View Vacancy – Political Adviser and Deputy Development Director

The British Embassy in Nouakchott has a vacancy for a Political Adviser and Deputy Development Director.

The British Embassy in Nouakchott is part of a worldwide network representing British political, development, and economic interests overseas. It was formally established in 2018 and is a small but very active team working to promote and improve positive relations between the United Kingdom and Mauritania as well as to promote the UK as a destination of choice for Mauritanians for tourism, to study and to do business.

The Embassy is seeking a highly talented and motivated individual to join our team and fill a challenging role as Political Adviser and Deputy Development Director. The successful candidate will work at the very centre of our Embassy but also, excitingly, as part of our wider regional UK Government Teams across the Sahel, in Dakar, Rabat, and in London. It is essential that the successful candidate has personal confidence and is keen to demonstrate an ability to influence policy and programme making within the UK government. The Embassy and the UK Government values the knowledge, experience and advice of our Country Based Staff.

Main Purpose of the Job:

The jobholder will follow, analyse and provide reports and advice to the British Ambassador on Mauritania’s foreign policy and the objectives of other international players in Mauritania. In parallel, the jobholder will act as Deputy Development Director and work to maximise the value and effectiveness of our development and humanitarian spend in Mauritania.

Key Responsibilities:

The key elements of the role are:

1. To strengthen the Embassy’s understanding of Mauritania’s foreign policy priorities and foreign relations by independently researching and analysing information (academic papers, reports, media, etc.) and identifying areas of relevance to UK priorities. Produce quality, informative, and useful reports and summaries of this information with recommendations for how we could take our work forward, adapting style and content to suit different audiences. The job holder will be given responsibility to lead on monitoring and reporting on bilateral relationships between Mauritania and particular other countries. He or she will proactively think of useful people to engage around particular policy topics and help build links between them and the Embassy, and the United Kingdom.
2. To be the Deputy Development Director for the British Embassy in Mauritania. The jobholder will benefit from the support of a senior mentor from amongst the regional British development advisers, as well as the Ambassador and Deputy Ambassador, in formulating development and humanitarian support through the Mauritanian Government, United Nations, and other international partners as well as NGOs and civil society. The jobholder will have direct project management responsibility for a project fund to support the UK Government’s International Policy Framework in Mauritania. In 2021, this is was £120,000 and our Centrally Managed Programmes particularly on humanitarian response is currently more than £2 million with more funding likely to come forward.
3. To be the Climate Change and Clean Energy lead in the Embassy, ensuring that we follow and support the Mauritanian Government’s post-COP26 commitments and help it move towards carbon neutral status by 2050. In addition, the jobholder will work with UK companies, including those in the oil and gas sector, to develop renewable and clean energy production capacity in Mauritania.
4. To follow COVID-19 developments and progress on population vaccination in Mauritania and send updates, commentary, and advice to the UK Government.

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 Competencies Required:

• Seeing the Big Picture – This is about having an in-depth understanding and knowledge of how your role fits with and supports organisational objectives and the wider public needs. It’s about recognising wider Civil Service priorities and ensuring work is in the national interest.
• Engaging Internationally – Effectiveness in this area is about leading internationally, engaging our staff, contacts and international partners to help deliver UK Government objectives. Understanding UK Government aims in the wider UK and international context and developing productive relationships with those external contacts and partners to help deliver UK objectives. 
• Leading and Communicating – Effectiveness in this area is about leading from the front and communicating with clarity, conviction and enthusiasm. It’s about supporting principles of fairness of opportunity for all and a dedication to a diverse range of citizens.
• Working Together – People skilled in this area create and maintain positive, professional and trusting working relationships with a wide range of people within and outside the Civil Service to help get business done. It requires working effectively, sharing information and building supportive, responsive relationships with colleagues and stakeholders, whilst having the confidence to challenge assumptions.​

We are looking for a talented and hard-working staff member encompassing the join the small but very ambitious British Embassy Team in Nouakchott and have a real part in building strong links between the Mauritanian and British Governments, between Mauritanians and British people, and steer British resources to achieve maximum benefit in Mauritania.

The ideal candidate should be:

• Passionate about Mauritania and the United Kingdom, and in doing so have a deep knowledge and/ or interest in the political, developmental, climate, societal, and other trends in both countries, and follow international relations closely.
• Knowledgeable in and, ideally, have practical experience in international development issues and an active awareness of the key development trends and needs in Mauritania. Also knowledge of project management (and training will also be available).
• Able to follow developments in Mauritania, seek out information and details from contacts and other sources, analyse, and then turn into high quality, interesting and succinct reports which can be read at the very highest levels of the United Kingdom Government.
• Able to speak, write, and communicate in French and English to a very high standard, and with strong analysis and report writing skills.
• A confident team player and builder of networks. They will need to be able go out and build an impressive range of contacts in Mauritania – within Government, civil society, business sector, and the international community.
• Self-starting – the jobholder will be able to identify tasks, developments, and issues on which they should start work without requiring direction.
• Able to represent the British Embassy and the United Kingdom Government, its values and principles with our valued interlocutors, stakeholders, and friends in Mauritania.
• Keen to help maintain a positive working environment for all members of the Embassy staff based on respect, working together as a team, and helping each other. The jobholder will be active in joining and promoting UK Government workplace ideals and ensuring they are embraced in the British Embassy.
• Be prepared to travel inside Mauritania and internationally to achieve their objectives.