Job Advert
Head of Careers Development and Employability
NHS Lothian
Open doors. Develop potential. Shape our future workforce.
Could you help turn access to employment and career development into life-changing opportunities? We are seeking a strategic, compassionate and innovative leader to lead our careers development and employability portfolio, connecting the ambitions of individuals with the workforce needs of our services.
This is an opportunity to shape how people enter, develop and progress within NHS Lothian. Bringing together employability, apprenticeships, education and workforce development, you will help build sustainable career pathways, widen participation and ensure that learning creates meaningful opportunities for both our future workforce and existing colleagues.
About the role
Working within our People and Culture Directorate, you will report to the Associate Director of Learning, Skills, Workplace Innovation and Staff Wellbeing. You will provide strategic and operational leadership across a varied portfolio, translating organisational priorities and national policy into practical programmes that deliver measurable benefits.
You will develop and deliver an organisational approach to careers development and employability that supports workforce planning, responds to skills gaps and strengthens progression opportunities. Your remit will include modern and graduate apprenticeships, schools’ engagement, experiences of work and employability pathways that help people overcome barriers to employment.
Working collaboratively with services, education providers, local authorities, trade unions and third-sector partners, you will connect workforce demand with accessible education and development pathways. You will identify funding opportunities, make effective use of resources and build sustainable approaches that balance immediate service pressures with longer-term workforce needs.
Digital skills, inclusive learning and innovation will be central to your work. You will champion approaches that improve access, recognise prior learning and help colleagues develop the capabilities needed for changing roles and services.
About you
You will bring significant experience of designing, delivering, managing and evaluating education or learning programmes and strategies, alongside a strong understanding of further and higher education and relevant funding arrangements.
Educated to master’s degree level SCQF Level 11 (or equivalent). You will combine strategic thinking with the ability to turn plans into delivery, using evidence and quality improvement to demonstrate impact.
An accomplished communicator and relationship builder, you will be confident influencing senior decision-makers, navigating competing priorities and bringing partners together around shared goals. You will lead compassionately, support staff wellbeing and create an environment where people can contribute, learn and challenge constructively.
You will also bring curiosity, sound judgement and a creative approach to solving complex problems, alongside a commitment to your own continuing professional development.
Why this opportunity?
This role offers the opportunity to connect workforce sustainability with wider social impact. Through employment, education and career progression, you will help strengthen NHS Lothian’s contribution as an anchor institution while supporting services to develop the workforce they need.
If you are motivated by widening opportunity, developing potential and building partnerships that make a lasting difference, we would welcome your application.
Details:
The post is 36 hours a week, worked during ‘office hours’ Monday – Friday
Office base: Comely Bank Centre
Please read the job description and person specification for full details of the role and requirements before submitting your application.
We hope to hold interviews week beginning 14th December
The process will involve a panel based live scenario discussion, followed by a formal interview
For further information please contact: Amanda Langsley, Associate Director Learning, Skills, Workplace Innovation and Staff Wellbeing: Amanda.langsley@nhs.scot or 07817257976
NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society. We will fully support disabled candidates, and candidates with long-term conditions or who are neurodivergent by making reasonable adjustments to our recruitment policy and practices.
AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot can be great for planning and preparing your application—but your answers must be your own.
- Show us the real you: Your application should reflect your skills, experience, and motivations authentically.
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- Why this matters: Applications that rely on AI-generated content may be withdrawn. By applying, you confirm your responses are based on your own knowledge and achievements.
Tip: Think of AI as a helper, not a substitute. We want to understand you—not an AI tool.
To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service. Further information on what NHS Scotland Boards are required to do to check this as well as what your responsibilities include can be found in the further information for this vacancy.
This post requires the post holder to have a PVG Scheme membership/record. If the post holder is not a current PVG member for the required regulatory group (i.e. child and/or adult) then an application will need to be made to Disclosure Scotland and deemed satisfactory before they can begin in post.