About Us

Staff Vacancies

Welcome to the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s vacancies section. We’re a small and friendly team with a broad range of backgrounds and roles. We embrace the diversity of our organisation and hope that you will consider applying and know that you’ll be warmly welcomed.

So why join us? We’re a close-knit organisation made up of around 22 analytical staff with another five people in our corporate services team who keep the show on the road. Our forecasts are vitally important to the setting of Scotland’s Budget and you’ll get the opportunity to have a real impact on how Scottish public finances are managed.

We’re based in the historic Governor’s House in central Edinburgh, right next to Waverley station. We have a lively office and encourage flexible and hybrid working. Many of our staff work part-time or compressed hours, with this option being available for all roles. Most people work part of the week from home and part of the week in the office.

Working as an analyst

We recognise that women and people from diverse backgrounds may be less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single criteria. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re interested in the job but your past experience or qualifications don’t align perfectly, we strongly encourage you to apply. Applications are welcome from all regardless of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, trans status or social economic background.

If you’re interested in a role but you’re not sure whether to apply, please get in touch with the named recruiting manager on the vacancy or drop a message to info@fiscalcommission.scot and someone will be happy to chat with you.

Your career and compensation

Joining the Commission can be a good step for your career. As well as being a great place to work, by joining the Commission you’ll become a civil servant, with access to the UK-wide internal Civil Service jobs market. You’ll have access to Scottish Government  and UK Civil Service learning and development opportunities. We have a good track record of staff gaining internal promotions and successfully securing promotions into other departments.

Our pay is set in line with the Scottish Government’s core departments, with annual pay awards and pay progression. Salaries for individual roles are included in the vacancy adverts. Upon joining the Commission, you’ll also be eligible for the Civil Service Pension scheme.

Once in the Commission, we can support you to remain in or join the Government Statistical Service (GSS) or Government Economist Service (GES).  If you are a member of another analytical profession we can support you continuing that membership.

Staff Profile: Robin

After a first degree in natural sciences, Robin spent 25 years working in the private sector then completed an MSc and PhD modelling the impacts of organisational supply chains on climate change. Robin spent 6 years in climate change consultancy before joining the Scottish Fiscal Commission in 2019. Robin has worked in the economy team and subsequently moved to lead on income tax forecasting.

Staff profile:  Caroline

Caroline studied Politics and Women’s Studies before doing a MSc in Applied Social Research and PhD in Health Research. Caroline has worked as a quantitative analyst in the legal sector, academia, and government, and worked on topics such as equality and diversity, health inequalities, and international development. Caroline’s love for number crunching and interesting analytical questions brought her to the Public Funding and Fiscal Sustainability Team in 2021.

Staff profile:  Gregor

Gregor has been with us at the commission for 2 years since finishing his undergraduate degree.  Originally he joined the commission through the Economic Futures internship programme after his final year of university. After completing his project he joined the disability team and worked on forecasts of Child and Adult Disability Payments before recently moving to the Public Funding team.

Eligibility

As for all United Kingdom Civil Service recruitment, the Scottish Fiscal Commission requires candidates to meet certain nationality requirements. Scottish Fiscal Commission jobs are broadly open to the following groups:
• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish national

Permanent appointments

Future permanent appointments will be advertised here.

Short term appointments

B2 Analyst – 6 months fixed term appointment

Do you have excellent analytic skills and the desire to communicate your work clearly and with impact?

The Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) produces Scotland’s official, independent economic and fiscal forecasts. Our forecasts are vitally important to the setting of Scotland’s Budget and you’ll get the opportunity to have a real impact on how Scottish public finances are managed. We’re a close-knit organisation made up of over 20 analysts with another five staff in our corporate services team who keep the show on the road. We are led by four Commissioners. For more information, please see our website.

Before we get further into the details of the role, we recognise that women and people from diverse backgrounds may be less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single criteria. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you have strong analytical skills and are interested in this role but your past experience or qualifications don’t align perfectly, we still strongly encourage you to apply. You can get in touch with Francisco Forner (details below) if you wish to discuss your application. Applications are welcome from all regardless of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, trans status or social economic background.

We are looking for an analyst to join us at the SFC. There is no fixed profile for what makes a good analyst and you could be working on our economy, tax or social security forecasts or our long-term fiscal sustainability projections. Making sense of data and linking the findings of your analysis to the context is a big part of what we do. We’re looking for someone who can use data and evidence to answer a question and communicate those conclusions in an accessible way. If you’re curious about data, and how the world works, and you have a head for numbers, you could make a great addition to the team.

The SFC have a suite of existing models for creating forecasts. As an analyst in the SFC, you will be trained to use these models and, with the support of your manager, you will be responsible for one or more specific forecasts or fiscal sustainability projections. Working with detailed datasets covering the Scottish economy, taxes or social security payments, you will apply economic and statistical techniques to maintain and refine these models. There may also be opportunities to develop new forecasting models, in line with academic best practice. We use a number of software programs to produce our forecasts, including Excel, R, EViews and Python. Training is available in specialised software and prior experience is not required.

Communication is also an important part of your role. You will communicate your forecasts and analysis clearly to both a technical audience of Commissioners and other analysts, and a non-technical audience of policy officials in the Scottish Government and other organisations. You will work with your team to maintain good working relationships with Scottish Government and other organisations. The SFC aims to communicate its work clearly, concisely and accurately and you will have the opportunity to develop your communication skills by contributing to the SFC’s written publications, infographics and presentations of our work.

We encourage and support career development at SFC. This role is a fixed term appointment of six months to work on our forecasts for the next Scottish Budget. You will gain valuable experience of working as analyst within the civil service and have access to the learning and development opportunities available to all staff in the SFC.

Responsibilities

The post holder will:

  • contribute to analytical work in their specific area.
  • develop and maintain the SFC’s forecasting models and produce forecasts for fiscal events with support from their manager.
  • communicate their analytical work to senior managers and Commissioners, and contribute to the SFC’s reports in writing and data visualisation.
  • manage the engagement with the relevant policy officials and specialists in the Scottish Government and other organisations to ensure the forecasts produced reflect the Government’s policy.
  • monitor key data releases and external comments and publications in relevant areas.

Qualifications

You will be expected to hold a numerate degree or post-graduate qualification, or demonstrate relevant analytical work experience.

The degree requirement is at least a first or upper second class degree in a highly numerate subject, for example a statistical, economic, actuarial or other numerate discipline.

Should you have a 2:2 first degree, your application may be considered if you have equivalent experience or hold a postgraduate qualification that is in a numerate subject.

If you have a postgraduate qualification which is in a numerate subject, your application will be considered even if your first degree is not in a highly numerate discipline. Other qualifications or work experience equivalent to these may also be acceptable.

Experience required

Experience using analysis of data to answer a problem. This should include statistical and analytical modelling techniques, including handling and storing the data, and may include experience forecasting.

Behaviours

  • Working Together (Level 3)
  • Communicating and Influencing (Level 3)
  • Delivering at Pace (Level 3)

You can find out more about the Behaviours used in the civil service, here.

How to apply

To apply for this post:

You need to provide a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than maximum 800 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the qualification criteria, experience and behaviours listed above.

Applications should be submitted by email to Francisco Forner (francisco.forner@fiscalcommission.scot) by Tuesday, 26 August 2025.

Interview

Once the vacancy deadline has passed, applications will be sifted, candidates meeting the qualification criteria, experience and behaviours will be invited to a 45 minutes . It will take place remotely using MS Teams.

Adjustments can be made for those who need them and we are a disability confident employment. See Diversity and Inclusion – Work For Scotland (link).

We aim to provide feedback on request, however; if we receive a large number of applications, it may not be possible to provide feedback on your application if you are not invited to attend an interview. We will provide feedback on request to all candidates that attend an interview.

Interviews are likely to take place on week commencing 1st September, we will aim to accommodate interviews at on different dates if required.

Location and Conditions

We’re based in the historic Governor’s House in central Edinburgh, right next to Waverley station. We have a lively office and encourage flexible and hybrid working. Most people work a mixture of both from home and in the office.

This role is being offered as a 6 month fixed term appointment. We expect the role to be full-time, but would consider requests for part-time working. Compressed hours and flexible working would also be considered.

Our pay is set in line with the Scottish Government’s core departments, with annual pay awards and pay progression. More details are available at the Work for Scotland website (link).

For enquiries about the role, contact Francisco Forner francisco.forner@fiscalcommission.scot