Experts at what we do, we work in a professional way towards our shared goals, knowing the work we do makes a genuine, lasting difference on the environment. As Chief Scientific Advisor, that involves:
- Provide strategic scientific leadership across SEPA, ensuring environmental analysis and insights are robust, credible, and underpin sound regulatory decisions.
- Lead the provision of high-quality scientific evidence to inform the development and review of regulatory frameworks and policy.
- Oversee SEPA’s State of the Environment Reporting, ensuring outputs are scientifically credible, accessible, and valuable to the public, government, and stakeholders.
- Direct environmental monitoring, modeling, and assessment activities, including data and modeling support for pollution incidents and environmental stress events.
- Lead SEPA’s scientific research agenda, fostering innovation and partnerships with academic and research institutions, and applying cutting-edge science, technology, and methods.
- Provide strategic leadership for SEPA’s environmental data strategy, championing innovation in analytics, GIS, AI, IoT, and satellite/sensor technologies.
This is a highly important role within our Data, Evidence & Innovation portfolio which means you will need:
- Proven senior leadership experience with a track record of delivering organizational change leading and motivating multi-disciplinary teams.
- Extensive experience in relevant scientific, technical, or professional fields.
- Experience of the ability to engage credibly at the highest levels with government, industry, and stakeholders.
- Demonstrated ability to develop and implement strategic plans that deliver measurable environmental, social, and economic outcomes.
- Evidence of the ability to interpret complex scientific or technical data and translate it into clear, actionable advice for varied audiences, including media and public forums.
Salary range: £76,550 to £86,189
Application deadline: December 19, 2025
