Skills Development Officer (SDO)

The Skills Development Officer (SDO) is the named individual responsible for the Skills Development Plan (Tab F) on a production. Required on every S481 / S487A production above the skills-plan threshold (€2m / €1.5m eligible spend).

The role is skills, not HR

Screen Ireland is explicit: this is a skills role, not an HR role. (Unless the same person already holds HR responsibility on the production, in which case they can wear both hats.) The SDO is the person on the production who owns the plan from prep through to the compliance report.

Eight core responsibilities

1. Oversee the skills needs analysis
2. Familiarity with the Skills Development Plan (Tab F)
3. Work with skills participants + supervisors to devise individual training plans (ILPs)
4. Create reporting mechanisms to capture evidence
5. Liaise with Screen Ireland — facilitate set visits + participant meetings
6. Liaise with participants + supervisors throughout the production
7. Submit the Skills Development Compliance Report at end of project
8. Submit all associated paperwork + evidence to Screen Ireland

Cross-company role

The SDO is typically a freelance role. One person commonly carries SDO responsibility on several productions across several production companies in parallel. Togra's SDO hub aggregates every project they're named on, across every company.

Recommended training

Screen Ireland recommends new SDOs:
- Take SI's bespoke SDO training (when available)
- 'Train the Trainer' / 'Managing Mentoring' equivalents
- Engage regularly with SI's S481 / S487A teams

Tools the SDO needs

• ILP editor for each participant
• Reflective Learning Journal per participant
• Mandatory courses tracker
• SI engagement log
• Skills Tab Z table (compliance report attachment)
• Compliance bundle export (ZIP for SI submission)