Community Liaison Officer (42 / 24 Pta)

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: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Operations and Corporate Services)
Job Subcategory: Community Liaison

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities):

The Community Liaison Officer role plays a crucial role supporting the morale and well-being of British High Commission staff in South Africa. The role provides high quality support service and advice in respect of British diplomatic staff, their families, where they live, the schools and health facilities they use and the community in which they live. The CLO also helps with wider work that supports overall staff wellbeing, healthcare and welfare that helps deliver social, community and charitable events with staff and that promotes effective communications on all these topics to staff across the British High Commission Offices.

The CLO plays a particularly important role supporting the smooth arrival of Diplomatic staff and their preparations for arriving, as well as helping staff who are departing. The CLO will also support staff through times of difficulty, e.g. to access effectively healthcare or wider support when they need it.

The CLO is responsible for researching, preparing, updating and completing key returns that go to Headquarters offices in the UK and which relate to Education, Employment, Healthcare, Diplomatic Staff, Welfare and other related issues. The CLO is also responsible for updating key information sources and documents for British Diplomatic staff, often ‘holding-the-pen’ on editorial changes and making these efficiently and to a high standard of accuracy.

The CLO builds the trust and confidence of staff across the Mission. Their position is integral within the Corporate Services team and works closely with senior managers. It means that the role is an advocate of the organisation, its policies and principles and values. The jobholder needs to be able to communicate, explain and promote sometimes challenging policies or decisions that relate to staff, including when staff disagree with a policy.

The jobholder will need to be willing to occasionally work flexibly to support staff in emergencies and/or events in the evenings, and occasional weekends as well. Overtime is payable. The CLO is expected to travel periodically to the High Commission’s other offices in South Africa, which are in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Full travel expenses are covered.

The role is a full one with many competing priorities, including supporting others through emotional, health or other difficulties. The jobholder therefore needs exceptional self-management and organisational skills to manage the workload and competing demands, very strong resilience and the ability to communicate with colleagues in challenging situations, demonstrating skill in empathy. The CLO also needs to have very strong administrative skills given the essential paperwork that needs completing continuously, and the sometimes large information documents that need updating regularly too.

In light of the competing demands the British High Commission is keeping the question of additional support to the role under review and that support may be supplemented in future.

The CLO will work under the supervision of the Counsellor for Corporate Services and the Deputy High Commissioner, depending on specific tasks.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Supporting delivery of social, community, charitable and other team events for staff, for example potentially around: Easter, Christmas, Women’s Day, Youth Day, Heritage Day, Mandela Day, Halloween, Pride Marches/Celebrations among other possibilities.
• Advice, assistance and support to British diplomatic staff and their families considering postings to South Africa and when they arrive and depart the country, especially ensuring their arrival and settling-in is managed well and supported fully.
• Gathering/developing and disseminating information and guidance to British diplomatic staff and their families about living in South Africa.
• Researching, updating, editing and maintaining multiple information documents and sources for British Diplomatic staff.
• Provide a welfare, liaison and engagement role for diplomatic staff and their families.
• Gather information, produce guidance and provide returns to London on living costs in South Africa for diplomats, and on a broad range of other areas including, for example, education/schooling, healthcare, local employment and housing; among others.
• Provide information, support and advice to managers and decision-making committees on diplomatic housing, support to diplomatic staff and their families, and on welfare issues (including welfare matters in crisis planning).
• Develop and help deliver regular events, initiatives and activities that help new arrivals settle, build the community sense, promote social opportunities and support staff & family engagement.
• Help deliver effective internal comms to staff, and where applicable, their spouses or partners, through a mix of in-person engagement - e.g. all staff meetings, social engagements, meetings with diplomatic families etc. - and written comms - e.g. newsletters, fact sheets & reports, social media comms, e-mails to staff etc. - which cover living in South Africa, social and community opportunities, education/schooling, health/medical etc.
• Ensure staff guidance, information and advice is readily available to staff and their spouses/partners and is updated regularly and remains accurate.
• Help contribute to coordination of staff and corporate comms across the British Offices in South Africa, e.g. regular notices on staff initiatives, contributing to newsletters or similar publications.

There are also potential opportunities to work on other initiatives in the Mission, some of which involve training, learning modules and other development support that is provided in full, related to:

• Diversity & Inclusion, and workplace culture
• Mental Health support and Wellbeing initiatives
• Learning & Development support to staff
• Championing fairness, respect and the Mission’s values, and being available to discuss these with staff
• Championing work to promote a workplace that has a zero tolerance towards and tackles proactively bullying, harassment including sexual harassment, and discrimination including gender discrimination.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• No specific budgets or staff managed directly, although the jobholder will need to be able to help ensure good value for money is delivered in the many events & initiatives referenced in the role responsibilities and support financial processes for making payments promptly for funded activity.
• If, in the future, active review of the CLO workload leads to a support officer then the CLO would manage that position.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience:

• Experience carrying out roles that have required personal resilience and demonstrating empathy/emotional intelligence.
• Excellence in customer service, support, advice and assistance, including communicating with customers and stakeholders.
• The highest standards possible of integrity and confidentiality.
• Multi-tasking, dealing with conflicting priorities, and exceptional time-management and organisational skills.
• Valid Driver’s licence. The jobholder must be able to drive.
• Must be fully fluent in English, with exceptional written & verbal English.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience:

• Experience in working with Diplomats or Expat communities.
• Experience of financial processes.
• Experience of working in staff support, welfare or other related areas, or past work in HR.

NB: The reference to “Community” in the role title, CLO, refers solely to the British Diplomatic community and staff in the British High Commission. It does not relate to working with communities in South Africa more broadly. Therefore, we do not seek applicants whose experience relates to such community work outside of Diplomatic circles.

Required behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together
Application deadline: 25 October 2024
Grade: Executive Officer (EO)
Type of Position: Permanent
Working hours per week: 36.5
Region: Africa
Country / Territory: South Africa
Location (City): Pretoria
Type of Post: British High Commission
Number of vacancies: 1
Salary Currency: ZAR
Salary: R 380,918.20 (per annum)
Type of Salary: yearly
Start Date: 5 January 2025

Other benefits and conditions of employment:

Learning and development opportunities: Full training is provided to the successful applicant for all job-related skills. The British High Commission also offers a huge range of learning and development opportunities, including financial support through study grants.

• TOIL or Overtime is available to compensate for long or anti-social hours worked.
• A mobile phone is provided for official use.
• Travel to other offices in South Africa is funded fully.
• A company vehicle is available for official drives made to/from meetings etc. but not for any personal use.

The British High Commission pays in full for the Key Care Plus option on Discovery Health for staff including spouses/partners and dependants.

• Once you have successfully completed your probation the British High Commission will contribute 9% of your monthly salary to a Provident Fund.