Non-executive Chair of SPPA Management Advisory Board

The Scottish public Pensions Agency (SPPA) supports people who have dedicated their working lives to serving the communities of Scotland and is seeking talented non-executives to join its Management Advisory Board, to work closely with the Chief Executive and their team. 

This is an exciting time to support the work of the  SPPA as we embark on a journey of public service improvement at the same time as delivering McCloud Remedy, the single biggest challenge facing public pensions administrations. We are introducing automation to our delivery processes and a digital first approach and have a lot to do to move from some of our paper based and manual systems.

The main role of the Management Advisory Board (MAB) is to assist the SPPA in the strategic planning and delivery of its functions and to offer advice, support and challenge to the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Team; assisting SPPA to improve performance, promote good governance, best value, and identify and manage risks.  The SPPA Chief Executive Officer is solely responsible for the overall organisation, management and staffing of SPPA.  The MAB supports the Chief Executive Officer and their Executive Team in focusing on the corporate issues around strategy, risk, performance and corporate governance.  The Board provides advice, support, and challenge in any areas which the Chief Executive Officer would like their assistance, to help SPPA in the decision-making process, so the process and the reasons for decisions are transparent.

Responsibilities

The role of the MAB Chair is to: 

• advise, assist and support the Chief Executive
• chair the Board meetings and lead the Board, ensuring that the Board carries out its functions effectively;
• agree and support the Board’s approach to the establishment of sub-committees, where this is necessary;
• ensure that the Board considers reports issued from established committees;
• undertake other activities as required by the SPPA Chief Executive – e.g. attending performance meetings with Portfolio Accountable Officer.

All individual Board members, including the Chair, are expected to:

• engage with papers and attend Board events on a regular basis in person, or remotely if necessary;
• understand the Agency’s operational environment, keeping up to date with subjects relevant to the Agency’s work, and provide an external perspective to the work of the Agency;
• contribute to the work of the Board, and any committee(s) to which they are appointed, in relation to the areas identified in its role/remit and predominantly in respect to issues of strategy, performance, risk management and resources;
• as far as is practical, support the work of the Agency through ad-hoc advice, working groups and other requests; e.g. involvement in project boards.
• comply at all times with the SPPA Code of Conduct for Non-Executive Members; based upon the key principles outlined in Model code of conduct for members of devolved public bodies;
• take part in the annual appraisal process and contribute to the Board self-assessment.

Full details are set out in the supporting Candidate pack, which includes a short video featuring the current MAB Chair and SPPA Chief Executive.

Skills And Experience

You will be expected to demonstrate evidence of:

1. HR/Workforce planning including equality, diversity and inclusion.
2. Knowledge and/or understanding of pensions industry.
3. Financial management and performance.
4. Executive level public sector experience.
5. Experience of chairing executive meetings.

How To Apply

To apply you will need to have prepared the following:

• A Recent Cv

• A Supporting Statement

  Your supporting statement should be no longer than 1,000 words and sets out how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provides evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the responsibilities and criteria listed above
• Your CV should set out your life or career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. 
• Please also declare any conflicts of interest that you have identified. If you are invited to interview this will be discussed in more detail.

NOTE: We require a CV and a supporting statement to consider your application. 

Remuneration And Time Commitment

• £320 per day for a time commitment of 10-15 days per year.  
• Reasonable expenses incurred will be reimbursed.  
• The appointment is initially for four years, with a maximum tenure of eight years.
• This non-executive appointment is non-pensionable.

Further information is available in the Candidate pack and you can contact SPPAGovernance@gov.scot if you wish to discuss.

About Us

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) is an Agency of the Scottish Government, and our principal role is to administer the pensions for over 600,000 members and pay pensions to over 200, 000 pensioners of the National Health Service, Teachers, Police and Firefighters pension schemes in Scotland.  The Agency administers these public service pension schemes on behalf of Scottish Ministers, with a current annual pension spend of over £3 billion to pensioners.  In addition, the SPPA has a key role in providing expert advice on, and leading, the development of secondary legislation for public service pensions policy on behalf of Scottish Ministers.

Our people are at the heart of the SPPA. We have a strong focus on developing our people and supporting diversity and inclusion in the organisation, to ensure we are a vibrant organisation working hard to deliver pensions accurately and on time for our members.  We are keen to encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds and varied experience, with a real enthusiasm and commitment to public service.  If the challenge of supporting us on our journey to improve our service excites you and you think you have the necessary integrity, skills and experience then we would like to hear from you.

SPPA is currently seeking to appoint a MAB Chair and two MAB Board members.  We hope to receive applications from a wide range of talented people irrespective of their religion or belief, age, sex, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, political belief, relationship status or caring responsibilities.

If you have a disability and require an adjustment at any stage of the process, please get in touch with SPPAGovernance@gov.scot

Apply before: 26 October 2025 (23:59)