IT Project Assistant (AI and Automation), Carpenter House, Perth

Main Purpose of the Role

Working within Perth & Kinross Council is more than a job, it's about being part of an organisation that puts people at the heart of all we do and provides opportunities to make a real difference by enhancing every life we touch.

We currently have the following opportunity:

IT Project Assistant, AI and Automation (Fixed Term until 31 March 2027) - PKC13530
£33,261 - £36,508
Carpenter House, Perth

Perth & Kinross Council is in the middle of a significant transformation. Over the past year we have built solid governance, piloted AI tools across service areas, and established a clear and responsible approach to AI adoption. The foundations are in place.

Now we scale. That means bringing colleagues with us, not just technically, but culturally. This role is the bridge between AI capability and everyday council practice.

What You Will Be Doing

Working across all council services, you will be the programme’s human face. Making AI feel accessible, trustworthy, and genuinely useful. No two weeks will look the same, but your focus will be consistent: build capability, reduce uncertainty, and embed confident, responsible AI use across PKC’s workforce.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Design and deliver AI literacy activities tailored to real roles and real service pressures.
• Support and develop our AI Champions network, helping them build local confidence and share learning within their services.
• Create clear, jargon-free materials for workshops, intranet communications, and learning sessions.
• Collect and curate real examples from teams already using AI, turning them into compelling stories that others can learn from.
• Monitor adoption and identify barriers, adapting engagement approaches where things are not working.
• Facilitate discovery sessions to understand service-specific needs, opportunities, and concerns.
• Work closely with Strategic Leads and service managers to ensure training and guidance fits their operational context.
• Contribute to benefits tracking, helping to evidence the value the programme is delivering.
• Ensure everything you produce upholds PKC’s commitment to responsible, transparent, and secure AI use.

Working Environment

You will be part of a small, fast-moving programme team with strong senior-level backing and a clear mandate. This is a hybrid role. You will need to be present across PKC sites for workshops, discovery sessions, and engagement activities. Flexible working arrangements are considered in line with council policy.

What You Will Gain

• Hands-on experience supporting AI adoption at scale in a public sector organisation.
• Meaningful exposure to digital transformation, change management, and organisational development.
• A portfolio of practical work with demonstrable, measurable impact.
• Opportunities to build skills in training design, stakeholder engagement, and strategic communications.
• Experience working within a mature governance and programme delivery framework — excellent grounding for a career in digital transformation.
• Supportive colleagues committed to doing this well, ethically, and sustainably.
• Access to Microsoft 365 Copilot and the AI tools you will be helping colleagues to adopt.

Please note, we are currently unable to offer sponsorship for this post.

Skills & Experience Required

Applicants must be educated to at least HND level in a relevant discipline such as Business, Digital Technologies, Communications, Learning & Development, or a closely related field.

Alternatively, candidates may demonstrate a minimum of three years’ experience in a professional ICT environment, working in a customer‑facing or customer‑support role. 

Where experience is offered instead of a formal qualification, applicants should clearly show how their background has provided equivalent knowledge, skills and professional competence relevant to this post.

We also welcome applications from those whose experience spans both qualifications and practical ICT work.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Demonstrable experience delivering training, engagement, or change activities. Ideally in a multi-stakeholder environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex ideas clearly and without jargon.
• Confident presenter and facilitator, comfortable with groups ranging from frontline staff to senior managers.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail. Able to manage multiple workstreams and competing priorities.
• Genuinely curious about AI, digital tools, and how technology supports service delivery.
• Collaborative and positive in approach. Builds trust with different teams and at all levels of an organisation.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment where not everything has fixed answers.
• Commitment to governance, ethics, and public trust in the use of technology.

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Understanding of change management principles and methodologies.
• Background in communications, education, learning & development, or organisational development.
• Familiarity with Microsoft 365, including tools such as Teams, SharePoint, and Copilot.
• Experience working in or with the public sector.
• Understanding of data protection, GDPR, or responsible technology use in organisational contexts.

Personal Attributes

We are looking for someone who is as interested in people as they are in technology. You do not need to be a technical expert, but you do need to be genuinely enthusiastic about AI’s potential, intellectually curious, and skilled at helping others navigate change with confidence.

You will be pragmatic rather than idealistic, energised rather than overwhelmed by ambiguity, and driven by the knowledge that your work makes a real difference to colleagues and, ultimately, to the citizens PKC serves.

Working at Perth & Kinross Council

Our values and behaviours influence our work and support us in the delivery of our key priorities. In your application, and should you be invited to interview, you will be asked to describe situations that support the criteria required in the role and which also demonstrate our values and behaviours. Find out more about Perth & Kinross Council and you could soon be joining our team!

Here's what we can offer you:

• A generous annual leave package
• 6 days public holiday and an additional discretionary day
• Eligibility to join our pension scheme
• Family friendly and positive work/life balance policies such as Flexible Working, Maternity, Paternity & Adoption leave, time off for volunteering and our Wellbeing Framework
• Flexi time
• Access to a range of benefits

We recognise there can be benefits to flexible working and where individual jobs allow, we seek to support this. You are encouraged to discuss potential options with the recruiting manager, if this is of interest to you. A healthy work life balance is important to us and we provide supportive management and, where possible, flexible working arrangements to help you achieve that balance. You will have access to training and support for continued professional development.

For purposes of connection and collaboration with colleagues and with the community we serve, our full-time employees work on site for a minimum of 2 days per week with the arrangements for part time employees being agreed on a basis which will ensure that they benefit to an equivalent degree.

Our FAQs on hybrid working can be found here Hybrid working FAQs

We are committed to being a more inclusive employer - to ensure we can consider any reasonable adjustments, please either contact the recruiting manager to discuss any individual circumstances, discuss at interview or, if you prefer, after any conditional offer is made.

Next Steps

We would love to hear from you and would encourage you to get in touch with Chris Wright at cwright@pkc.gov.uk to find out more.

Click “APPLY NOW”

External candidates are required to provide contact details for 2 referees, including email addresses. One of these must be your current or most recent employer.

Internal applicants applying for secondment must obtain line manager approval through the secondment form available under My Forms – Secondment Request Form on MyView. Please note that secondment requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

We welcome applications from everyone and as a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to interview applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential requirements of the post. Please contact the hiring manager above or the Recruitment Team on (01738) 475555 or recruitment@pkc.gov.uk to discuss any reasonable adjustments. Appointments are based on evidence supplied during the selection process.

Diversity is important to us and although some of our jobs may be perceived to be traditionally gender specific, we welcome applications from everyone and would encourage you to apply if you meet the job requirements. That includes welcoming applications from former armed forces personnel/reservists. Many of the skills picked up during your military career could be transferred directly into a role with local government.

To comply with Baseline Personnel Security Standard, you will be required to complete a Disclosure Scotland check.

If you have lived overseas for a period of 12 months or more (continuous or total) within the last 5 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check.

A confirmed offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of the above mentioned mandatory pre-employment checks (including references) and will also include eligibility to work in the UK, qualifications and fitness to undertake the post.