Strategic Relationship Manager

Job Description

Do you have excellent attention to detail and the confidence to advise and engage with colleagues and stakeholders, including Ministers, at all levels? 

The Directorate for Business and Better Regulation is a Directorate within DG Economy. We work with colleagues across the Scottish Government and its agencies to improve policy and project delivery and its impact upon the business environment in Scotland. 

We recognise that business engagement is key to successful delivery of policy outcomes. And that improved business relationships are essential to the sustainable and purposeful economic growth that is required to deliver all public policy objectives. We support colleagues to deliver enduring culture change, for the benefit of Scotland as a whole.

We are a small directorate with a strong team ethos. We aspire to work as efficiently as possible, with clear purpose and priorities. We are productive, with a focus on outcomes. We are a great place to work, with opportunities to progress and support each other to develop our skills and deliver our objectives. We hold ourselves, and one another, to the highest standards in our work and in our conduct.

The Strategic Relationships Unit is part of the Business Relationships Division.  The unit engages with business organisations, industry bodies and business leaders regularly on a cross-sectoral basis on the strategic priorities for Scotland. We work closely with our stakeholders to ensure ministerial or senior official engagement is meaningful and targeted to the right audience at the right time. 

Brief Summary of Role

• Support the Strategic Relationships Unit Head to manage the relationships with the BROs, the ILG sectoral leads as well as high profile stakeholders form private and public sector including UK Government.
• Independently produce high quality briefing as well as providing support – in person when required - at meetings/events as appropriate. Leading on providing high quality MiCase, PQs, FMQ, PQ, FOI/ Review requests, ensuring that these are responded to within the set deadlines.
• Lead on creation of Scottish Government driven economy events with a strategic focus.
• Lead on preparing first drafts on more complex submissions where appropriate.
• Working with the Strategic Relationships policy managers s to oversee the secretariat function for meetings between ministers, officials and stakeholders. This includes ensuring that agendas have a strategic focus and have been drafted, and high-quality meeting papers have been commissioned from relevant policy areas as well as ensure an action tracker is maintained and any required activity delivered within agreed deadlines.
• In line with the Scottish Government’s Information Management Strategy, you will be responsible for ensuring that an appropriate and accurate record of any meetings is produced, will seek clearance via the private office and store in the relevant file in eRDM. 

Success profileSuccess profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on. Behaviours:

• Communicating & Influencing – Level 3
• Developing Self & Others – Level 3
• Changing & Improving – Level 3
• Making Effective Decisions – Level 3

You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here: Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours (publishing.service.gov.uk) How to applyApply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement  of no more than 1000 words which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above. 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. If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and presentation.  Assessments are scheduled for w/c 27 October 2025 however this may be subject to change. About usThe 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, 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. Working patternOur standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options depending on the needs of the role. From October 2025, the Scottish Government will require staff in hybrid-compatible roles to work in-person 40% of the time, either in an office or other agreed work location. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us. Security checksSuccessful 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 statementWe 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 informationFind 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; 9th October (23:59) This post is open to internal candidates, OGD and Common Citizenship organisations only.