The British Embassy Abu Dhabi has a vacancy for an Assistant Private Secretary to His Majesty’s Ambassador and Senior Leadership. This role is at job grade Executive Officer (EO) on a fixed-term contract until 31st May 2027 to cover for Maternity.

Main Purpose of the Job:

This is a busy and demanding role at the centre of HM Government’s work in the UAE, requiring excellent communication and collaboration skills, strong organisation and discretion, and a clear focus on high‑quality delivery and problem‑solving.

The postholder will primarily provide high‑level private office support to His Majesty’s Ambassador (HMA) and Deputy Head of Mission (DHM) in Abu Dhabi, and the Deputy Consul General (DCG) in Dubai, alongside cross‑Mission support to the wider Senior Leadership Group, including the HM Trade Commissioner and Consul General. This support will enable senior leaders to carry out their responsibilities effectively both within the Embassy and externally.  The role also contributes to shaping and implementing longer‑term improvements in how senior leadership is supported across the Mission.

Acting as a key interface with a wide range of senior stakeholders, the role involves close engagement with multiple Partners Across Government (PAGs) across both Posts in Abu Dhabi and Dubai as well as senior Emirati government contacts, the diplomatic community, businesses, the British community, and UK government departments in London.

The role sits within the Executive Office, which functions as a cross‑post private office and secretariat spanning Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The team provides strategic coordination and governance support to the Senior Leadership Group, covering areas such as strategy, governance, external engagement, events and visits, corporate culture, and delivery against the UAE Country and Business Plan, supporting the vision of ‘one mission, two posts’.

The postholder is responsible for coordinating senior leaders’ time, diaries, briefings, logistics, events and outreach, working closely with central events, visits and operations teams. They also play an important role in supporting effective internal governance and ensuring strong integration, collaboration and communication across both Posts. A visible presence in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is required, including regular work from the non‑primary Post location, alongside confident, independent leadership of the private office function.

The FCDO is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We do not discriminate on any basis, including categories protected by law. In keeping with the FCDO’s commitment to disability inclusion in the workplace, hiring managers must incorporate the principles set out in the FCDO Disability Confident scheme job applications in the CBS recruitment process.  Our CBS are recruited by Missions in-country in line with local employment laws. 

Duties and responsibilities: 

Private Office Management (60%)

• Provide strategic diary oversight and forward planning of HMA, DHM and DCG diaries ensuring the efficient scheduling and coordinating all meetings, logistics, events and inward and outward visit programmes involving the senior leadership.
• Ensure the day-to-day diary management (undertaken by Assistant to HM Ambassador and Senior Leadership) is undertaken in a timely and efficient manner and responses to enquiries and requests, hosting of visitors to the Embassy or the Residence and daily travel logistics and accommodation requirements for HMA, DHM and DCG are delivered as required.
• Provide advice and guidance to the Assistant to HMA to support prioritisation of requests and the timely drafting, reviewing and sending communication on behalf of HMA, DHM and DCG while maintaining confidentiality at all times.
• Actively communicate across the Mission to ensure relevant internal stakeholders are informed of upcoming engagements of the senior leadership and coordinate, as required, meeting objectives, briefings and attendees ensuring input from all relevant stakeholders.
• With the Chief of Staff, undertake strategic diary management and forward planning, working hand-in-glove with HMTC’s private office, political section, corporate services, events and residence team, visits and chancery support team and other teams on the platform to plan and organise the effective use of time for HMA, DHM and DCG over the medium and long term.
• Oversee and constantly improve private office processes and policies including the commissioning of briefings, arranging of briefing calls, coordination of speech and media requests, residence requests and use of a digital box.
• Build, maintain, and use relationships with the offices of senior external stakeholders (Government Ministers and officials; Ambassadors; C-suite level business contacts), representing the Embassy and HMG appropriately in your interactions.
• Manage and oversee improvements to the process for official correspondence, central contacts database and the recording of gift register entries in line with FCDO policy.

Governance (20%)

• Working with the Chief of Staff, forward plan and coordinate all internal governance meetings including but not limited to SLG Weekly, Heads of Section Meetings, Country Board, Management Board, Delivery and Engagement Board and all other sub committees, boards and forums.
• Commission, in a timely fashion, agendas and attendees for all meetings; coordinate and issue papers and ensure meeting records and summaries are published. Maintain live and active actions logs and follow up on delivery, tracking progress and completion and escalate those off track.
• Digitalise and save centrally all meeting papers and work to improve collaboration and sharing of information for boards and committees as well as communicating effectively to staff outcomes of meetings and governance structure.
• Coordinate the UAE Central Risk Register and ensure the risks are recorded and updated on a regular basis and that the risks are appropriately monitored, tracked and escalated.

Cross Post Integration and Internal Comms (15%)

• Embed the Executive Office as best in class for Embassy Private Office Support and help embed clear, collaborative and agile ways of working, being present and known across the platform by all partners.
• Contribute to improving key Embassy cross-cutting processes and systems, e.g. external engagement, events and hospitality and visits, to the benefit of all HMG teams.
• Lead on Internal Comms for the Embassy working with the People Forum and Internal Comms Working Group to ensure coordinated, engaging and proactive communication with Staff including through All Staff Meetings, Drop Ins and Forums.
• Actively contribute to the Cross-Post Events and Residence Group to develop and improve cross post ways of working and processes in relation to events hosted by the Embassy and the guests received at the Residence including the implementation of the Events Strategy.
• Actively contribute to the delivery of the UAE People Strategy.
• Actively support the SLG and Chief of Staff in working with Departments, Teams and PAGs across post to embed our vision of ‘one mission, two posts’ in the UAE and encourage communication, collaboration and integrated ways of working to further join-up the coherence of our network’s external outreach and internal delivery.
• Undertake special projects as required to advance corporate goals and objectives.

Wider Corporate Activity (5%)

• Participate in the Embassy’s emergency planning and any response to a crisis affecting UK citizens and undertake role of Support Officer to SLG in a crisis.
• Actively contribute to cross Embassy initiatives and activities. 

Resources Managed 

• Line Management of (1) Assistant to HM Ambassador and Senior Leadership (AO). 

The above list is not exhaustive, and the jobholder will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required. 

Key behaviours required: 

• Making Effective Decisions: Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. Carefully consider alternative options, implications and risks of decisions.
• Communicating and Influencing: Communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity, and enthusiasm. Respect the needs, responses, and opinions of others.
• Working Together: Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources, and support.
• Delivering at Pace: Take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive. 

Eligibility 

• Applicants must be able to obtain an appropriate level of UK Security Clearance and be able to obtain a valid UAE police clearance certificate. Higher clearances can be granted only to certain nationalities. For this reason, candidates must be of British, American, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand or EU nationality in order to gain and maintain the level of clearance required.  

• Applications will only be considered from those who are currently residing in the UAE.

• Previous experience as a Senior Personal Assistant or Executive Assistant, Private Secretary, Chief of Staff or Head of Private Office to a senior leader in a large organisation or with a government body or Governance Lead.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. Able to maintain a range of contacts to build effective working relationships, and work closely with senior staff and their contacts.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills. Ability to work quickly and reliably with limited supervision, and able to prioritise a heavy workload and meet deadlines without compromising the quality of the work.
• Initiative to solve problems, raise matters of concern, and understand competing priorities. Ability to work rigorously and independently and make judgement calls on when to use own initiative to deal directly with enquiries and seek guidance where necessary.
• Demonstrates courtesy and consideration in dealing with stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and spoken. Able to express ideas and messages clearly and concisely.
• Strong IT skills, including proficiency in MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams).