View Vacancy - BK - Head of Diplomatic Academy Regional Team, APAC and South Asia, D6 (L) - Also open in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and India

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.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Operations and Corporate Services)
Learning and Development

The Diplomatic Academy Regional Team (DART) Head is the strategic L&D lead for HMG staff at British Overseas Missions (Posts) across Asia Pacific and South Asia.  Reporting to the Deputy Director of the Diplomatic Academy and delivering through a team of (DART) advisers, the role of the Head is to offer Posts expertise in Organisational Development (OD) and L&D advice and support to meet organisational needs, aligned with UK government priorities.  The DART Head will lead on the delivery of the global L&D Strategy in Asia Pacific and South Asia and:

  • Manage the regional team providing leadership and management support and ensure delivery of the regional priorities
  • Set direction and provide strategic OD advice to stakeholders within the region
  • Help partners and teams identify performance needs, work based learning (informal and formal learning) and L&D interventions to support needs 
  • Deliver high quality, value for money, appropriate OD and L&D initiatives, making good use of virtual technology and innovative new delivery methods
  • Evaluate effectiveness of initiatives to build capability and develop a learning culture at Posts

Roles and responsibilities:

Leadership & Management:

Set strategic direction, engage with team and stakeholders and deliver results against the Diplomatic Academy business plan 

Play an active part in the global leadership team; help to set strategy and operational priorities, take ownership of themes as required, challenge colleagues to help promote excellence

Provide overall strategic direction for the regional team in line with London and Network priorities to support senior management in the region.

Be innovative and creative; share new ideas on L&D to promote the development of skills, knowledge and competence to build capability in the region.

Support the team through transition to meet new requirements and adapt to change.

Promote One HMG “Who We Are” values of:   respect, expertise, resilience, creativity, courage, public service

Line manage DART Advisers; provide strategic guidance, feedback on performance and effective delegation of work.  Counter-sign other staff in the Network as appropriate.

Oversight of resourcing in the region, in consultation with the DA’s Business Manager, ensuring the right skills and budgets are in place and ensure value for money.

Ensure effective 2 way communication between DART teams and Diplomatic Academy (UK)

Stakeholder management:

Oversight of DART account management in the region, ensuring effective prioritisation, development of performance consultancy skills in the team and innovative offers for smaller Posts.

Support primary account managers by relationship building with priority Posts, and offer trouble-shooting as needed, with the purpose of developing a learning culture and building capability

Act as a source of best practice, advising managers and leaders at all levels across the region and wider Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including on Organisational Development.

Outreach to FCO and OneHMG key stakeholders in region and in UK (including Diplomatic Academy UK team) to ensure the DART offer reflects their needs and to influence their policy development

Design and Quality Control of L&D initiatives:

Overview of delivery in the region, ensuring right mix of L&D interventions (70:20:10), that priority programmes are delivered in line with Diplomatic Academy and HMG requirements, and that other interventions meet identified need.

Collaborate with the Diplomatic Academy (UK) team (including Faculties) to support Foundation and Practitioner Level programmes at Post.

Design and deliver L&D initiatives to develop teams and leadership skills and/or provide essential cover.

Deliver informal interventions based on need and prioritisation, including coaching and mentoring.

Ensure L&D initiatives support Global Britain, Diplomacy 2020 and International Capability and are high quality, appropriate and value for money. 

Work closely with other Diplomatic Academy team members to ensure consistency and sharing of best practice.

Keep professional knowledge up to date, following trends, ideas and innovations occurring in L&D to ensure DART methods and materials are as effective as possible

Account Management:

Business Partner with Senior Management at Posts and thematic leads in the region to ensure delivery of key corporate messages

Support and advise Posts with identifying appropriate learning interventions through:

  • Providing Posts with L&D/Mgt consultancy support/advice
  • Supporting the development of L&D strategies that align to Country Business Plans/ organisational objectives
  • Encouraging robust Learning Needs Analyses are undertaken to support the L&D strategy
  • Supporting Posts in establishing L&D plans based on 70/20/10 and blended learning solutions
  • Supporting Posts in evaluating L&D interventions for return on investment against expected outcomesing Needs Analyses are undertaken to support the L&D strategy
  • Excellent written and spoken English
  • Min 10 years in a L&D environment either public or private sector
  • Min 5 years leadership and management experience
  • Professional qualifications in L&D, OD or equivalent and membership of internationally recognised HR professional body (eg CIPD)
  • Strong consultancy and stakeholder engagement skills
  • Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment
  • Strong communicator and facilitator
  • Able to travel frequently across Asia Pacific/South Asia and occasionally other regions
  • A passion and enthusiasm for developing people
  • A second frequently spoken Asian language
  • Experience of working in a global organisation
18 October 2019
Grade 7 (G7)
Fixed Term
36
24 months
Asia Pacific
Thailand
Bangkok
British Embassy
1
THB
226, 808
6 January 2020

The British Embassy offers a competitive remuneration package, including salary (to be abated for those not liable to tax), benefits, a leave entitlement, Health Insurance and full training. The British Embassy Bangkok encourages all staff to develop their capabilities, through both formal training (courses) and informal (job-shadowing, coaching, on-the-job training etc). The majority of our formal L&D opportunities are drawn from FCO resources. All staff are encouraged to share their skills and experience with colleagues, through informal training (‘lunch & learn’) or coaching/mentoring. All staff are eligible for 5 L&D days a year. 

In late 2019 the Embassy will move from the current premises on Wireless Rd to new accommodation in the Sathorn area.

Embassy Vision and Values:

VISION: What do we want to build?

A better, safer, more prosperous world for Britons and Thais alike.

MISSION: How will we achieve this?

By championing UK values and delivering tangible benefits to individuals, businesses and society: through quality service, effective partnerships and local expertise.

VALUES: that underpin our work:

  • Courage: In our approach to our work: supporting innovation, creativity and taking calculated risks in solving problems; encouraging challenge and welcoming diverse perspectives; honesty in acknowledging and learning from mistakes.
  • Ambition: In the challenge we set ourselves: Striving to be excellent in the quality of service we deliver; inspiring our teams, colleagues, customers and stakeholders; passionate about our purpose.
  • Generosity: Of spirit: kindness in our daily actions and conversations; openness to differing cultures, ideas and opinions; understanding of differing styles and honest mistakes to build a culture of support.

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks. All applicants must be able to achieve an official-sensitive security clearance required by the role. Staff who are locally recruited by the British Embassy are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law.

No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. You must have or be able to obtain work authorisation in Thailand in order to apply.  Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.

Please note that your application must be submitted before 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. We regret to advise that we will only be contacting short-listed candidates. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core competencies listed above.

The successful candidate should be able to start as soon as possible. Start date indicated above is subject to change.

Reminder for existing Embassy staff who will be interested to apply:

Along with the completed online application form, candidates should upload their last two years End of Year Appraisals if applicable. If applicants have been employed for less than twelve months, they will need to provide permission from their Head of Section to apply and should attach this to their application. 

Guidance on completing competency based application forms and sitting Interviews can be found on the BE Website and also on the Civil Service Learning portal, Virtual Ashridge portal and Goodpractice.net (both accessed through the CSL). Staff are strongly advised to refer to these. 

We recommend all applicants to understand the Civil Service competences before applying for any role and in preparation for interviews. For more information, you can visit our website - https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/british-embassy-bangkok/about/recruitment. 

Please check your application centre regularly for any update on your application 

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.

This opportunity is closed to applications.