Investigations Support Officer (ISO)

Are you looking for a meaningful role with a public sector organisation which has a clear purpose, vision and values and which makes a tangible difference to people’s lives in Scotland?

Would you like to contribute to society by supporting the good conduct of people in public life in Scotland?

Do you have highly developed team-working and communications skills alongside a background in supporting a team handling complaints and investigations?

Are you empathetic, respectful, committed to fairness, diversity, equality and inclusion and honest and transparent in your dealings with others? Would you like to join a team of like-minded people and work with an organisation that genuinely cares about the people that come into contact with it and about your welfare and wellbeing? If this is you, we’d love you to apply.

We are ambitious about the future and we are committed to being a great employer and really effective at what we do. We value people and we know that our work matters.

If you’re interested, please read on.

The Investigations Support Officer (ISO) provides integral administrative support to the Standards team. The Standards team consists of Investigating Officers (IOs) who report to the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) and/or Hearings and Investigations Officer (HIO).

The Commissioner receives complaints about possible breaches of the Code of Conduct for Councillors, the Code of Conduct for MSPs and of Codes of Conduct based on the Model Code for members of public bodies. The Commissioner also deals with complaints covering regulated lobbying.

The IOs are responsible for investigating complaints to a conclusion including carriage of the related administrative duties and all contact with the complainer, respondent, local authority staff, and others involved in a given case. The ISO provides administrative support to the IOs in accomplishing these tasks.

The successful applicant will be experienced and effective case administrators, with relevant professional or regulatory backgrounds, and strong analytical skills. They will also share our values. We act ethically and with empathy; we value people.

It is desirable that the successful candidates will have a track record of working in or with the public sector, particularly with local authorities and/or other public bodies subject to ethical standards regulation.

Our work makes a significant contribution to the good conduct of people in public life in Scotland. Our standards team plays a key role in this so if you are motivated to contribute to society in this way, we’d love to hear from you.

The post is full time, pensionable and based at our offices in Edinburgh, which is currently operating flexibly to accommodate remote, hybrid or office-based working. The flexible working options are set out in our Remote Working Policy.

Please note that the ISO role requires at least 1 day of in office work per week in addition to some travel in connection with investigations-related work, attending external training or networking events, or public hearings.

Starting salary: £31,514 per annum rising to £34,066 per annum after 1 year in post (please note: the starting salary is non-negotiable)

Working hours: Full-time, Monday to Friday (35 hours effective from 01 March 2026)

Leave allowance: 25 days increasing to 30 days with 11.5 public holidays

Other benefits include membership of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

How to apply

Please go to the Recruitment Pack for details about how to apply.

Your personal statement, CV, notice period, referee details and monitoring form should be emailed to hr@ethicalstandards.org.uk no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, 23 January 2026.

For further information or if you require assistance with any element of the application process (including any request for a reasonable adjustment to be made or for recruitment materials to be made available in an alternate format), please contact Ms Alyssa Shepherd at investigations@ethicalstandards.org.uk or on 0131 347 3890. Applicants should note that, as a result of the office’s current operational circumstances, we are accepting applications via email.

We are an equal opportunities employer, committed to equality and diversity and would welcome applications from people from all walks of life.