Civil service administrative officer
Provide vital public services. Give people information, answer their questions and decide which public services can help them.
About the job
What it's like
You would provide vital services to the public. You’d give people information and answer their questions. Or you could review a person’s situation and help decide which services can help them.
You could work in any of the Scottish Government directorates and agencies that serve the public, for example:
Communities Directorate
Enterprise, Environment and Innovation Directorate
Finance Directorate
Creative Scotland
Education Scotland
Forestry Commission Scotland
Depending on which department or agency you worked for you would:
Handle enquiries from the public in person, by telephone or email
Provide information to deal with customer queries
Research information
Contact customers to follow up enquiries
Process benefit payments
Update computerised and paper-based records
Do filing, photocopying and other administrative tasks
Deal with complaints
You might also be responsible for reviewing customer cases and making decisions based on set rules and regulations. You would refer any complex queries or cases, which required discretion or judgement, to an executive officer.
With experience, you could start to deal with more complex enquiries or complaints, or take on more specialist work related to your department.
Hours
You would usually work around 36 hours a week, Monday to Friday. Depending on the department you work for, you may need to work shifts which could include evenings, weekends and public holidays. Part-time work, job sharing and temporary work are all widely available.
Environment
You would be based in an open plan office, which may be open to the public.
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Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Top specialised skills
These are the top specialised skills that have been found in job vacancies across Scotland. From March 2024 to March 2025.
- baseline personnel security standard (bpss)
- settlement
- legal hearings
- consolidation
- legal writs
- chronic fatigue
- schizophrenia
- robotic process automation
- hearing disorders
- network quality of service (qos)
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- reliable
- time management
- developing a plan
- sorting
- attention to detail
- observation
- written communication
- verbal communication
- cooperating
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Administration and Information Technology
Business
Social Subjects
Foundation Apprenticeship: Business Skills
You can get a head start in this career by doing a Foundation Apprenticeship in S5 and S6.
You'll get an SCQF level 6 qualification which is the same level as a Higher. You'll also learn new skills and gain valuable experience in a work environment.
Discover what's on offer at your school on Apprenticeships.scot.
Each Civil Service department has its own entry requirements and advertises its own vacancies but administrative officers usually need at least five subjects at National 4 or 5 (SCQF level 4/5). Many applicants have Highers (SCQF level 6 ) or relevant Higher National Certificate (SCQF level 7), Higher National Diploma (SCQF level 8) or a degree (SCQF level 9/10) qualifications.
Relevant work-based experience and qualifications such as a Scottish Vocational Qualification in Business and Administration (SVQ level 2/3/4).
You may have to sit an entrance test covering areas such as teamwork, communication and number skills.
You can apply for any job in the Civil Service if you are a UK national or have dual nationality with one part being British. If you are a Commonwealth citizen or a national of any of the member states of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), you can apply for about 75% of Civil Service jobs.
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