Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba
Read all about what SGSSS has been up to in our 2024/25 Year in Review!
Click here

Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba

SGSSS Summer Internships

R23-19

Internship host: Scottish Government
Internship reference: R23-19
Part time or Full time: 3 months full-time or 6 months part-time
Location: Edinburgh

Project Title

Improving Scottish Government Policy Making

Project Details

The internship will take the form of a tightly defined 3 month project. The internship will be based within the Office of the Chief Social Policy Adviser. The team are very experienced in hosting SGSSS interns and have a long track record of successful internships. The exact project will be defined depending on the applicants skills and experiences. Potential areas of work could include supporting the team to develop new training materials for the policy profession, identifying the time costs associated with undertaking impact assessments and complying with cross cutting statutory duties, supporting engagement with key external stakeholders, analysing consultation responses or supporting work to develop impact assessment materials for emergency decision making. 

Policy Context

The Scottish Government are taking forward an exciting programme of work to improve the way in which it makes policy. The work is focused on strengthening the way in which evidence is used to consider the impacts of potential policy decisions on; different groups of people (e.g. people with different protected characteristics or people who are socio-economically disadvantaged), people living in different geographies (e.g. Island communities), businesses and the environment. 
 
This work is being jointly led by the Chief Social Policy Adviser Professor and the Head of the Policy Profession on behalf of the Scottish Government’s Executive Team. The programme of work is taking forward several actions to strengthen our system of impact assessments to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. This internship provides an important opportunity to work with analytical and policy teams across the Scottish Government and gain an understanding of the inner workings of government. 

Skills Required

• Ability to write and communicate concisely
• Communicating with impact
• Evidence review
• Mixed-methods

Skills to be Developed

• Communication and writing skills
• Engagement and impact
• Skills in working with others

Timing and Working Hours

3 months full-time, 6 months part-time
Hybrid

Challenge-Led Pathways aligned to this placement

• Governance and Institutions
• Health, Wellbeing and Communities
• Social Inequalities

Challenge-led pathways give students the opportunity to develop capacity for interdisciplinary connections within the social sciences and beyond. More information on challenge-led pathways can be found here.

About the Host

Directorate General: Communities
Directorate: Directorate for tackling child poverty and social justice
Division/Team: Office of the Chief Social Policy Adviser

Contact for Queries

Tom Lamplugh tom.lamplugh@gov.scot

Pool Applications

All applicants applying for placements with Scottish Government are encouraged to apply for the pool. For more information about the pool, please click here.

How to Apply

To apply for this internship create an account on SGSSS Apply and start a new Internships application, making sure to note the reference number R23-19 when selecting your choices. The deadline for applications is Monday 9 March 4pm.
Submit application via SGSSS Apply
Download Scottish Government Guidance
Download the Internships FAQs

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Privacy Policy

© 2024 All rights reserved​

Scottish Graduate School of Social Science, proudly funded by