NHSScotland Careers
07 November 2022
•8 min read
Join Scotland’s largest employer
Since 1948, the NHS has been there for us all 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
We're the largest employer in Scotland, with a workforce of over 180,000. We all work together to deliver high-quality services that protect the health and wellbeing of over 5 million people living in Scotland every day.
NHSScotland is made up of 22 organisations:
- 14 regional health boards
- 8 national boards
Find out more about NHSScotland employers.
Your route to an NHS career
Make a difference every day by choosing a career in the NHS!
There are lots of different routes you can take to help you achieve your career goal. You might be:
- a school leaver looking for an apprenticeship or training programme
- a qualified healthcare professional thinking about returning to practice
- a career changer seeking a new opportunity
- an armed forces leaver ready for a new career that matches your skills and experience
- an overseas healthcare professional who wants to make the move to Scotland
You could also get healthcare experience by volunteering or gaining work experience at your local health board.
Discover your path to a career in health.
Our values
Our workforce demonstrates the NHSScotland values through the high-quality and person-centred care they provide. Our values are:
- care and compassion
- dignity and respect
- openness, honesty, and responsibility
- quality and teamwork
Explore our careers
It might surprise you that not everyone in the NHS workforce delivers patient care on the front line. But we all contribute to making a difference and helping others.
You could be designing and developing technology or analysing and interpreting data. You might like a job testing and repairing equipment in a workshop or maintaining boilers that provide heating and hot water to a whole hospital.
Whichever role you choose, you’ll be helping to deliver the best service to patients, their families, carers, and the public.
You have the skills we need
If you're a school leaver, job seeker, volunteer, or enjoy social activities, you'll have many of the skills the NHS is looking for.
Transferable skills
You will already have lots of useful skills that you’ll have learnt through:
- work
- hobbies
- sports
- volunteering
- study
Some of these skills are transferable skills that can be applied to lots of different jobs.
Examples of transferable skills that the NHS is looking for are:
- communicating
- collaborating
- initiative
- empathy
- focussing
- leading
Find out how to write about your transferable skills when applying for a job in the NHS.
How to apply
View all our vacancies by searching our recruitment website.
Click on a job that interests you, then download and read the application pack. It will include lots of helpful information about the job to help you decide if it's the right one for you. Look out for:
- job description
- person specification
- working pattern
- pay rates and enhancements
- terms and conditions
- core staff benefits and discounts
When you've found a job you'd like to do, click apply, then complete your online application.
Remember to tell us what you can do. It helps us learn more about you and the skills you'll bring to the role.
Find out more about applying online. Read our blog post - Your guide to the NHSScotland application process.
Pay and benefits
There are 3 different pay systems in the NHSScotland. Agenda for Change is the pay system for most of our workforce, except for doctors, dentists, and senior managers. Pay rates are typically reviewed each year.
Some of the benefits of working in the NHS include:
- flexible and family-friendly working
- competitive pension scheme
- access to wellbeing support
- access to discount schemes
- investment in workforce development
- Cycle to Work scheme
Career stories
What’s it really like to work in the NHS? Discover the pathways that people like you took to a career in NHSScotland.
Ready for an exciting, challenging, and rewarding career?
Use our guide to help you find your perfect career in NHSScotland.