Aberdeen City Council

Our shared purpose as a whole organisation is to ensure that the people and place of Aberdeen prosper and are free from harm. No matter what role you undertake at Aberdeen City Council, you contribute to this purpose.

We value our employees and offer a number of benefits for working with us including but not limited to:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We are proud to be a disability confident employer, a carer positive employer and an armed forces friendly employer. We are a Young Person’s Guarantee employer and also hold the Defence Employers Recognition Scheme Gold Award. We run regular events, activities and awareness raising initiatives with a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion across the organisation and have a number of policies and procedures which support this.  For more information, please visit: Aberdeen City Council equality, diversity, and inclusion and our Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Recuitment pack.

Flexible Working

We are happy to talk flexible working and offer flexible working for most roles in the organisation meaning that many of our employees enjoy the freedom of choosing a working pattern that suits them as much as it suits the organisation.

Smarter Working

For most roles in the organisation we encourage, as much as possible, our employees and teams to work smartly. This includes making the most of our ongoing digital investments and improvements to work at alternative locations.

Generous Annual Leave

We offer a generous amount of annual leave to our employees. Employees on our non-teaching and non-craft terms and conditions get 28 days annual leave per year plus 7 public holidays. After 5 years of continuous service, this increases to 33 days and after 10 years of continuous service, this increases to 36 days. Our employees also have the opportunity to purchase up to 5 additional annual leave days per year.

Our craft employees get 26 days annual leave per year plus 7 public holidays. After 5 years of continuous service, this increases to 31 days. After 10 years of continuous service, this increases to 36 days.

Pension Scheme

Aberdeen City Council has a pension scheme run by the North East Scotland Pension Fund. As an employer we pay in two thirds of the cost of the pension for our employees who choose to be part of the scheme. To learn more, please visit North East Scotland Pensions Fund.

Salary Sacrifice Schemes and Discounts

We offer a number of salary sacrifice schemes including a car lease scheme, annual leave purchase schemes and a cycle to work scheme. Your Aberdeen City Council ID badge and employee number can also offer you great discounts on retail, eating out, travel & other great services across the city (and further afield).

Training and Development

We offer excellent training and development in all roles in the organisation with both corporate and role-specific training. We have an annual appraisal process which allows employees to grow into their role as well as highlight opportunities for further career development.

Public Sector Leadership Summit – joint commitment 

The Scottish Parliament’s Equalities and Human Rights Committee inquiry of 2020 has highlighted the persistent issues that impact on outcomes for minority ethnic people in Scotland moving into, staying in and progressing in employment. Their recommendations below highlight both systemic issues perpetuating race inequality in recruitment practice and in the workplace, as well as the need to improve practices such as the gathering and analysis of workforce data to inform action plans and determine measurable outcomes: 

• The Committee recommends those in public authority leadership positions undertake an assessment of their organisation’s understanding of racism and the structural barriers that may exist within their organisations. Public authorities should integrate their ambitions into their next strategic plan. Their strategic goal should be underpinned by specific outcomes and supported by timely monitoring. Public authorities should be transparent about their targets and their progress in delivering their outcomes.
• The Committee recommends public authorities should review their recruitment procedures and practice against the Scottish Government’s toolkit and make the necessary changes.
• The Committee recommends that all public authorities subject to the Scottish specific Public Sector Equality Duty should, as a minimum, voluntarily record and publish their ethnicity pay gap and produce an action plan to deliver identified outcomes. 

We accept these recommendations, and are absolutely committed to taking them forward, as well as supporting other public sector organisations to do so. We must recognise that a team Scotland approach is required and our public sector should lead the way as we work to make Scotland a Fair Work nation.  

The importance of employment in addressing racial inequality cannot be overstated, and in this current climate where inequalities have not only been highlighted, but further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, never has there been a greater need to take action. 

As public sector leaders, we will be bold and transparent. We will embed the recommendations into the strategic objectives of our organisations and the performance objectives of our senior leaders. We will take responsibility to assess our organisation’s understanding of institutional racism and proactively challenge and change practices that disadvantage minority ethnic communities. Vitally, we will ensure that minority ethnic communities are involved in shaping this change. 

We recognise that taking forward the recommendations represents not a final, but a further step, and therefore this work will form part of the continuum of activity to tackle racial inequality in employment, including the Race Equality Framework 2016-2030. It is important that we make this commitment clear, not just to each other, but to our staff and service users, who will hold us to account. We have therefore published this commitment on our website and social media.

Aberdeen is Scotland’s third biggest city but even with our size and urban life, we’re surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery in the country. Below you’ll find some key information about our city and why we’re proud of it. For information on housing (including buying and renting property in Aberdeen, there are plenty of online resources including Aberdeen Solicitors Property Centre).

Social Life

Aberdeen has a fantastic range of restaurants to meet all of your culinary desires. Restaurants and cafes are spread all across the city with some key hubs in the city centre offering everything from high-end cooking, fine dining and independent restaurants, to all of your well-known chain brands. We also have a number of coffee shops, pubs, bars and clubs in the city centre catering for everyone’s tastes and preferences.

We also have a packed cultural calendar throughout the year with events across the city including Spectra (our festival of light), Aberdeen Jazz Festival, Aberdeen Comedy Festival, our Christmas Market, Granite Noir, NuArt and many more!

Culture

The city boasts excellent theatre and music venues including His Majesty’s Theatre, the Arts Centre, the Lemon Tree, the Music Hall, the Beach Ballroom and our upcoming, brand new exhibition and conference centre (TECA).

There are also a collection of museums and art galleries across the city including the Maritime Museum, the Tolbooth Museum, Aberdeen Art Gallery & the Treasure Hub.

Sport

For fans of sport, Aberdeen has a well-known football club as well as local teams in many other sports.

For those who like to partake in sport, you’ll find excellent facilities throughout the city with plenty of public and private sports centres as well as Aberdeen Sports Village and many beautiful golf courses. With easy access to the sea, mountains and forests, there’s also plenty of outdoor activities including walking, hiking, skiing and surfing.

Education

There are two leading universities in Aberdeen and a large student community. We also boast an excellent network of primary and secondary schools, nurseries as well as a number of private education establishments.

Scenery

Aberdeen is known as the Granite City with world-renowned architectural delights including our very own Marischal College. The city has a wonderful beachfront with a great stretch of sand which is perfect for long walks (with a stop off for ice cream or fish and chips of course!). We also have the traditional fishing village of Footdee (pronounced Fittie) at one end of the beach which is a popular tourist site and a great place to explore.

With the beach comes excellent wildlife with viewing points for seals, sea birds, dolphins, porpoises and even whales if you’re lucky!

The city has a number of parks that you can explore as well as other beauty spots including Old Aberdeen.

Aberdeenshire is just a stone’s throw away from the city, as is Moray, Angus, Perth & Kinross and the Highlands. Together, we have some of the best scenery in Scotland (and we’d say the world) from mountains to rivers, castles to cairns, forests to historic harbours, whisky & gin distilleries to fruit farms – we have it all!

Transport

We have excellent transport connections in and out of the city. We have a bus and train station taking you to places all over Scotland and the rest of the UK as well as an excellent international airport. We will also soon have the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route which will make road travel quick and easy to other parts of Scotland.

Healthcare

The city has the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary as well as other well-renowned and respected hospitals and healthcare establishments.

Introduction to Bon Accord Care

At Bon Accord Care, we deliver personalised, innovative and high quality adult social care services to the citizens of Aberdeen. We are committed to providing support and encouragement to enable independent living and enhance wellbeing.

Our team spirit and enthusiasm is reflected in what we do and how we do it, which is underpinned by our strong core values:

Service, Quality and Value delivered with Integrity, Pride and Innovation.

Our mission remains constant: ‘Working together for your five star service’.

We know that our team is essential to our success in delivering these services; placing service users at the heart of everything we do. Therefore, we strive to ensure that our team feel valued, respected and motivated to be the best they can be. In return for their hard work and dedication, we offer a supportive working environment; a great benefits package; training and development opportunities; and flexible working hours to suit a good work life-balance.

Some people want to spend their day supporting and inspiring others to be as independent as possible; to honour individuality and make a positive difference in their lives. We are interested in hearing from those people to join our professional and friendly team.

Teaching in Aberdeen

At Aberdeen City Council, we have 11 secondary, 47 primary and enhanced provision for Additional Support Needs, including Orchard Brae School and Aspire at Kingsgate. The opportunity exists for class teachers, middle and senior leadership roles, and development roles. As an organisation, we place high emphasis on supporting our teachers including:

• A high-quality, supportive probationer programme of learning in your first year of teaching
• In-school mentoring during your probationer year
• On-going professional learning to help you develop your career, including masters level studying
• A comprehensive continuous professional development programme throughout the year covering all education priorities locally and nationally

Teachers may also be eligible for relocation expenses (up to £8,000) and recruitment and retention incentive payments (up to £5,000). To get a flavour of education at Aberdeen City Council, please also visit Abernet

Becoming a Teacher

Teaching is a rewarding, exciting and challenging career. As a teacher, you will be supporting the City’s children by sharing your knowledge and inspiring them to learn and discover new things, while supporting them to grow and develop.

There is lots of choice on offer. You can work in areas such as primary education, secondary education, Gaelic-medium education, English as an additional language as well as additional support needs and support for learning. For secondary education, subjects include English, Maths, Science (Physics, Chemistry & Biology), Home Economics, Art and Design, Business Education, Computing, Drama, Gaelic, Geography, History, Modern Foreign Languages, Modern Studies, Physical Education, Religious Education, Music and Technological Education. To become a teacher, there are a few routes (we have provided links to our local university courses but these are available at a number of Scottish universities):

Undergraduate Course:

• Four-year PGDE (Primary Education) course.

Postgraduate Courses:

• One-year PGDE (Primary Education) course;
• One-year PGDE (Secondary Education) course;

Once you have successfully completed your qualification, you will then undertake a 'probation year' as a teacher.  If you are eligible, you can secure your probation year through the Teacher Induction Scheme.  However, this is not the only avenue available for your probation year.  One of our Teachers, Hannah, spoke to the GTCS about her decision to go down the flexible route.  Her blog post can be found here.

Qualified Outside of Scotland

We welcome applications from teachers who qualified outside of Scotland. However, we have a requirement that you have your GTCS registration. To find out more about how to get GTCS registration, please visit the GTCS website HERE.

School Management

We have a number of opportunities for roles such as Depute Head Teachers and Head Teachers in both our primary and secondary schools. Here’s what some of our existing Head Teachers have to say about their role and why they like living and working in Aberdeen:

All Jobs

1. As a Disability Confident employer, we offer a guaranteed interview for applicants who have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.
2. We offer a guaranteed interview for looked after young people, those that are in continuing care or are a care leaver up to the age of 29 and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile. 
    

Modern Apprenticeships (not craft / trades)

1. As a Disability Confident employer, we offer a guaranteed interview for applicants who have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.
2. We offer a guaranteed interview for applicants who are aged between 16 and 24 who are resident in the Aberdeen City boundary or have attended a secondary school in Aberdeen City and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.
3. We offer a guaranteed interview for looked after young people, those that are in continuing care or are a care leaver up to the age of 29 and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.
4. We offer a guaranteed interview for New Scots aged between 16 and 24 and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.
5. We offer a guaranteed interview for all those who have undertaken a Foundation Apprenticeship with Aberdeen City Council up to a maximum of two years ago and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile

Apprenticeships (craft / trades)

1. As a Disability Confident employer, we offer a guaranteed interview for applicants who have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.
2. We offer a guaranteed interview for looked after young people, those that are in continuing care or are a care leaver up to the age of 29 and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.
3. We offer a guaranteed interview for New Scots aged between 16 and 24 and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.
4. We offer a guaranteed interview for all those who have undertaken a Foundation Apprenticeship with Aberdeen City Council up to a maximum of two years ago and who meet the criteria set out in the job profile.  The Foundation Apprenticeship must have been in an area related to the role being applied for.

*Please note that eligibility to work in the UK is dependent on legal status and all applicants must have the right to live and work in the UK.