View Vacancy – AUS (Canberra) – Political Teams Support Officer A2(L)

Main purpose of job:

Support the UK’s prosperity, foreign policy and public diplomacy agendas by assisting our policy teams with policy projects, project management, finance, logistics and corporate communications.

Please note that this job specification may be subject to change in line with evolving business priorities, and to adapt to Covid restrictions on travel and social distancing that may affect events and visits.

Roles and responsibilities:

Provide budgetary, administrative and project management support across the High Commission’s political teams. The jobholder will also conduct research to support policy team reporting. Support the Visit Coordinator to organise official visits and events,

Project and Financial Management

• Manage the High Commission’s International Fund, including financial management.
• Support the Trade Projects and Research Officer’s management of the Prosperity Fund.
• Stay abreast of developments in FCO project management guidance and use your knowledge to promote best practice to colleagues.
• Assist with proposal writing and project delivery as required.
• Provide purchasing support for the Political Teams e.g. requisitions, quote comparisons, event and conference registrations. Advise team members on requisition procedures and FCO purchasing guidelines.

Policy Support

• Conduct research and reporting on aspects of Australian policy as required e.g. economic, social, health, science, trade, foreign and security issues.
• Occasional support at events, including sometimes at the High Commissioner’s Residence or in other locations.   Typical responsibilities could include helping with the cloakroom or guest registration.
• Manage and respond to public enquiries for the Political Teams.
• Act as secretary to the Prosperity Oversight Group and as note-taker for other policy and corporate meetings as required.
• Act as the Open Government Liaison Officer (OGLO) for the Australian Network, coordinating responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) and similar requests

Events and Visits:

• Support the Visit Coordinator to arrange ministerial and senior official visits to and from Australia, and lead on visits as required.
• Support the Visit Coordinator with Event management, including planning, venue and stakeholder research, compilation of guest lists, invitations and other arrangements, lead on events as required.
• Manage the BHC contacts’ database, ensuring it is an up-to-date and effective tool to support event management.
• Provide assistance to the Communications Team as required, which may occasionally including media monitoring and summaries at the direction of policy teams.

Other

• Administration of the diplomatic reporting exchange system between the FCO and DFAT
• Provide executive support to colleagues in the Political Teams, for example, scheduling meetings and conference calls, and assisting with travel plans and bookings.
• Provide absence cover for the Visits Coordinator
• Other duties as requested.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Bilateral Programme Budget
• Prosperity Fund Budget (Canberra)

• Strong IT skills, with good knowledge of Microsoft Office packages including Excel, Word, PowerPoint and database management.
• Language: English (Fluent)