View Vacancy – Administrative Assistant – Ministry of Defence (MOD) (UKR26-0011448)

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.

Job Category

Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)

Job Subcategory

MOD (Ministry of Defence)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Who are we?

The British Embassy in Kyiv is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas and is now looking for an Administrative Assistant to join the Ministry of Defence (MOD) team.

Main purpose of job:

The role sits firmly with the post goal of strengthening Ukraine’s defence and security capabilities to secure Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence and deter Russia’s long-term campaign of aggression. We are a mixed team of military and civilians, UKB (UK Based) and CBS (Country Based Staff), who deliver this goal in a coordinated way.

We expect the new hire to provide administrative support to the Section activities by making travel arrangements for the Defence Section and UK Visitors as required, make travel arrangements for to official delegations travelling from Ukraine to UK, provide media coverage, process flight diplomatic clearances and border crossing requests. The internal stakeholders include Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Policy, Economical and Strategic Comms and Corporate Services.

The Administrative Assistant should be a fluent English user (C1) as they will be required to translate documents. To assist the individual settling into the job we offer mentoring and a variety of training courses, both online and face-to-face. We welcome and encourage involvement in the whole-Embassy activities either through joining a social group of their choice or on the ad hoc basis.

Roles and responsibilities:

Provide a dedicated support to the Military, Air and Navy Attachés (40%) including on their regional travel.

– Make travel and accommodation arrangements for Defence Section and UK based visitors including bespoke travel of the UK cross-Government VIP and VVIP visitors as required;
– Make travel arrangements for official delegations travelling from Ukraine to UK;
– Liaise with the relevant UK authorities to ensure unimpeded travel of the Ukrainian military personnel on NATO Travel Order;
– Translate documents from Ukrainian to English and English to Ukrainian as required;
– Liaise with the local authorities concerning pre-accreditation of the Defence personnel.

Process flight diplomatic clearances and act as the Border Force LO for armed border crossing (30%).

– Put together and regularly update the respective user guides as the Defence Section input to the respective SOPs.

Compile media reviews (25%) on a weekly basis.

Other administrative duties as requested by the Defence Section members (5%).

The FCDO also operates an agile workforce. To facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require.

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity!

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

Our Ideal Candidate shows:

• Fluent user in both written and spoken English and Ukrainian (C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages*).
• At least 5 years’ experience with international organisations.
• Understanding of the Ukrainian Government structure and processes.
• Working knowledge of the Ukrainian legislation governing international relations and respective processes .
• Understanding of Defence and Security Sector-specific processes and hierarchy.
• Strong IT skills, particularly in Outlook, Excel, Teams, and other MS Office tools.
• Demonstrated resilience and emotional intelligence, with the ability to work under pressure in a fast-changing environment.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent communication skills.
  

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

Nice to have:

• Working knowledge of diplomatic protocol.

Required behaviours

Delivering at Pace, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together

Application deadline

29 July 2026

Grade

Administrative Assistant (AA)

Type of Position

Full-time, Fixed Term, Fixed term, with possibility of renewal

Working hours per week

40

Duration of Post

6 months

Region

Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia

Country/Territory

Ukraine

Location (City)

Kyiv

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

USD

Salary

1,574.56

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

1 September 2026

Other benefits and conditions of employment

This is a full-time, fixed-term contract for the period of 6 months with possibility of extending monthly, for 40 working hours per week including 1 hour per day for lunch.

The start date mentioned in the advert is just an expected start date. The appointment can start earlier or later depending on several factors.

The successful candidate will benefit from:

• Working in a diverse, multi-cultural team of Ukrainian and British colleagues with wide-ranging experience. A well-balanced work/life culture and a friendly and supportive team.
• Medical and dental plan (non-contributory for the employee and contributory for qualified dependants).
• 24 working days of annual leave and additional public and privilege holidays.
• System of performance-based bonuses for high-achievers every twelve months.
• Participation in staff gatherings organised by the Social Committee (team get-togethers, Christmas Party etc.) as well as cultural events hosted by the Ambassador.
• Direct contribution towards to accelerating Ukrainian victory and supporting the country’s recovery from the consequences of war.

The British Embassy does not provide a hardship allowance.

Learning and development opportunities: The jobholder will have access to BE Kyiv’s full learning and development offer, which includes FCDO International Academy.

All applicants should have the right to live and work in Ukraine. The British Embassy does not sponsor work permits.

Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy in Kyiv is subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Ukrainian employment law. This is an official employment, and the salary is subject to official tax; currently 23%. The salary is a set rate and there are no additional allowances on top.

All applicants must have all relevant employment documents in order as required under martial law. That includes an up to date, clean military record.

Additional information

Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application, since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.

Please be advised that British Diplomatic Missions will not be able to meet the travel costs incurred when travelling to the interview, nor the costs connected with relocation if offered a position.

*Please note for more information on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment levels please click on the following link CEFR. Please bear in mind in case you are invited for an interview your language skill is going to be assessed.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.