Chair appointment to the board of the Scottish Food Commission

Appointment of the Chair to the Scottish Food Commision

This is an exciting opportunity to shape and influence the development of a new public body: the Scottish Food Commission. It is expected that the Commission will be formally established by mid-2025.

The Scottish Food Commission is a new non-departmental public body that is to be established to provide an oversight role of provisions made in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022.

As the first chair of the Scottish Food Commission, this appointment will play a crucial role in shaping the future and strategic direction of this new public body.

You will be actively involved in the recruitment of the chief executive, the first member of staff to the Scottish Food Commission, and in appointing the other members of the board.

You will work closely with the sponsor team and the chief executive, once in place, to enable the new public body to take on its statutory functions and full budgetary control once it is established.

Once the body is fully established you will be key in ensuring the Commission effectively fulfils its oversight role and provides constructive challenge, that is evidence based, to Scottish Ministers and relevant authorities in relation to their Good Food Nation Plans.

This is a high publicity role that will attract great interest from key stakeholders interested in the Scottish food system.

Remuneration and time commitment

The chair role is paid at a gross daily rate of £211 per day (7.5 hours).This role is non-pensionable. This means that there is no pension contribution paid.

We expect that the time commitment will change over the life of the body. While the body is being established and during the first months of operation more engagement will be needed – i.e. up to 80 days/year. During the establishment phase there may also be phases of increased activity.

It is likely that once the body is established the chair’s time commitment will decrease to approximately 50 days/year.

The chair’s time commitment will be reviewed on a regular basis.

Scottish Ministers welcome applications from people from a wide range of backgrounds who have the following skills/knowledge/experience:

All of the following priority criteria:

• Experience of setting up a new organisation, and setting the direction for that organisation
• Experience of navigating a complex policymaking landscape, including communicating with a range of stakeholders
• Leadership and Management

All of the following essential criteria:

• Analysis and Decision-making
• Seeing the bigger picture
• Communication, influence and constructive challenge
• Understanding of the complexity of the food system

Full details can be found in the person specification in the application pack.

TO APPLY FOR THIS ROLE PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS

1. Download the applicants pack Scottish Food Commission Applicant pack
2. Click on the blue button at the top right hand of this advert that says ‘apply for this job online’.
3. Complete the information required on the website, this includes: contact details, monitoring information and a declaration of interests.  
4. Download and complete this application form Scottish Food Commission Application Form
5. Return the completed application form to: PA_Applications_Mailbox@gov.scot by 17:00 on Wednesday 8 May 2024. If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the appointments process or if require further support with your application, please contact the Public Appointments Team on 0300 244 1898 or email at PA_Applications_Mailbox@gov.scot.

FURTHER INFORMATION

FAQ’s about the application process is here: Public Appointments - Frequently Asked Questions. 

Guidance to support applicants is here: Public appointments - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

This appointment is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner