementation. Assist with the preparation of impact assessments Policy support Support the development of briefing for Ministers and senior officials by coordinating contributions from policy leads, including co-ordinating weekly FMQ updates. Draft Micase, PQs, engagement briefings and FOI responses . The role offers an excellent opportunity to further develop skills across stakeholder engagement, use of evidence and analysis, legislation, working with Ministers and broader policy development skills, including for those looking to deepen those skills to move to a B3 role in future. Success Profile Technical/Professional Skills: Policy Context and Purpose - Developing Understand the policy process. Develop expertise within the policy are to operate credibly and effectively. Embed cross-cutting policy objectives and responsibilities. Participation and Engagement - Developing Enable participation by stakeholders in the policy process. Seek enhanced transparency and openness. Deliver effective external communication. Working with Ministers - Developing Deliver effective internal communication. Write for different audiences and purposes, including scrutiny. Experience desired but not required Stakeholder engagement (both internal and external), including building effective working relationships and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to achieve shared objectives. Effective written and verbal communication, with the ability to present information clearly and concisely to different audiences. Ministerial and policy support, including experience of drafting Micases, PQs and briefings. Understanding of policy process and/or experience of using evidence to make recommendations and draft advice. Behaviours: Working together - Level 3 Making Effective Decisions - Level 3 Communicating and influencing - Level 3 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 Eleanor Stanley/ Nye Todd ( [email protected] / [email protected] ). Colleagues interested in finding out more about the role are welcome to contact Eleanor or Nye for an informal discussion before applying. How to apply Please submit an Expression of Interest (maximum 500 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. Vacancy closes at 23:59 on Monday 10 August. 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. For any questions relating to your expression of interest please contact Eleanor Stanley ( [email protected] ) or Nye Todd ( [email protected] ). Selection Process Interviews will take the form of an informal discussion with the hiring manager and another member of the team during w/c 10 August (subject to change). You may be asked to answer some competency-style questions. Further information on this will be shared with you if you are invited to an interview. Skilled Worker Sponsorship not being offered 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. 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: Monday 10 August (23:59). Applications will only be accepted from substantive grade staff from within Core SG only.