Job detail for Senior Finance Officer

Could you play a key role in delivering student support funding that makes a real difference to learners across Scotland?

The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS), an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, is seeking a Finance Officer to support the delivery of Further Education Student Support (FESS) and Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). As part of Post-School Education and Skills Reform, SAAS has taken on responsibility for the administration of FESS and will become the single funding body for student support in Scotland, helping ensure eligible learners receive the financial support they need to access and succeed in education.

Working within the Corporate Services Directorate, you will support the finance and data processes that underpin the effective administration of FESS and EMA, contributing to a high-profile and evolving area of service delivery. You will work collaboratively with colleagues across SAAS, including Finance, HR and Communications teams, as well as partners in the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council, to maintain strong financial management, provide reliable data and insights, and support the continued development of student support funding arrangements.

:

• Annual review and update of grant offer letter process for FESS and EMA.
• Input into the AO processes for spend.
• Monitor team mailboxes and work with the finance officers to resolve any queries.
• Producing reports on expenditure to date and detailed forecasts.
• Undertaking the annual EMA data collection, review and reporting.
• Undertake the quarterly FESS data analysis.
• Ensuring data governance, retention and compliance with best practice.
• Work flexibly across the team alongside other B1 finance roles to ensure cover of tasks.
• Project work on development of finance processes and delivery of student support.
• Ensuring the maintenance of overall financial control to ensure the integrity of financial data and accuracy of the supporting systems and records.

Success profile:

Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of behaviours, experience and technical criteria (if applicable) that candidates will be assessed on.

Technical / Professional Skills:

• Working with data in finance - Working
• Government Finance - Awareness

You can find out more about the skills required here: Finance Profession Capability Framework

Experience:

• Experience in reviewing information from a range of data or information sources to draw out key findings and recommendations.

Behaviours:

• Changing and improving – Level 2
• Making effective decisions – Level 2

Find out more about Success Profiles.

How to apply:

Apply online, providing a CV and supporting statement (of no more than 750 words) providing evidence of how you meet the behaviours, experience and technical skills listed in the Success Profile above. Both the CV and the supporting statement provided will be assessed against the criteria for the role.

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.

Skilled Worker sponsorship is not available for this role. As a result, we are unable to appoint candidates who require Skilled Worker sponsorship now or in the future. Applicants must have an existing and ongoing right to work in the UK.

If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an in person interview and presentation.

Assessments are scheduled for w/c 9 November 2026 however this may be subject to change.

Recruitment Principles:

As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.

About us:

SAAS is an executive agency of the Scottish Government and responsible for assessing and paying student awards for Scottish domiciled students in Higher Education throughout the UK. We administer budgets of around £1.4 billion each year, making payments to both educational institutions and over 190,000 students a year. We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the clients we serve.

More information on SAAS can be found on our website https://www.saas.gov.uk

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.  This role requires in person attendance of 6 days per month minimum with more regular attendance as required to support the leadership and strategic direction of the team. We offer a range of flexible and hybrid working options depending on the needs of the role. Flexible working patterns will be considered in line with business needs.

SAAS has separate arrangements from core Scottish Government for Public and Privilege holidays. SAAS office is fully closed between Christmas and New Year.

Security checks:

Successful 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, and read about the Government Vetting Charter, or about all the different levels of security checks in our Candidate Guide.

Internal candidates may need to gain higher security clearance than they currently hold if successful in their application.

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.