On Monday 9 June the Cabinet Secretary launched the ‘Join a Profession’ campaign. This campaign is part of the government’s vision to enhance the Civil Service by investing in skills and leadership capabilities to drive innovation. The Cabinet Secretary is asking every civil servant to identify and connect with a relevant profession and ensure their development plans build their professional skills.
What is a profession?
Professions are active communities providing access to specialised learning, career pathway guidance and the chance to connect with colleagues with similar interests and skill sets. Being part of a profession is about fostering a belonging to professional community that offers guidance, support, and opportunities throughout your career journey. There are 30 government professions available, 13 of which are open to anyone across the government, including the Government Science and Engineering (GSE) Profession.
Benefits of joining a profession
- Targeted development: Access specialised learning, training, and development opportunities.
- Career support: Guidance on your career paths and advice on career progression.
- Valuable connections: Build relationships with peers across government who share your interests and expertise.
Government Science and Engineering Profession
The GSE Profession is a diverse cross-government group of people who are connected to science and engineering either by their role, skillset or interests. The Profession has around 10,000 diverse members across the civil, public, and crown services and aims to help everyone embed science and engineering in government decision making and increase the capability of scientists and engineers across government.
The GSE Profession is open to everyone across government, regardless of their background, and we have four job families:
- Deep specialists: Members who have deep knowledge in a specific science or engineering area and work in this area.
- Specialists: Members who have specialised training, knowledge or experience in a science or engineering related topic but may work across different areas.
- Cross Disciplinary: Members who use their scientific background to regularly adapt to working on different science or engineering topics.
- Affiliate: Members who have a background or interest in science and engineering but are not in science or engineering roles.
Whether you’re a deep specialist or just starting your journey into science and engineering, the GSE Profession offers a wealth of resources, support, and opportunities to enhance your skills and contribute to impactful decision-making.
We have developed offers to showcase the value of science and engineering. These include:
- Learning and development opportunities: Access valuable resources through our awareness level courses, career guidance through mentoring schemes, and professional development support tailored to scientists, engineers and all government colleagues
- Community of Practice meetings: Join our monthly meeting where you can connect with fellow GSE members, share ideas and hear the latest science and engineering developments from across government.
- Leadership Values Masterclasses: Sign up for masterclasses to develop the skills and values necessary to be a science and engineering leader across government.
- Monthly newsletter: Stay informed about learning opportunities, development programmes, and science/engineering updates from across government.
- GSE blog: Please visit our blog for updates, interesting stories, and opportunities from across government and beyond.
- GSE Careers: Find out more about careers in government science and engineering through our extensive library of career case studies.
- Resources: Gain access to a wealth of resources, including our induction pack and STEM Futures - a partnership of organisations across industry, academia, and the public sector which aims to promote and facilitate the exchange of STEM knowledge.
Find out more about the GSE Profession offer by contacting us for more information.
Don’t delay, take the next step in your Civil Service career by joining the Government Science and Engineering profession today.
