Following retirement, Jess spent time as an academy coach initially returning to former club Nottingham Forest before later having a spell with Peterborough United.
Born in the village of Portsoy in Aberdeenshire, Jess began his career in Glasgow as a trainee striker at Rangers (alongside future Scotland teammate John Spencer)[1] but was allowed to leave in 1987;[2] he soon moved back to his home region, signing for Aberdeen.
[3][4][5] The club finished runners-up in the Premier Division, and Jess picked up another winner's medal as an unused substitute in the 1990 Scottish Cup Final.
Jess scored the winning goal in the semi-final of the 1992–93 Scottish League Cup against Celtic and played all 120 minutes of the final which ended in a 2–1 defeat to Rangers.
[12] In March 1993 he suffered a fractured ankle in the quarter-final of the 1992–93 Scottish Cup against Clydebank[4][3] but was rushed back to fitness after only two months out[13] and appeared as a substitute in the final of the competition, which Aberdeen again lost 2–1 to Rangers.
[16] He left Aberdeen for the first time having made 253 official appearances for the club, scoring 63 goals, and the transfer fee they received for him was a record amount.
[22] By that time Gordon Strachan had taken over from Atkinson as manager, and in the close season he allowed Jess to leave as he could not guarantee his place in the team.
[27] Bradford were relegated in last place but the loan move was a success (17 games, three goals), with the deal being made permanent in the summer when Jess's Aberdeen contract expired.
In the 2001–02 First Division he made 45 league appearances and finished the season as top scorer with 14 goals[1] (including a hat-trick in a home win over Watford),[28] but financial problems meant he was released by Bradford in June 2002 following the collapse of ITV Digital.
In July 2005 he signed for Northampton Town and in his first season with the club achieved promotion from the fourth tier; in April 2007 he was released from his contract with The Cobblers, aged 36, and retired from playing.
His two international goals were both scored while playing for Aberdeen, although four years apart: the first came against San Marino in 1995, and the second in a 2–1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier defeat at home to the Czech Republic in March 1999; he appeared from the bench in the return fixture three months later, which proved to be his final Scotland match.