The global skills and competency framework for the digital world

SFIA Accredited Consultant

This process is for the accreditation of individual consultants. The aim of The SFIA Accredited Consultant scheme is to ensure that consultants have an effective knowledge of SFIA and relevant experience in the field of skills management.

SFIA Accredited Consultant

Introduction

This is a SFIA Level 5 role.  A SFIA Accredited Consultant may work operationally on people/skills management activities using SFIA, however, they are also likely to be leading a people/skills management programme or initiative within an organisation.  They are likely to be operating with and influencing 'C-Level' executives and senior managers with regards to the adoption and exploitation of SFIA for significant business benefit.

Supporting documents...

  • Read the generic profile for a SFIA Accredited Consultant 
  • A SFIA Accredited Consultant application form, including application guidance may be found here.

Please Note...

The scope of SFIA activities within an organisation can be very broad and it is not expected that all activities or requirements mentioned in the Generic Role Profile are demonstrated.  Any application for SFIA Accredited Consultant should be made having referred to this generic profile and reading associated guidance documentation.

Application for SFIA Accredited Consultant

It is the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate their experience of using SFIA in real world environments at an appropriate level.  Success in an application is more likely if evidence to demonstrate experience is readily available to the assessor.

An application should consist of:

  • A completed application form detailing experience in the application and use of SFIA in real-world situations
  • A detailed career history or CV
  • References where possible
  • Evidence of successful completion of appropriate level of SFIA training

Mandatory Requirements

The following requirements are required for this role and it is up to the applicant to provide evidence that these requirements are met:

  • SFIA Training: Satisfactorily completed Authorised Introduction to SFIA
  • Demonstrate practical experience of implementing and using SFIA *
  • Provide evidence of having led at least one implementation or adoption of SFIA.
  • Demonstrate the ability to identify SFIA skills needed for a defined job or role.  
  • Demonstrate the knowledge of how SFIA could be used in different management situations (recruitment, deployment, assessment, development, remuneration policy, etc.).
Your application should provide evidence that demonstrates experience relating to:
  • human capital management policies and practices
  • hands-on involvement in the skills development process in information technology (this would typically be the direct management of technical staff, but that is not essential in all cases)
  • appreciation of the HR issues relating to specific processes in resource management such as recruitment, career planning, resource planning, deployment of people to jobs or assignments, staff appraisals, personal development plans, etc.
  • IT industry knowledge
  • experience of providing consultancy
  • qualifications.

* The CV, and optionally an accompanying case study, should include evidence of significant influence and leadership in an implementation of SFIA. This must be specific about the consultant’s responsibilities and contribution to the project. We strongly recommend that you read our guidance for applicants to avoid disappointment.

Desirable Characteristics

These desirable characteristics must show experience in various processes of skills management and their leadership.  This experience is likely to be in a number of organisations and scenarios but may be limited to one organisation where the level of operation and duration of leadership may be substantial.

  • Responsible for setting corporate policies and strategies for the management of people and skills
  • Planning, developing, rolling out and applying corporate policies for people management.
  • Engaging with and influencing senior management and 'C Level' executives in understanding the key people management requirements and advising on people management strategies.
  • Leading skills/people management initiatives in an organisation.

SFIA Levels of Responsibility

To become an SFIA Accredited Consultant, you need hands-on experience using the SFIA framework. For the purpose of this application, we require evidence of your skills and responsibilities at Level 5 (not for higher levels). 

It is a mandatory requirement that a SFIA Accredited Consultant is able to demonstrate that they have operated as a minimum at the levels below for the Generic Attributes:

  • Autonomy Level 5
  • Influence Level 5
  • Complexity Level 5
  • Knowledge level 5
  • Business Skills Level 5

Professional Skills

The scope of SFIA related work may be very broad and it is necessary to demonstrate evidence of performing a number of professional skills.  

While the professional skills required is flexible, two SFIA professional skills are mandatory...

  1. Consultancy (CNSL) at level 5
  2. plus at least one of Methods and tools (METL) or Organisational capability development (OCDV) at level 5

 The SFIA Accredited Consultant Generic Profile lists a number of other skills that are optional.  A candidate should provide evidence of as many professional skills as they feel necessary to demonstrate the breadth of their experience.  A candidate must be able to demonstrate at least 5 SFIA skills in total.

How to apply

To apply for accreditation you will need to be assessed:

  1. Attend an official SFIA Training Course run by an accredited SFIA Training Provider.
  2. Complete the accredited consultant application form
  3. Submit an up-to-date CV. This documentation must be submitted personally by the applicant.
  4. Send the application form and your CV for evaluation to our Business Administrator
  5. We will send you an invoice for the evaluation fee. See our payment details here: how to pay us

Note that the documentation must be sent by you personally, not by anyone else: not even by your employer.

When the assessment has been completed, you will receive a reply telling you if your application has been accepted.

If your application is successful, you will need to pay the annual Accredited Consultant fee as defined in our General Terms and Conditions.

If the application is not accepted, the Foundation will not review further applications until at least 12 months have elapsed.

To remain a SFIA Accredited Consultant you will need to continue to pay the annual fee as defined in the General Terms and Conditions.

Reinstate an elapsed SFIA Consultant Accreditation

For those wishing to reinstate their SFIA Consultant accreditation after a period of absence the following steps will apply:

For those individuals who for whatever reason have had up to two years from last expired licence:

    1. Require back dated fees to be paid (max £500)
    2. Provide evidence of currency with new version of SFIA (to be defined - but could be retraining, some ‘unlicensed’ consultancy, other?)
    3. Pay the fees for the next 12 months at current cost.

For individuals with more than 2 years from expiry of last licence:

     1. New Application to be completed using the current accreditation process and criteria (As documented above)

     2. Retraining will be required unless previous training was in last 3 years

     3. Provision of SFIA experience (The Foundation would expect some current SFIA experience (within the last 3 years) sufficient to demonstrate experience

Please note: there is no guarantee that an application will be successful if the criteria for Accreditation has changed since the original accreditation.