Chevening Officer at Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)

Main purpose of job:

Chevening is the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s flagship global scholarship programme. Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2018/19, Chevening identifies future leaders and key influencers across 160 countries and territories, providing them with an opportunity to study a postgraduate degree in the UK. Chevening has a 50,000 strong global alumni network.

Chevening is overseen and managed by The Scholarships Unit within London’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The administration of the programme is carried out on behalf of the FCO by the Chevening Secretariat, which is hosted within the Association of Commonwealth universities.

The Chevening programme officer at the British High Commission in Nairobi is responsible for delivery of the programme in Kenya, working closely with the Chevening Secretariat. The duties and responsibilities set out below cover the work required to run the Chevening programme effectively.

Roles and responsibilities

• Scholar Recruitment
  • Managing the Chevening application process, including downloading applications, assisting with shortlisting, arranging interviews, updating the Chevening online application system with short-lists and interview results and organising pre-departure briefings.
  • Liaising with the relevant Programme Officer International at the Chevening Secretariat to coordinate the application and selection process.
  • Sitting on interview panels.
• Programme Outreach and Marketing
  • Generating written and visual content for social media, press and radio.
    Identifying other ways to promote Chevening, such as attending university fairs and other outreach events.
    Monitoring the Chevening marketing budget, keeping records of promotional material, contacting suppliers for quotations and following up that new orders are produced according to the Chevening branding guidelines.
    Requesting and making use of marketing materials from the Secretariat.
    Sharing information about the scholarships to all colleagues in the embassy to foster embassy-wide promotion of the scholarships.
• Programme Administration
  • Adhering to deadlines and requests set by the Scholarships Unit (TSU) and the Chevening Secretariat, such as submitting annual programme, marketing and alumni plans, and country briefings for the Reading Committee.
    Carrying out administration of the programme in line with Chevening policy as set by TSU.
    Responding to enquiries regarding the scheme and acting as point of contact with the embassy team on Chevening-related marketing activities, application process and alumni events.
    Responding to requests for information or insight from TSU or the Secretariat.
    Maintaining positive relationships with applicants and award recipients before, during and after their award.
• Alumni Engagement
  • Updating and maintaining the database of Chevening alumni. Promoting and actively using Chevening Connect to engage with alumni.
    Establishing and developing an effective Chevening alumni network, organising a series of alumni events from concept to delivery and an annual welcome-home event.
    Successfully bidding for alumni engagement funding opportunities and managing budgets associated with these.
    Keeping TSU and the Secretariat regularly up to date with alumni engagement work in country.
  • Partnerships
  • Develop local partnerships and account-manage existing partnerships including outreach, engagement and data management.
    Engage the wider embassy to get their input and support to develop partnerships.
    Ensure any existing partnerships are managed effectively, working with the Secretariat to ensure timely payments from partners.
  • Finance
  • Ensure all financial issues are dealt with affectively and in line with policy, including ensuring costs are charged to the correct budget and meeting policy guidelines.
• Other Ad Hoc tasks as required.
• Resources managed:
  • None formally but officer will provide oversight of the Chevening Alumni Association’s programme fund (around £5,000).

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Excellent written English and verbal communication skills
• Strong interpersonal, communication, organizational and presentation skills
• Strong customer focus and team working skills
• Strong IT skills, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and web-based applications
• People management skills
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills
• Interest in UK and local country relations

Required competencies

Making Effective Decisions, Leading and Communicating, Collaborating and Partnering, Delivering at Pace