Head of Protocol and Honours

Job Description

Are you a strategic leader with a talent for providing clear direction, maintaining key relationships and driving coordinated  efforts across teams? 

The post holder will be responsible for oversight of all Royal and Ceremonial events and activity in Scotland including maintaining relationships with The Royal Households and acting as principal contact for all 35 Lord Lieutenants and Clerks across Scotland; supporting the Deputy Director in their role as the Secretary of Commissions in their responsibilities to the Commissioners for the safeguarding of Scottish regalia, and for oversight of Scottish honours nominations.

The team sits within Cabinet, Parliament and Governance division and provides advice to officials across the Scottish Government about all Royal and Ceremonial matters and supports the First Minister and Government in discharging responsibilities for relationships with The King and The Royal Households.

This is a challenging, high profile post with regular exposure to senior managers, stakeholders and Ministers. A key feature of this post is the need to be able to quickly form and maintain effective partnerships and relationships with senior representatives from a range of diverse backgrounds and sectors, sharing information, resources and support to deliver a diverse range of objectives at pace and with professionalism and expertise. 

Responsibilities

• Strategic coordination of Royal & Ceremonial events across Scotland providing support and advice to the FM and officials on all matters relating to Protocol and leading on work undertaken with the offices of the Earl Marshal of England, Lord Chamberlain and Lord Lyon to ensure that the methods of working and processes the Scottish Government are adopting are in line with the views of the Royal Household.
• Operation Unicorn - work with the Lord Lyon, Lyon Clerk and the Deputy Director for Cabinet, Parliament and Legislation Division to co-ordinate the Scottish Government’s contribution to Operation Unicorn.
• Scottish Honours nominations, providing direction and oversight in relation to the work relating to Scottish honours nominations as processed by the team.  Ensure Cabinet Office quotas are met for all nine committees, nominations represent the diversity of the people of Scotland, and liaise with the Cabinet Office Honours Secretariat as required.  
• Maintain relationships with the network, overseeing payment of expenses, working with the Scottish Chair to deliver an annual Scottish conference and supporting recruitment and appointment processes.
• Management of a Royal and Ceremonial budget of circa £400k; Oversight of all Ministerial Correspondence (MiCase) and Freedom of Information (FOI) responses; maintenance of the team task tracker and desk instructions.
• Contribute to the strategic direction of wider CPG division through membership of divisional management team, contributing to development of strategic objectives, improvement work, knowledge management divisional business plan, data protection impact assessments and other corporate tasks.
• Lead the Protocol and Honours team setting short and medium term priorities, managing delivery of workload and identifying and facilitating training needs.

Success Profile

Experience

• Experience working with Ministers and senior stakeholders is required.
• Experience in delivering events would be beneficial but is not essential.

Behaviours

• Working Together - (Level 4)
• Delivering at Pace - (Level 4)
• Managing a Quality Service - (Level 4)
• Changing and Improving - (Level 4)
• Leadership - (Level 4)
   

You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here: Behaviour levels - Success profiles: candidate guide - gov.scot

How to apply

The 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 Pattern

Our standard hours are 35 hours per week.  We offer a range of flexible and hybrid working options depending on the needs of the role. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for,  please contact us.

Equality Statement

We 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 information

Find 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.