Invitation to Tender | Assessing Officers

Published: 02 Jun 2023

Creative Scotland is seeking to appoint up to 3 freelance Assessing Officers to work on the National Lottery Open Fund.

The National Lottery Open Fund is designed to support a range of creative activity and has two strands: one for individuals and another for organisations, based in Scotland.

The Fund doesn’t have any deadlines and applications are submitted and assessed throughout the year with decision making panels happening at least every two weeks.

To support our work on the National Lottery Open Fund, we are seeking to appoint up to 3 professional, freelance or self-employed Assessing Officers to work in partnership with our artform and specialist staff.

Assessing Officers will typically be required for 9 days per month up to a maximum of 120 days per year from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2025.

We are actively planning to diversify the pool of Assessors to support our commitment to Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and are looking for applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds and lived experiences which will better represent the diversity within the culture and creative sector and Scotland’s population.

We’re looking for people who are enthusiastic about the work of Creative Scotland and who would be interested in working closely with artform and other specialist staff to effectively administer public funding to a range of creative individuals and organisations working across Scotland. You will be expected to demonstrate an open and accountable approach to your work and to have excellent communication skills.

Assessing Officers will be expected to provide tailored pre-application advice to a range of individuals and organisations looking for funds to support their work; to assess applications based on the published criteria of the fund; to provide impartial expert opinion at decision-making panels (which will also include Creative Scotland staff); and to give clear and considered feedback to applicants.

Please note, applicants should have the skills required to critically analyse and assess applications with respect to creative and artistic quality; public benefit and reach; financial and organisational viability and risk.

Assessing Officers will be expected to have strong, current knowledge and expertise from within the arts and creative industries sectors in one or more of the following artforms and/or specialism areas:

• Music: Rock, Pop and Hip Hop
• Music: Folk and Trad
• Visual Arts: All areas of contemporary practice

Assessing Officers should also have additional knowledge and expertise to support Creative Scotland’s priorities in:

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Sustainable Development
• Fair Work
• International

Assessing Officers will be paid a fee of £200 per day (excluding VAT if applicable) and will typically be required for 9 days per month and up to a maximum of 120 days per year from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2025, working in partnership with Creative Scotland artform and specialist staff. The tenderer should specify availability within their submission.

The contract will commence upon acceptance of the offer until 30 September 2025.

How to apply

The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Thursday 22 June 2023 through the Scottish Government e-Tendering System, Home - Public Contracts Scotland

To apply for this opportunity, please register with PCS as a supplier if you are not already registered, by following the below link to the website: Supplier Registration - Public Contracts Scotland

Once registered, please then complete your application via the PCS Portal using Reference No. JUN480063 at the following link: View Notice - Public Contracts Scotland

How to register onto PCS and submit a Tender Response via the PCS Postbox.

• Follow the link Supplier Registration - Public Contracts Scotland and register as a Supplier, just putting your name in the “Organisation Name” field, click Continue (this will take you back to the main page).
• You will receive an email from PCS which you will need to click into to activate your PCS Membership.
• Once that’s done, go back into Login - Public Contracts Scotland and log in with your details.
• At the top of the Home Page, click “Browse Notices” and under the “Filter Results”, insert in the “Reference No” field JUN480063 and click search, (this will bring up the Creative Scotland National Lottery Open Fund Assessing Officer’s Notice Details).
• Click into the Notice and “Record your interest now” then Save and Continue.
• Click onto the Notice again where you will find access to the Document Tab and can open up the Tender Brief document.
• Once you have completed the Tender Brief and the necessary documents, go to Member Notice History Details - Public Contracts Scotland and click on the “Go To Postbox” option on the right hand side and Create a Postbox Response (this is where you will upload and submit your documents) and click Despatch.