Vacancies at British High Commission Nairobi

Main purpose of job:

To provide professional administrative and organisational support to the High Commissioner ensuring smooth management of their office. This includes managing their diary, handling correspondence and serving as the key liaison between the High Commissioner and staff across the British High Commission.

We are seeking a dynamic individual who can manage a broad range of responsibilities in a fast-paced, high-profile environment with excellent organisation, problem solving, information management and communication skills. The role requires good judgement, the ability to anticipate needs and strong interpersonal and organisational skills.

He/she will be required to ensure the most effective use of HC’s time, work with enthusiasm, empathy and a willingness to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances. It also requires proactivity and good collaboration skills.

The Job Holder will form part of the Private Office Team and will be required to work closely with other members of the team including the Chief of Staff to the High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioners’, the Personal Assistants to the Deputy High Commissioners’ and the Events and Residence Manager.

Roles and responsibilities

Diary Management (60%)

• The job holder will require to have excellent problem solving, negotiating and decision-making skills working with a wide range of internal and external contacts to ensure the High Commissioner’s time is well aligned in delivering strategic outcomes.
• High levels of judgement and problem solving will be required in processing numerous diary requests, deconflict meetings at short notice while prioritizing competing demands in the diary.
• Ensure the High Commissioner is adequately briefed and prepared for all meetings including providing timely printed briefs when required.
• Coordinate meetings and calls with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior government officials, Heads of Mission and business leaders.
•  In this fast-paced role you will be required to analyse on-going situations, explore options (working with others) and be proactive in making suggestions to ensure delivery processes are efficient and effective.

Correspondence and Communication (10%)

• Strong communication (oral and written) skills required to manage HC’s paper and electronic correspondences ensuring timely responses and appropriate follow-ups, while filtering and prioritizing communications.
• Strong interpersonal skills ensuring you maintain good working relationships with stakeholders across the Mission, Government departments and other missions.
• Format and draft correspondence on behalf of the HC including letters and Note Verbales.
• Ensure all physical and hybrid meetings chaired by the HC have a meeting room booked and are connected on the VTC prior to the start of the meeting.
• Receive and escort HC’s guests into the Mission, liaising with security team as required.
• Respond to visa queries from HC’s contacts in liaison with the Visa Outreach Officer at post.

Event & guest list management (10%)

• Maintain contact sheets for HC’s key contacts including for Diplomatic Missions and Government officials.
• Draft and issue invitations for small lunches/dinners hosted by the HC. This will involve tracking RSVPs, following up for responses and communicating final numbers to the Residence Manager.
• Work closely with the Residence Manager to co-ordinate events hosted by HC and ensure speaking points and briefing notes are commissioned and ready in time.

Administrative & travel management (10%)

• Maintain an up-to-date online filing system for the HC’s correspondence.
• Process expenses and reconcile claims in line with policy guidelines.
• Organise HC’s official travel including logistics, visas, accommodation and briefing packs while liaising with security and transport teams where necessary.
• Book hotels and flights for the HC, driver and bodyguard and ensure expense reconciliation is completed and approved on time.
• Ensure HC’s drivers and bodyguards are well synched and informed of HC’s external movements within and outside Nairobi.

Line Management & other duties: (10%)

• Line management of the two HC drivers will require the job holder to have regular 1-2-1 meetings and support the drivers to manage their professional development in line with their objectives.
• Organize drivers’ workloads, monitor the work undertaken to ensure high standards are maintained.
• Provide leave cover for the Chief of Staff.

Resources managed

• Line management of the two High Commissioner drivers

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Minimum of 7 years’ work experience in a personal assistant/executive role or similar role.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively.
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills, oral and written.
• Proven ability to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment under pressure.
• The ability to work independently without close supervision.
• High level of discretion and integrity in handling sensitive information. This position requires poise, tact and diplomacy.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams)

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Experience working in a diplomatic mission, government office or international organisation.
• Experience of working with cross-functional teams.

Required behaviours  

Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service

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Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)  

Main purpose of job:

To provide high-level administrative and organisational support to the Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) ensuring smooth management of their office. This includes managing their diary, handling correspondence and serving as the key liaison between the Deputy High Commissioner and stakeholders.

The Job Holder will arrange internal and external engagements including official events, and plan through changes in response to daily and weekly priorities. This position requires attention to detail, ability to prioritize and deconflict requests. The job holder should also have good organisation skills, enthusiasm and a willingness to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances. It also requires proactivity, excellent communication and good collaboration skills.

He/she will form part of the Private Office team and will be required to work closely with the Chief of Staff to the High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioners’ and the Personal Assistant to the High Commissioner

Roles and responsibilities

Diary Management (50%)

• Manage DHC’s diary including scheduling meetings, screening requests, accepting and declining invitations. This will require working in close consultation with DHC to establish priority engagements while considering DHC’s working style and pattern.
• Coordinate meetings and calls with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior government officials, diplomatic missions and business leaders.
• Ensure the Deputy High Commissioner is adequately briefed and prepared for all meetings.

Correspondence and Communication (10%)

• Manage DHC’s paper and electronic correspondences ensuring timely responses and appropriate follow-ups, while filtering and prioritising communications.
• Format and draft correspondence on behalf of the DHC including letters and Note Verbales.
• Ensure all physical and hybrid meetings chaired by the DHC have a meeting room booked and are connected on the VTC prior to the start of the meeting.
• Receive and escort DHC’s guests into the Mission, liaising with security team as required.

Event management (20%)

• Draft and issue invitations for small lunches/dinners hosted by the DHC. This will involve tracking RSVPs and following up for responses.
• Organize and manage the set-up of events at Apollo House (DHC’s Residence).
• Ensure speaking points and briefing notes for the DHC are commissioned and ready in good time.
• Provide assistance to teams cross-mission in guest list and overall events management for (large) events as directed by the Chief of Staff

Administrative & travel management (10%)

• Maintain an up-to-date online filing system for DHC’s correspondence.
• Maintain contact sheets for DHC’s key contacts including for Diplomatic Missions and Government officials.
• Process expenses and reconcile claims in line with policy guidelines. Manage DHC’s budget ensuring accurate monthly forecasts.
• Organise DHC’s official travel including logistics, visas, accommodation and briefing packs while liaising with security and transport teams where necessary.

Visa handling & other duties: (10%)

• Manage Visa queries from DHC contacts working closely with the Visa Outreach Officer.
• Work closely with the Visa Outreach Officer to handle visa requests for large government delegations travelling to the UK.
• Provide leave cover for the PA to the High Commissioner & DHC’s PA.
• Liaise with Crisis Committee leads to ensure the Crisis roster is up to date.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Minimum of 5 years’ work experience in a personal assistant/executive role or similar role.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively.
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills, oral and written.
• The ability to work independently without close supervision.
• High level of discretion and integrity in handling sensitive information. This position requires poise, tact and diplomacy.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Experience working in a diplomatic mission, government office or international organisation.
• Experience of working with cross-functional teams.

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Main purpose of job:

• The Aviation Security Coordinator (ASCO) for Kenya and Ethiopia, who will be based at our High Commission in Nairobi, will directly support the Aviation Security Project Delivery Manager (based in London) in building and sustaining relationships with the Kenyan and Ethiopian governments and other key stakeholders on a wide range of aviation security issues in order to help deliver the Department for Transport’s core objectives of improving aviation security standards, building effective relationships with stakeholders at all levels to facilitate this. The Aviation Security Project Delivery Manager for Kenya and Ethiopia will travel regularly to Kenya and Ethiopia. The ASCO will be responsible for engaging with stakeholders to arrange meetings for these visits.  
• The successful candidate will need excellent administration skills, and to be able to prioritise and cope well under pressure.  On any given day, they will be working to a variety of workstreams and across various projects, with changing circumstances and priorities. They will need to be proactive (for example, resolving issues by a telephone call or visit where more appropriate), have good judgement (including knowing when to escalate issues) and be highly organised, keeping track of deadlines and requests. An ability to work independently, seeking guidance where required is essential.
• This is a varied and interesting position – the jobholder can expect to get a good background on Aviation Security in both the UK and in our host countries. As well as the core duties set out in the job description, there will be scope to liaise with other CT colleagues within the diplomatic mission.
• Travel will be required to Ethiopia for meetings and to support capability development and aviation security assessment activity. Travel to the UK may be possible to support inward visits and attend internal meetings.

Roles and responsibilities: 

The main objectives include:

• Responsible for supporting the development, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of Capability Development activities. Capability activity includes training, operational mentoring, the provision of equipment and the management of a digitisation project.
• Responsible for delivery of day-to-day engagement and maintenance of effective working relationships and partnerships with Aviation Security stakeholders and other governments to achieve Department for Transport aviation security objectives in Kenya and Ethiopia.
• Responsible for providing logistical support for Aviation Security assessments of airports in Kenya and Ethiopia and inward delegation visits by Kenyan/Ethiopian Stakeholders to the UK including record keeping, travel bookings where required and organising meetings/events.
• Responsible for financial management of office expenses and Capability Development projects in line with guidance including procurement activity.
• Responsible for providing language support as required, including translation of letters to send out/received, interpreting during engagement activity and visits.
• Resources managed (staff and expenditure) 
• This role does not include any staff management responsibility. The ASCO will be responsible for the management of capability development budgets in consultation with the Aviation Security Project Delivery Manager.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Experience of providing administrative support in a busy working environment.
• Fluency in both oral and written English.
• Strong organisational skills including attention to detail, keeping track of deadlines, and ability to manage own work with limited supervision.
• Strong collaborative and interpersonal skills including professional and confident communication with external stakeholders and team members.
• Experience in building and cultivating relationships with organisations and individuals.
• IT skills including in MS Office applications Word, Excel and Teams.
• Prior experience of working with the UK or other governments in a diplomatic mission.
• Project management skills or experience.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Additional IT skills including PowerPoint.
• Knowledge / interest in Aviation Security and Counter-Terrorism issues in Africa.