The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability.
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.
Main purpose of job:
- UK diplomatic posts overseas are at the frontline of a UK government response to an overseas crisis affecting British people and interests. This role focuses on ensuring that our staff have the right plans and skills to be able to respond to a range of different crisis scenarios. Within your region you will be responsible for understanding the risks that different posts face and their overall preparedness and providing support, training and advice to help them improve their ability to respond.
- You will champion the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) clear crisis management methodology and training products, supported and directed by the FCDO Crisis Management Department in headquarters and working closely with regional crisis leads and consular staff. As one of the two Regional Crisis Advisers for the Sub-Saharan Africa region, you will have opportunities to work together and will both be an important part of the Sub-Saharan Africa Consular and Crisis leadership team. You will feed into broader consular policy in the region and role model the Sub-Saharan Africa Consular Network leadership values.
- The role will be based at British High Commission Nairobi, Kenya. However, as a regional role, you will be expected to travel frequently to the Posts across East and West Africa that make up your ‘East and West Africa’ region (known as East & West Africa).
- At these posts you will need to be able to form close working relationships with your colleagues at all levels and experience, prioritising posts with the greatest need for support. You will benefit from excellent learning and development opportunities, which will allow you to deepen your crisis management skills as well as a supportive network of colleagues both in HQ and our global network
Essential qualifications, skills and experience
- Excellent English language skills (written and oral)
- Understanding of and an ability to work in an international or governmental organization.
- Excellent inter-personal, communication and team working skills.
- Excellent presentational, organisational skills and a proactive approach.
- Resilience, with ability to work unsupervised and innovate
- Self-starter with strong time management skills – able to work to deadlines and targets and manage a sometimes-heavy workload while safeguarding your own personal resilience.
- Excellent IT skills (Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, MS Teams)
Desirable qualifications, skills and experience
- Familiarity with FCDO’s crisis management policy and procedures would be helpful. The successful candidate will benefit from training and development through the FCDO’s International Academy’s Consular and Crisis faculty.
- Experience of providing training in a professional environment, ideally with an externally validated professional accreditation, such as CIPD.
- Familiarity with crisis management issues and techniques and an ability to understand risks across a range issues.
- Familiarity with UK consular procedures
