DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE

WHO WE ARE

Scottish Autism is Scotland’s national autism charity and a company limited by guarantee. With almost 1,000 staff working across Scotland and a head office in Alloa, we offer a diverse range of direct services for around 450 autistic people including education, day and vocational opportunities, residential, supported living, outreach, respite and specialist transition support. We also provide general and specialist advice to a large number of autistic people, health and social care professionals, carers, employers and others through our advice line and One Stop Shop.

We are dedicated to enriching the lives of autistic people and enabling their voices to be heard. We are constantly learning and pushing the boundaries of quality which takes our partnership working beyond the UK and into Europe in particular.

Scottish Autism has a loyal and dedicated staff team. To date, over 136 members of staff have been with Scottish Autism for between five and nine years and 203 members of staff have been with us for over ten years.

OUR VISION

A world where autistic people are understood and enabled to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives as valued members of the community.

To enable autistic people to lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.

OUR MISSION

OUR VALUES

COLLABORATION

We work with others and value their opinions.

We never stand still, we move positively forward always focussed on quality and being the best.

COMPASSION

We work with each other and the people we support with care and kindness.

CHANGE MAKERS CONTRIBUTION

We love what we do, we never lose sight of our purpose and the difference we make in society.

THE ROLE – DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Scottish Autism is transforming as we look to fulfil our mission of enabling autistic people to lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives. We’ve come a long way but we’ve still got a way to go, so we are now looking for an exceptional Director of People and Culture to help us put our own people at the heart of what we do and deliver our mission!

You need to be passionate about people and organisational culture as well as understand that our people play a huge part in creating a world where autistic people are valued and empowered to fulfil their potential. We are looking for a creative and dynamic individual who will champion change and have the leadership skills to take others with them. Your coaching style will underpin a strong focus on performance and outcomes and your external focus and networking skills will ensure that we are able to influence sector debate and thinking through our people.

Location: Head Office (Alloa) Travel to other services throughout Scotland will be required

Salary: Circa £65k per annum Benefits: 41 days annual leave

Non Contributory Life Assurance Scheme

Workplace Pension

Car Allowance (£6,132 per annum)

ROLE PURPOSE AND SCOPE

• As a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), reporting to the Chief Executive, work collaboratively to ensure the delivery of Scottish Autism’s vision, values and strategic objectives.

• Act as the organisational lead in the development of People and Culture plans to prepare the organisation for future success and ensure a one-team culture.

• Maintain an external focus and build appropriate partnerships. Represent the organisation, acting as an ambassador to enhance its reputation.

The scope of the role, which has the potential to increase over time, includes:

• An annual budget in the region of £0.4 million;

• A directorate comprising around 7 staff;

PERSON SPECIFICATION

QUALIFICATIONS

• Appropriate professional qualification e.g. Chartered Member of CIPD.

• Degree level education or equivalent through relevant experience.

EXPERIENCE

• A professional HR/OD leader with experience of working to Board-level, with a proven track record in delivering a successful people agenda.

• Skilled in driving and embedding people strategies with a values-based approach and creating coaching environments to drive quality and performance.

• Experience of culture change and transformation activity.

• Experience of supporting the Chief Executive to develop leadership teams which set the direction and expectations that enable our people to deliver our ambitious strategic aims.

SKILLS/APPROACH

We are looking for someone who:

• Is able to manage multi-disciplinary and complex stakeholder relationships.

• Has excellent presentation and interpersonal skills with an approachable style that generates confidence and understanding.

• Is a strategic thinker with well-developed business skills and able to translate strategy into action.

• Acts as a change agent, constantly seeking new ideas from the wider sector to improve our services and drive efficiency.

• Is aligned with Scottish Autism’s values and is inspired by our vision and mission to deliver a complimentary people strategy.

• Would be proud to work for Scottish Autism and who will actively seek to contribute to making life better for the individuals we support and their families.

• Appreciates and values the uniqueness we all bring to Scottish Autism and can use our diverse people’s attributes to Scottish Autism’s benefit.

• Has tenacity and seeks to solve problems through solutions thinking.

• Shouts about the good things they see and is positive and encouraging with their team and beyond.

• Has the ability to take a big picture view and contribute to the SLT on a wide range of experiences.

• Has the ability to build high levels of trust, openness, honesty, collaboration and support across teams.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

STRATEGIC INPUT

• Work with the Chief Executive and other SLT members to contribute to the short, medium and long-term strategies for HR, people and culture change.

• Provide strategic advice, information and expertise to senior colleagues and the Board in respect of HR, OD and culture issues.

• Work closely with the Chief Executive and SLT to play a leading role in shaping Scottish Autism’s culture and building the leadership capability that sets the direction and expectations we have of our people to deliver our ambitious strategies.

LEADERSHIP

• Provide a coaching style of leadership, which empowers and encourages high performance and creativity, across a range of colleagues many of whom are outside line management of the role.

• Lead and engage the team in the People and Culture Directorate ensuring that our staff are properly aligned to support the delivery of the Strategic Plan.

• Provide effective leadership and support to managers and staff, role modelling a leadership style with vision and drive which inspires and motivates others to change.

• Play a leading role in identifying and developing the leadership capability across Scottish Autism including talent management and succession planning.

COMPLIANCE AND CONTROL

• Work with the Chief Executive, SLT and Board members to ensure effective governance and accountability across the Directorate.

• Provide appropriate and timely information, supporting an open and transparent dialogue across senior leaders and non-executives, setting high standards of probity.

• Ensure the risks within the Directorate’s activities are identified and mitigated effectively and that decisions are made within a robust risk assessment framework.

• Ensure compliance with key policy and procedure in areas such as health and safety; equalities and diversity; data protection; code of conduct and all other statutory requirements, which are routinely checked for compliance.

DELIVERY AND IMPACT

• Ensure the development and delivery of an agile, empowered, professional service underpinned by robust business systems and management information.

• Lead on working with SLT colleagues to ensure the development of a one-team culture across Scottish Autism.

• Ensure plans are cascaded through the business, aligned to agreed behaviours and values, in support of the overall vision.

• Lead the development, delivery, monitoring and review of Scottish Autism’s people and culture strategies including setting KPIs for these areas.

• Ensure, in collaboration with the Chief Executive and SLT, that our people and teams across Scottish Autism continue to be properly designed, structured and aligned to support delivery of our Strategic Plan.

• Further develop and implement Scottish Autism’s Pay and Reward Strategies to ensure that we can continue to provide value for money as well as fairness.

• Implement new or enhance existing modern and innovative Recognition and People Engagement Strategies that we may recruit, retain and enable our people to be the best they can.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

• Provide support and development to the People and Culture Team to ensure it is structured and resourced to deliver the strategic aims.

• Lead a strong performance culture and commitment to excellence with a focus on end to end quality services.

• Ensure Scottish Autism has a transformational staff performance development approach within a coaching framework.

• Anticipate changes and plan for the delivery of new products and services in line with agreed plans.

EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Maintain and develop effective professional networks that will add value to Scottish Autism’s work and ensure that it is viewed as an influential and reliable partner.

• Develop long term relationships with policy makers and sector leaders to influence sector debate and thinking on culture and people matters.

No leadership role profile can be entirely comprehensive, the post holder will be required to undertake additional duties from time to time, in line with the above responsibilities, as required by the Chief Executive.

Interested candidates should provide a tailored CV and covering letter to caroline.nolan@scottishautism.org

Your covering letter should demonstrate your motivation and passion to work for Scottish Autism as well as giving an overview of your

most relevant skills and experience for the role.

You can contact Dorry McLaughlin, Chief Executive, on 01259 720044 if you would like an informal discussion about the role.

R E C R U I T M E N T T I M E L I N E

Friday 6th March, 12noon: Closing date

Monday 16th March: First Stage Interview with CE and a Board Member

Wednesday 1st April: Final Stage Interview with CE and three Board Members will include:

• Psychometric Exercise

• 45 minute interview

• 10 minute presentation (topic will be detailed in the invite to interview)

• Stakeholder Engagement Exercise

HOW TO APPLY FOR THIS ROLE