Career Review Programme Board

Grahame is leading the Careers Review as Chair of the Programme Board, which includes representatives from further and higher education, employers and third sector organisations. 

Grahame is a former General Secretary of the Scottish TUC, a position he held from 2006 to 2020. He is a graduate of Strathclyde University where he obtained an Honours Degree in Economics and Industrial Relations. 

He serves on a number of skills and economic development bodies and has contributed extensively to the development of skills and employment policy, including as a member of the Commission on Developing Scotland's Young Workforce and the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery.

Elma Murray was Chief Executive of North Ayrshire Council from 2009 to 2018 and has a local government career of over 35 years. Elma became the first Chair of the Scottish Obesity Alliance in December 2018.

On 1 August 2019 she was appointed Deputy Chair of the Accounts Commission for Scotland and became Interim Chair of the Commission on 1 August 2020. She is also a Board Member of SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College) and the Deputy Chair of Scotland’s Developing the Young Workforce Employer’s Forum.

She is the Chair of Young Scot (Scotland’s youth information and citizenship charity) and is a Commissioner for the APSE Local Government Commission 2030.

Elma is passionate about the vital role of public sector services to support local people and the most vulnerable in our communities. She has a specific focus on transformation, young people and children’s services, wellbeing and inclusive growth.

Over her career she has held several senior positions including Chair of SOLACE (Scotland), Directors of the Improvement Service and of Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company, Depute Director of Finance and Head of Service Reform at Glasgow City Council, Head of IT Services at North Ayrshire and at Strathclyde Police.

Elma was awarded an OBE for Services to Local Government, Education and the Economy in the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours List.

Jackie is a senior Human Resources professional with over 20 years’ experience, working at a strategic level in Chubb, Suez Group and Balfour Beatty plc.

In her current role as Head of HR for Scotland and Ireland, Jackie is a part of Balfour Beatty’s Scottish Executive Leadership team and is responsible for key people matters including change management, organisational design, inclusion and diversity and leadership development.

Following a degree in Business from Napier University, Jackie completed a post-graduate diploma in Human Resource Management and is a chartered member of CPID. She also has various coaching and emotional intelligence accreditations and is a member of the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board Employer’s group.      

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group which provides innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins ​our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. 

A graduate of the University of Strathclyde, James’s career includes spells as Director of Training and Development at Microcom Training and Director of Quality and Performance at Street League, the sport for employment charity.

In his role, James is passionate about supporting service delivery for people of all ages so that they have the right skills and confidence to secure good work, progress in their careers and achieve their full potential.

Following a major career change early in her career from the private sector working in business and banking to youth and community work, Rowena has worked in education for over 36 years.

She previously worked with the Scottish Education and Action for Development (SEAD) as an Education and Campaigns Organiser and was Director of with the Multicultural Education Centre in Edinburgh. From there, Rowena moved to the University of Edinburgh's Moray House School of Education and Sport, where she had roles including Head of the Institute of Education, Community and Society and Head of School. She has held several public appointments including being the Equal Opportunities Commissioner for Scotland and was a member of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council. 

Currently, Rowena chairs the Scottish Government’s short-life working group on Diversifying the Teaching Profession and the University of Edinburgh's Race Equality and Anti-Racist Sub-Committee. Rowena is also an associate with the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland (CERES) and a member of the RACE.ED network in the University. 

Rowena was awarded an OBE in 2001 for services to race equality in Scotland and a CBE for services to equality and education in 2019.

With over 20 years’ experience working with students, graduates, University staff and employers, Tracey Innes is Head of Careers and Employability at the University of Aberdeen, responsible for the strategic development and management of the Careers and Employability Service with the vision of 'inspiring career success for all through collaboration, innovation and professionalism'.

Tracey’s current role as AGCAS Scotland Convener includes facilitating collaboration for mutual support in the enhancement of HE Careers Services in Scotland.

Founded in 1495, the University of Aberdeen is open to all and is home to 12 different schools, which together deliver teaching and research on a broad range of subjects and disciplines.