The career framework consists of four sections. These correspond with phases in an individual's career, and three broad families of career options
For the purposes of this framework the career families are termed "General Senior Civil Service", "Technical Manager" and "Technical Specialist".
Section 1 - At the start of your career
Typically the first part of a career within the civil service starts below grade 7. At this stage scientists and engineers are expected to be developing their technical knowledge. However, this does not mean that they should be working in a narrow silo. Instead, they should be making efforts to understand how their work will be used and starting to build networks. Individuals may also want to use this part of their career to experience a wide range of different jobs so as better to inform their future decisions.
Although it is natural that the early part of a scientific or engineering career is focused on technical skills, or "Professional Expertise" as they are referred to as part of Professional Skills for Government (PSG), the other elements of the PSG framework are still relevant. This relevance obviously increases as an individual approaches the Grade 7 "PSG gateway".
Section 2 - Grade 7 and equivalent
Whilst not every scientist and engineer is expected to reach Grade 7, it is considered a reasonable career aspiration for the majority. That said, reaching Grade 7 is a significant achievement, as evidenced by the wide range of challenging and interesting jobs that are available at this level.
These jobs can be grouped into two loose categories:
- "Managerial", which readily provides access to careers in the "General Senior Civil Service" and "Technical Management"; and
- "Technical", which more naturally leads to the "Technical Specialist" career family.
However, at this point in a career it is easy to switch between managerial and technical jobs and, furthermore, there is not too much difference between jobs in these two categories.
It should be noted that choosing to pursue the "technical" branch does not mean that there will be an absence of managerial aspects to your job. In particular, as you progress in your career you would, in general, be expected to take some responsibility for people and for projects. This is why the PSG Core Skills include elements like Programme and Project Management, People Management and Financial Management. To reach Grade 7 you will be expected to have acquired and demonstrated these, and other, skills.
Similarly, pursuing the "managerial" branch does not mean that you will do no science or engineering, although the amount of hands on work may be expected to reduce. Despite this, as long as you choose to identify with the Scientist / Engineer profession within PSG, you are expected to maintain your professional competence.
There is much merit in trying a job from each branch, partly because this will help inform your future career choices, and partly because it will help build wider networks and partly because of the broader experience it provides. The latter point is of particular importance for those scientists and engineers who have the ability and the desire to progress significantly beyond Grade 7.
Section 3 - Grade 6 or equivalent
Establishing a national and international reputation and developing and exploiting networks are important for those choosing to build a career as a technical specialist. Staff explicitly focusing on this route should note, however, that there is a possibility that incumbent experts can remain in post for long periods of time, and this may restrict promotion opportunities. In particular, the number of experts in any given field is limited by the business need of the organisation. At a fundamental level this is no different from the number of managerial posts being determined by the needs of the business. The apparent distinction arises because of the more general skills required for managerial posts, which means that a greater range of opportunities are available to a given individual, especially in other organisations.
Those focusing on the "managerial" route can decide whether they want to forge a general career or whether they prefer to remain in posts that are more closely related to their scientific or engineering background. The former approach obviously opens up a wider range of opportunities, including those at the very top of the senior civil service.
At this career stage it is still possible to move from posts with a managerial emphasis to those with a technical one and vice versa, although it is more difficult than in Section 2.
Section 4 - The Senior Civil Service
This is a significant career hurdle, which only a small fraction of civil servants would be expected to overcome.
Of the three career families, only "General Senior Civil Service" provides access to jobs at the very top of the SCS. Whilst not enabling access to the most senior positions, the "Technical Management" family nevertheless provides more opportunities to progress higher in the SCS than the "Technical Specialist" family.
Whilst some movement between families is possible, this is most likely to be between the "General Senior Civil Service" and "Technical Management" areas. In particular, it would be more difficult for a technical specialist who has spent years focusing on their field of expertise to move into the general SCS, as this requires a much broader base of experience than such people would typically acquire.
