Office Manager

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

View Vacancy - Office Manager

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

Job Category

Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)

Job Subcategory

MOD (Ministry of Defence)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

This is a new and exciting opportunity for a dynamic person to support a fast-paced, specialist and discreet UK Defence team which straddles both Defence Operations & Policy and Defence Engagements.

Working out of the British Embassy in Washington, DC, you will act as the team's foundation, enabling them to function at the best of their ability. The core team currently consists of four driven military personnel with a further small military network dispersed across the US. Routine tasks will include management of visits, maintaining financial trackers, personnel co-ordination, and information management. Strong IT skills based around the basic Office 365 Apps are a must.

You will have the opportunity to work closely with: other teams across the British Embassy; UK based MOD personnel; and US DOD personnel. Developing and maintaining relationships with outer-offices will be a key component of your role to allow you to understand, and have the ability to, reach out to the relevant contacts quickly and easily, therefore excellent communication skills (both verbal and email) are necessary.

Dedicated time will be allocated to allow the analysis of lessons learnt and current processes in order to develop best practice Ways of Working both for the role and for the team as a whole; critical thinking, personal drive, creativity and good record keeping will be required.

The US Network offers a unique career enhancing opportunity and is committed to supporting its staff through a variety of benefits including generous leave, insurance packages and a highly competitive 401k programme. It also promotes a culture of flexibility which enables people to better maintain wellness through an excellent work/life balance approach that encompasses some hybrid working, including working from home and flexible hours, where possible.
The ideal candidate will be a clear and effective communicator with strong attention to detail. A good professional relationship builder, with strong IT and Information Management skills, and basic financial skills, who demonstrates flexibility and adaptability in their approach to fulfilling this varied role. A basic understanding of UK and/or US Defence would be highly beneficial, with previous experience working with MOD or DOD as highly desirable.

Roles and responsibilities:

• You will be the focal point for sponsored inbound visit parties, ensuring smooth passage of accurate and timely information. You will understand how to utilise the US Foreign Visitor Request process to the best of its ability, reducing the bureaucracy for busy visitors.
• As the bedrock of the team, you will understand the team's diaries and provide support with managing meetings and visits (both inbound and outbounds) as necessary.
• Continuously analysing and developing best practice Ways of Working for yourself and the team will ensure the team functions at its full potential.
• You will manage the financial trackers and team cash books ensuring accuracy; Offer insights into spending and forecasting, aiding the development of future financial plans.
• Maintaining and growing a thorough and accurate contact list will enable you and the team to network and reach out to contacts efficiently.
• You will ensure that the team's Information Management and record keeping is carried out in accordance with good IM principles and Data protection policies, developing the team's SharePoint site to make full use of its functionality. You will record data to drive effective decision making.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Will be required to run a budget forecast.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• This role requires the successful candidate to either possess or obtain a Security Clearance through the Embassy security team
• Must hold a UK passport
• Skilled in basic Office 365 Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Teams)
• Skilled in SharePoint online (Editing ability)
• Basic Financial skills
• Strong diary management skills

Please note: Under US State Department requirements, the UK Government in the US has restrictions on the type of visas our non-diplomatic staff may hold. If you are not a US Citizen or a US Permanent Resident, or the dependent of a diplomat (with an EAD card), you may not be eligible for employment with the UK government. We cannot accept student Visas (J, F or M) nor other forms of work Visas (I, H, P). If you hold a work visa it is best to check on your eligibility to work for a foreign government before applying for a position. The UK Government does not routinely sponsor work visas; the job advertisement will state clearly whether sponsorship is available.

You may refer to our website for additional information: . All selected candidates are subject to background checks and will require a security clearance prior to starting work.

Language requirements:

Language: English
Level of language required: Fluent conversational, excellent written

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Existing Developed Vetting IDV) security clearance
• Understanding of UK Defence
• Understanding of US Defense
• Working knowledge of the US foreign visitors' system
• Previous experience working with Other Government Departments will be helpful
• Experience of working within Data Protection regulations
• Experience of Information Management

Required behaviours

Changing and Improving, Communicating and Influencing, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together

Application deadline

8 September 2024

Grade

Administrative Officer (AO)

Type of Position

Full-time, Temporary

Working hours per week

40

Region

Americas, Caribbean & Overseas Territories

Country/Territory

United States

Location (City)

Washington

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

USD

Salary

$24.51

Type of Salary

hourly

Start Date

20 January 2025

End Date

30 March 2026

Other benefits and conditions of employment

Learning and development opportunities:

The British Embassy and its US Network is committed to all employee's ongoing learning and development needs. We offer a comprehensive platform for personalised learning for everything from soft skill development (communicating with impact, handling difficult conversations, time management) to more technical or professional skills necessary to complete your job (software training, formal qualifications etc.).

Training will be provided to understand the US Foreign Visitor Request system, along with time allocated to complete the relevant basic Data Protection and Information Managment online courses available on Civil Service Learning. Future training or upskilling identified as being beneficial to the role will be supported.

Working patterns:

Requires standard working pattern of 0900-1700 (with some flexibility).

This role is x 40hrs a week.

Some flexible work from home will be possible but collaboration, support for the team and being present is key to this role and therefore this should be on a limited basis.

There will be a requirement to have contact with colleagues in the UK, though this contact would not be regular and fixed, and there would not be a requirement to work outside of US working hours.

There will be no requirement for travel.

This is a fixed term/temporary role through 30 March 2026 with the possibility of renewal.

Additional information

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a 'reserve list'. If during the reserve period of 6-12 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, eg some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

Internal candidates must inform their supervisor before they apply to a different position.

Only successful candidates will be contacted. Please no phone calls. Due to the high volume of resumes we receive, we cannot guarantee consideration of your application if the submission instructions are not properly followed.

The British Embassy is committed to a policy of equal opportunities and to creating a diverse working environment, free from discrimination, where everyone is included and treated fairly, based on merit alone. We are an equal opportunity employer, making all employment decisions without regard to race, gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, citizenship, disability, age, sexual orientation, political affiliation or any other criterion protected by law.

The FCDO operates an agile workforce. To facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.