Vacancy: Insights and Improvement Manager

Job Title: Insights and Improvement Manager

Hours: 35 hours per week

Duration: Fixed term to end March 2027. 

Applications on a secondment basis are welcome.

Salary: £46,609

Location: The Promise Scotland office is located in Charlotte House, 2 South Charlotte Street Edinburgh. There is also a collaborative space in Glasgow. Flexible working arrangements will also apply to this role, and an element of home working will be supported.

Application Deadline: Tuesday 30^th September 2025, 5pm 

Interview Date: Thursday 18^th September 2025

The Promise Scotland exists to support the transformation of how Scotland cares for its children, care experienced adults and families. We want to ensure that Scotland’s children grow up loved, safe and respected, so that they realise their full potential.

Once the promise was made, Scotland agreed to change how it cared for its children, young people and care experienced adults. The Promise Scotland was then set up to help those who need to make changes.

The Promise Scotland’s purpose is to:

• support Scotland to create the change demanded by the Independent Care Review.
• monitor Scotland’s progress to keep the promise.

We will not be here after 2030, because that is when the promise must be kept. Currently, our work is aligned to our strategic workplan, which sets out our priorities until the end of September 2026. But as Scotland progresses on its journey to keep the promise, The Promise Scotland will adapt and change to ensure our work is always focussed on the right areas.

Find out more at www.thepromise.scot.

The Insights & Improvement Manager is crucial to taking forward the delivery of major programmes of work. It is cross-cutting and contributes to every function of The Promise Scotland. We are looking for an individual to join our team of highly motivated and flexible individuals with diverse expertise, interests and experience.

This role would suit someone with excellent project management skills and a strong interest in novel ways of using data, evidence and research. This role will be instrumental to the work for Scotland to have an agreed way of tracking progress, and to ensure it is felt in the lives and experiences of children, families, and the care experienced community.

The ability to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders and share insights in a user-friendly way is crucial, so that these can support Scotland in its work to keep the promise.

Main duties

The Insights and Improvement Manager will be responsible for operational delivery of The Promise Scotland’s data and evidence projects. More specifically, the post holder will:

Analysis

• Support the Improvement Lead and the Senior Leadership team in producing reports and briefings as required to support the monitoring function of the Promise Scotland.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative research and analysis to inform policy, operational decisions, or project development.
• Distil and interpret large quantities of qualitative and quantitative information to develop provide actionable insights through the use of specific tools and methodologies.

Writing & Communication

• Draft high-quality briefings, reports, and information packs.
• Translate complex information into accessible formats for internal and external audiences.
• Contribute to consultations, strategic development and organisational positioning.
• Prepare summaries and recommendations for internal and external audiences.

Project Management

• Support the development and oversee delivery of wider Doing Data Differently projects.
• Project management of improvement projects, ensuring they are properly resourced and delivered to agreed quality standards and kept on track.
• Work closely with colleagues across The Promise Scotland team to support on- going planning and delivery of the overall programme of work.

Sector engagement

• Support the development of and oversee delivery of sector engagement strategies, particularly working with local partnerships and others who provide and use data relating to what matters to children and their families.

This job description is not meant to be exhaustive. It describes the main duties and responsibilities of the post. The Promise Scotland is a small, agile organisation and the job description may change in light of developing organisational needs.

Essential Criteria

• Experience in a similar management role in a relevant sector.
• Strong project management skills.
• Comfortable working with large quantities of data, information and evidence, including thematic, narrative and policy analysis, mixed methods, evaluation methodologies and use of analytical packages.
• Strong analytical skills with ability to form clear conclusions and reach informed judgements, based on the best evidence available.
• Able to work independently, manage own workload and work flexibly to meet work demands and tight deadlines; and to use own initiative.
• The ability to work under pressure, make decisions and to solve problems. Able to deal with conflicting and challenging demands; identify solutions and prioritise work whilst ensuring that a high-quality service is provided and that deadlines are met.
• Experience of working collaboratively, building, and nurturing strong relationships across different areas and managing relationships with a range of internal and external interests to ensure delivery of key priorities.
• A deep, demonstrable understanding of the principles established by the Independent Care Review.
• An understanding of the political and policy landscapes in Scotland and the drivers for public service reform.

Desirable Criteria

• Relevant qualifications in applied social research, particularly participatory methods.
• Confidence using collaborative online facilitation tools such as Mural and Miro.
• Familiarity with improvement science methods/approaches.

The nature of the job demands a strong ethical approach.