View Vacancy – Personal Assistant to Her Majesty’s Ambassador A2 (20/21 ADD) – Maternity Cover

Main purpose of job:

Working for Her Majesty’s Ambassador (HMA) to Ethiopia as their Personal Assistant is an interesting and varied role, with the opportunity to gain valuable experience of UK policy and also gain insight into the work of the British Government in Ethiopia and across Africa.

Supporting the Ambassador will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your excellent organisational and interpersonal skills. The working environment is face paced; flexibility and an ability to juggle competing priorities is key. The successful candidate will have excellent ICT skills, fluent English (both oral and written), and be able to work unsupervised; a proactive approach to work is essential.

The British Embassy employs around 280 Locally Engaged and UK Based officers. The jobholder will be expected to work closely with all members of the Mission, including colleagues from the different departments and the British Council, as well as external agencies. Teamwork is essential and you may be called upon to cover for other staff or help where required.

The successful candidate must be willing to undergo security clearance.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

Diary Management for Her Majesty’s Ambassador (HMA)

• Organising meetings in accordance with HMA objectives and priorities
• Maintaining an effective bring-forward system for diary papers
• Organising visitor entry to the Embassy Compound
• Liaison with HMA’s driver/ Protocol Officer/ Residence Manager

Contacts Management

• Liaison with senior Ethiopian Government, AU and other officials to arrange meetings for HMA
• Maintaining relationships with counterparts at other Embassies, Ethiopian Government and other relevant organisations to ensure HMA and the Embassy has relevant up to date contacts in those organisations
• Maintaining and updating the Chancery contacts list, particularly for HMA contacts

Organising briefing for internal and external meetings and events; ensuring that HMA is well prepared

• Active pursuit of briefing papers from Embassy colleagues
• Collating briefing from different departments within the Embassy in an easy readable format.
• Preparing documents

Managing correspondence on behalf of HMA

• Handling internal and external telephone calls to HMA
• Handling incoming and outgoing mail for HMA
• Formatting and amending correspondence from other sections on behalf of HMA
• Drafting Note Verbales and letters on behalf of HMA

Travel arrangements

• Booking flights and accommodation on behalf of HMA
• Arranging visit programmes for HMA’s trips within Ethiopia and overseas
• Ensuring that HMA has valid visas, advances, and documentation for overseas visits
• Liaising with Protocol Officer, Security Manager and relevant Embassy departments and to ensure procedures are followed
• Ensuring that the Ambassador’s driver is well briefed for internal trips

General Admin

• Typing, scanning, photocopying documents
• Arranging video and telephone conferences
• Taking minutes at Embassy meetings
• Maintaining effective electronic and paper filing systems
• Registering of documents on behalf of HMA
• Cascading information on behalf of HMA to internal and external colleagues

Budget monitoring and forecasting

• Management of HMA’s travel budget
• Forecasting future expenditure on HMA’s yearly travel budget
• Management of HMA’s Expenses

Miscellaneous

• Working closely with Private Secretary to HMA and PA to Deputy Head of Mission to jointly provide Private Office cover
• Acting as the key liaison point between the Ambassador’s Private Office and Residence; working with the Residence Manager and his team to ensure smooth running of meetings/events at the Ambassador’s Residence
• Maintaining good relationships with contacts including Ethiopian Government officials, other Embassies, Partners Across Government etc
• Involvement in organisation of high profile visits by VIPs/ Delegations
• Involvement in organisation of key Embassy events including the Queen’s Birthday Party
• Updating gifts register for any HMA gifts
• Ordering stationery on behalf of HMA’s Private Office
• Ad hoc requests from HMA and Private Secretary

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

HMA’s travel budget and a Government Procurement Card

• PA experience
• Advanced ICT Skills (PowerPoint, Word, Excel,Access and Outlook)
• Communication and organisational skills
• Team player
• Self motivated
• Customer focus
• English and Amharic – oral and written