parliamentary reporter

Working pattern: We have full-time and part-time posts available. Our full-time posts are for 37 hours per week. The roles are hybrid, with some working from home but based at Holyrood for at least two days a week. The Parliament meets from Tuesday to Thursday, with committee meetings starting as early as 8.30 am and business in the chamber concluding around 6.30 pm.

Working days can be long and some flexibility is required to accommodate last-minute extensions and changes to parliamentary business. To meet business and personal needs, we have a progressive flexible working hours arrangement. Annual leave is expected to be taken during our recess periods, which can be viewed here.

As we have both part-time and full-time opportunities available, please state your preferred working pattern in the 'additional information' section of your values-based statement (full details on how to apply are below). We also have permanent and fixed term positions available. We welcome secondments if you are interested in applying on a fixed-term basis.

The office of the Official Report sits within the Parliamentary Business directorate of the organisation and is made up of 37 staff including the editor, sub-editors, reporters and our editorial support team. In addition, we have a small pool of freelance reporters. All our staff are required by the code of conduct to demonstrate impartiality in respect of political parties and issues.

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to work with words at the centre of public life in Scotland. The Official Report is an edited written record of everything that's said in the Scottish Parliament. As an important historical record, it forms part of the national archive and helps Parliament make laws and hold the Government to account on subjects as varied as health, education, policing, agriculture and the environment. As a parliamentary reporter, you'll see your work published after every meeting, and it will form part of the national archive.

As a reporter you'll work at speed and to tight deadlines to turn the spoken word into a politically impartial, readable and factually correct account that conveys the individual character of the speakers' voices. You'll also take notes of committee meetings and become an expert in your subject area.

We'll offer you robust training to support you in your role. Your career in the Official Report will start with six months of training to hone your reporting skills, followed by coaching and mentoring to support your development. You'll then have the opportunity to progress to sub-editing training if you wish., Please provide details from your background or career, of where and how you have demonstrated that value.

When completing and submitting the values-based statement to apply of this role:

• Please provide evidence against each of our four values, a maximum of 400 words is allowed per value



• Please use the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to address the key delivery requirements under each value in the Job Description.



• Each value should be clearly formatted, and your examples may include specific skills, experience, abilities, knowledge and strengths you have.



• We have a separate box on our system for you to input each value.



• Please do not input anything into the values boxes until you're ready to submit your application.



• Please complete your answers offline, perhaps in Word, and then copy and paste your answers into the system when you're ready to submit your application.



• We recommend that you check your answers, by reading the inputted information in the box, when you've copied and pasted the information into the system, just to ensure it's all there.
  
  Parliament and its committees can debate almost any subject, so you'll need to be able to follow the meaning of sometimes complex and lengthy discussions, on a wide range of subjects and in a variety of voices, that are often tricky to set down in accessible, grammatical sentences.


You'll therefore need an excellent command of English, be able to think creatively to find solutions to linguistic conundrums and understand how to make spoken words work effectively on the page. If you have a working knowledge of Scots or Gaelic, that would be particularly welcome.

You're someone who understands the role of the Scottish Parliament and has a strong interest in, and knowledge of, national and local politics and current affairs, with an excellent awareness of the political context in which debates take place. You also love to work with a supportive group of friendly people from a variety of professional backgrounds.

Official Reports are often published online within hours, and, with so much responsibility on reporters to get it just right, it's vital that we can trust, rely on and communicate effectively with one another, so we value good teamworking and interpersonal skills.

You'll have a commitment to sharing your knowledge and skills with your colleagues, as well as a willingness to collaborate on projects that promote the Parliament's values. You'll also be keen to progress in your career at the Parliament, and we'll support you to gain the skills and experience you need.

Edinburgh
Office
Official Report
Advertising Salary:
£42,000 to £50,079 FTE

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• Permanent and Fixed Term Reporters, Official Report, We offer a great range of benefits including: 41.5 leave days (including public holidays), flexible working, paid professional subscriptions, family-friendly policies, season ticket advance loans, an onsite gym, health and wellbeing schemes including discounted gym membership, a confidential counselling and information service, and the cycle to work scheme.


You'll also have the opportunity to join the Alpha Civil Service pension scheme, where we'll offer you an employer contribution of 28.97% of your basic salary.