Director of Corporate Services and Transformation, Forestry and Land Scotland

Forestry & Land Scotland (FLS) is an agency of the Scottish Government (SG) responsible for managing Scotland’s national forests and land. With around 640,000ha of forests and land (9% of the total area of Scotland) there are many areas of potential in which to make a positive contribution for FLS, for the people of Scotland, and to the climate change agenda. As a business, FLS generates around £85M of timber income annually, with a total turnover from all trading and activities in excess of £120Mpa. As the largest provider of outdoor recreation in Scotland, we welcome over ten million visitors per year and generate £110 million of tourism spend for the wider Scottish economy.

This is an exciting time for FLS: we are on a journey of transforming our business to make it completely financially sustainable and ensure that FLS delivers its Vision: “forests and land that Scotland can be proud of”. This necessitates an innovative and agile approach as we explore new markets; develop partnerships; create commercial opportunities; and explore funding sources. We must also manage what we have already as efficiently as possible.

We are currently seeking a visionary and strategically minded leader to join us as the Director of Corporate Services and Transformation who will head up one of four Directorates to support five Regions. This is a permanent, pensionable role at Senior Civil Service Level 1 (SCS1) with a salary range of £90,718 - £94,383. Location is flexible across Scotland; in-office attendance each week – usually 2 days - will be required, the exact pattern and location of which will be discussed with the successful candidate.

To succeed in this role, you will be an outstanding, passionate leader, able to deliver at strategic, tactical and operational levels with the ability to catalyse collaborative change. Typically, you will have professional background in a corporate services discipline, a shrewd commercial brain and, ideally, experience across both the public and private sector. More importantly, you will have a track record of leading high-performing teams through significant change, and of demonstrating forward-thinking and innovative delivery. 

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive, your twin objectives will be leading our transformation agenda across our business; and delivering operational excellence across our corporate services platform. You will provide strategic leadership to the corporate services team (c.150 staff) and Heads of Profession in Finance, People, Communications and Corporate functions. 

Key objectives will include:

1. Transformation: driving the agency-wide transformation agenda towards a financially sustainable model, fostering a culture of focus on commercial return on investment, data-driven decision making and continuous improvement for innovation and productivity.
2. Strategy: developing and executing a robust Corporate Services and Transformational (CST) strategy aligned with FLS's aspirations. This will ensure CST can fully support development of commercial activities across FLS, aiming to enhance operational effectiveness, meet legal obligations, and deliver relevant services which are fit for purpose.
3. Sharing Corporate Leadership: supporting the Chief Executive as a member of the Strategic Board (SAB) and Executive Leadership Team (ELT) to deliver FLS’s business strategy.
4. Leadership of Directorate: articulating a clear vision for the Directorate which ensures alignment with customer and stakeholder needs, and engaging energetically across FLS to deliver it.   
5. Delivery: delivering business excellence in Finance, People, Communications and Government services to FLS. Line-managing Heads of Profession across CST, and providing strategic leadership across a team of c.150.
6. Performance: driving a step-change in FLS’s performance management and accountability including development of a corporate balance scorecard, thus helping to ensure that the agency delivers its objectives and Scottish Ministers’ ambitions and priorities.
7. Governance/Assurance: Overseeing and streamlining governance across FLS as a whole to enable agile decision making. This includes risk, resilience and assurance as well as compliance with all statutory responsibilities and financial regulations. Acting collegiately and with integrity to promote diversity and inclusion at board level and across the organisation.

It is essential that you evidence a successful track record of the following:

Specialist Expertise

• Leading large-scale change initiatives, ideally with a professional background in a corporate services discipline
• Strong commercial awareness and ideally experience across both the public and private sector. 

Leadership Criteria

Understanding and developing self

• A strong understanding of yourself as a leader, as well as a passion for your work and your own continuous personal development. This includes acting as a role model for inclusive leadership by clearly articulating, with courage and humility, how your personal life experiences and background impact on your thinking and behaviour.

Leading others

• Making high quality decisions which balance risk and stakeholder interests to deliver outcomes;
• Strong communication skills and the ability to build visibility and awareness with partners and stakeholders.

Leading collectively

• Taking an effective whole system approach to complex, dynamic issues; actively developing wide networks internally and externally, breaking down and collaborating across barriers to deliver outcomes;
• Being a visible corporate leader, influencing and supporting corporate activities and goals as a member of a senior team.

Developing others

• Embedding an inclusive, learning and wellbeing culture in your teams, trusting and empowering others and enabling high performance and innovation;
• Encouraging others to question, challenge the status quo, and experiment; creating space for creative thinking;
• Setting clear direction and managing change effectively, empowering teams to respond swiftly and flexibly; persevering in the face of challenge and obstacles;
• Thinking ahead to future challenges; working with teams to prepare and proactively build capacity and collective resilience.

How to apply

Applications should be submitted no later than 23:55 on Thursday 12 September 2024.

Please consult the Candidate Pack when preparing your application.

To apply, you will need to submit an online registration form via the Applicant Tracking System (iCIMS), and supply the following supporting documents, again through iCIMS:

• A CV including your contact details; relevant and recent employment history; qualifications that are relevant to your application; and skills and interests (these can be used to describe any additional training or abilities relevant to your application).
• A Supporting Statement (no longer than 1500 words) which relates your personal skills, qualities and experience to the requirements of the role, and the essential criteria, as described in the Candidate Pack.

The system will acknowledge your application.