Business Partner – Organisational Development, Leadership & Learning

Flexible Location: Based throughout Scotland, NES is a remote friendly employer supporting office and hybrid working. We’re happy to talk about how you want to work.

Work Pattern: Fixed Term, Full Time, 37 hours per week

Fixed-term or Secondment** until September 30^th 2025 with potential extension to 31 March 2026

**For NHS applicants, an NHS secondment will be offered in the first instance. For non-NHS applicants, a fixed-term or secondment would be considered.

You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be maintained throughout your period of employment.

Who We Are

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is the national health board with statutory responsibilities to effect sustainable change through workforce development, education and training across the health and social care system in Scotland, while working at UK level with partner organisations.

The Workforce Directorate works at a national level to support the delivery of NES’s strategic plan and is a key partner to the delivery of Scottish Government priorities for the health and social care workforce. It also provides a comprehensive People and Organisational Development strategy and service for the people who work for NES and externally to NHSScotland in the recruitment of medical and dental trainees and other vocational trainee groups. This role sits in the HR Function within the Workforce Directorate.

The Opportunity

We are looking for an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual to be part of our talented and highly versatile team, based at our NES offices in Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Are you passionate about developing people, driving change, and shaping the future of learning and leadership? Do you thrive in fast-paced, ever-evolving environments where you can influence and improve ways of working? If so, this Business Partner – OD, Leadership, and Learning role could be the perfect fit for you!

We’re looking for an enthusiastic, self-motivated professional to join our talented and highly versatile team, based at our NES offices in Edinburgh or Glasgow. This is a fantastic opportunity to play a key role in delivering strategic Learning & Development (L&D), Organisational Development (OD), and leadership initiatives that support NHS Scotland’s workforce.

In this dynamic and hands-on role, you’ll work closely with senior leaders, directorates, and internal and external stakeholders to embed innovative learning solutions, leadership development, and workforce support strategies. You’ll contribute to wellbeing initiatives, management development programmes, and new ways of working, ensuring NES continues to evolve as a learning organisation.

This role offers challenge, variety, and the chance to make a real impact. If you’re excited by the idea of shaping how people learn, lead, and grow within NHS Scotland, we’d love to hear from you!

What We Love to See

Business Partners offer a broad range of skills and experience, if you can offer some or all of these, we’d love you to apply:

• Bring Your Expertise – Drive education, leadership, and workforce initiatives that make NES a true learning organisation.
• Shape Success – Help embed performance management, engagement, and learning strategies across NES.
• Grow Our Workforce – Support talent retention and attraction through career pathways and skills development.
• Empower Leaders – Deliver leadership resources like the NES Line Managers Handbook and learning networks.
• Support Learning – Enhance PDPPR processes to ensure meaningful performance conversations and career growth.
• Drive Change – Support hybrid working, wellbeing, and digital learning initiatives to evolve how we work.
• Create Impact – Design and deliver practical, evidence-based solutions to workforce challenges.
• Demonstrate honesty, integrity, care and compassion when dealing with others, utilising tact and persuasion skills when necessary.
• Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise own workloads, to meet strict deadlines.

Benefits Which Matter

As a valued employee of NHS Scotland, you can enjoy an extensive range of benefits including:

• Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and hybrid working.
• Generous NHS pension scheme.
• Annual incremental salary progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review.
• Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday.
• NHS discounts and more.

Diversity and Inclusion

Developing a successful national service for Scotland is impossible without ensuring we consider the diverse needs, perspectives and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland in our work.

We are focused on hiring the very best talent available for NES, and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and aim to ensure everyone is treated fairly, with respect and has a positive recruitment experience – regardless of the outcome.

If you are considering applying and feel it would be helpful to discuss this initially, please contact Stuart Caulfield – Senior Specialist Lead (Internal Learning & Development) – Stuart.Caulfield@nhs.scot

Next Steps

**NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.

Our recruitment process is currently 100% remote and if successful you would initially work remotely, working from our offices as operationally required.

All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.

Online interviews (including a presentation) will take place on 26^th & 27^th March 2025. The presentation topic will be sent to candidates selected for interview.

For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.

Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.

If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: EoS.ERRS@nhs.scot