View Vacancy - Regional Crisis Adviser (ROU21.036)

Note: due to COVID-19, you may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign. We are working hard to minimise any disruption. You may find more information in the Additional Information section below.

The British Embassy in Bucharest is part of the United Kingdom’s world-wide diplomatic network, and represents British political, economic and consular interests in Romania and is now looking for a Regional Crisis Adviser (Europe South Network) based in Bucharest.

Main purpose of job:

Diplomatic posts are at the frontline of a UK government response to an overseas crisis affecting British people and interests. This role focuses on ensuring posts have the right plans and skills to be able to respond to a range of different crisis scenarios. The Regional Crisis Adviser (RCA) is responsible for understanding the risks that different Embassies and Consulates face and providing support and advice to help them improve their ability to respond.

RCA is expected to champion the FCDO’s crisis management methodology and training products, supported and directed by Crisis Management Department (CMD) in London.

Key areas of work:

• Crisis Preparedness: Develop a coherent approach to crisis management across the Europe South region (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, Gibraltar and Cape Verde) by supporting crisis preparedness for Embassies and Consulates. RCA is responsible for providing high quality guidance and training so that posts are well prepared to effectively respond to a crisis, in line with FCDO policy and guidance.
• Crisis Response: Provide support and advice to posts experiencing or approaching a crisis to ensure the most effective response.
• Crisis Improvement: Maintain a good understanding of the crisis risks within the specific region, providing input to and quality assurance of post crisis management plans, highlighting key risks to the Consular Regional Director (CRD) and CMD and applying lessons from crises and exercises. Maintain good relationships with both internal and external crisis management stakeholders in order to enhance regional risk assessment and horizon scanning.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Network and Post Support: To prioritise crisis preparedness work in the region based on an understanding of risk and horizon scanning. To act as expert adviser to Post Crisis Management Committees making recommendations to ensure policy and guidance is followed by Posts. To encourage and help embed a ‘whole of mission approach’ to planning and crisis preparedness. Act as a champion for IT systems and ensure relevant staff across the region keep their skills and access up-to-date to reflect latest developments. Working with CMD and the CRD provide advice and support to posts in crisis.
• Quality Assurance: To advise posts on development of their crisis management plans (CMPs), and crisis preparedness working to achieve a consistent quality across the region, merging local knowledge with central crisis management guidance. Work with CMD’s Planning Team to identify risks, capability and capacity gaps and to help Posts take steps to improve their preparedness. 
• Training & Exercising: Deliver effective crisis workshops, table tops and design semi-live exercises in your region liaising closely with the CMD Training & Exercising Team and using the latest training approaches and materials. Identify any potential skills gaps in crisis management techniques and work with CMD to address them. Help CMD to coordinate and prioritise regional exercises, and assist in the delivery of overseas training events. Champion the various learning methods to help promote and develop crisis management learning in region.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Lessons Learned: to actively support Posts’ engagement with host governments and major UK crisis management stakeholders to ensure good understanding of host country and regional crisis structures and maintain up-to-date liaison contacts. To participate in, and facilitate where appropriate (e.g. for locally managed crises), the crisis lessons learned process. To identify, record and share best practice regionally. Working with CMD to ensure lessons learned are taken forward and incorporated back into CMPs across the region.

• Excellent English language skills (written and oral) (C1 level according to Common European Framework of Reference for Languages*);
• Experience of working in an international or governmental organisation;
• Excellent inter-personal, communication and team working skills;
• Excellent organisational skills and a proactive approach;
• Resilience, with ability to work unsupervised and innovate; 
• Self starter with strong time management skills - able to work to deadlines and targets and manage a sometimes heavy workload;
• Excellent IT skills (Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel).