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Civil Service Senior Civil Service (SCS) jobs

There are currently 68 SCS vacancies open across the Civil Service.

The Senior Civil Service is the leadership cadre that sits above Grade 6, spanning Deputy Director at Pay Band 1 through Director and Director General to Permanent Secretary. It is a single service across government rather than a departmental grade, which is why SCS members move between departments far more readily than staff below them.

SCS roles are accountable in a way that delegated grades are not. A Deputy Director owns a directorate’s outcomes, its budget and its people, and answers for them to ministers, to Parliament through their Permanent Secretary, and increasingly in public. The proportion of the job spent on things that will be scrutinised externally is what most distinguishes it from Grade 6.

Recruitment at this level works differently. Campaigns are smaller, run over longer timescales, and typically involve staff engagement exercises, panel interviews with an external member, and sometimes leadership assessment as well as a Success Profiles interview. Vacancy Holder Information Packs carry much more detail than a standard advert, and reading them properly is the single highest-return thing an applicant can do.

Assessment moves beyond the standard behaviour levels used at delegated grades and puts more weight on leadership: setting direction in genuine uncertainty, building capability that outlasts you, and holding a line under external pressure. Examples that would be strong at Grade 6 often need to be reframed rather than merely scaled up.

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The full board also shows how many posts each campaign is filling, which the official results list does not.

Common questions

What grades are in the Senior Civil Service?
The SCS runs from Pay Band 1 (typically Deputy Director) through Pay Band 2 (Director) and Pay Band 3 (Director General) to Permanent Secretary. This board groups all of them under SCS.
How is SCS recruitment different?
Campaigns are smaller and longer, the information packs are far more detailed, and the process usually includes staff engagement exercises and a panel with an external member alongside the Success Profiles interview.
Can external candidates apply for SCS roles?
Yes. A substantial proportion of SCS campaigns are open externally, and government recruits at Deputy Director and Director level from outside the Civil Service regularly.
What is the first SCS grade?
SCS Pay Band 1, most commonly a Deputy Director post. It is the grade immediately above Grade 6.