View Vacancy - Community Liaison Officer (CHEG19.333)
The UK Mission to the United Nations in Geneva is part of a world-wide network, representing UK interests overseas. We are looking for a Community Liaison Officer.
The main purpose of the job is to work closely with Post Management for the well-being of all staff and families at Post, bringing staff and families together inside and outside work for social and well-being events. The successful candidate will be supporting UK-based staff and families as they prepare for their posting, on arrival and during their time in Geneva, providing information on schools, employment, events, how to get things done, and providing welfare support as necessary.
What will the jobholder be expected to achieve?
- Information Source: for UK-based officers and their spouses/partners and families, and Local Staff coming from outside Geneva on arrival and when at Post. Providing information on: spouse/partner employment at Post; children's education (including the completion of School and Nursery Information Sheets for authorised schools at Post); childcare at Post; adult education; career and training opportunities; single officer and foreign born spouse/partner questions; recreational facilities; social events. Completion of DSFA Spouse and Partner Annual Employment Report.
- Welfare at Post: welcoming all staff before and on arrival and accompanying families to ensure as smooth an integration as possible into life at Post; following up to check that the settling in process is working; being a source of knowledge and support when questions, problems and difficulties arise; providing short community induction. Organising regular, fun get-togethers for staff and/or families and/or partners, in and outside work.
- Advocate for UK-based staff and families: raising issues as necessary with Post Management, and keeping in touch with the Chairs of the Post Housing Committee and Post Security Committee. Chief link between Post and the Diplomatic Service Families Association in London.
- Communication: raising awareness of community and social events among staff and their families. Working with the rest of the Corporate Services team to ensure smooth staff arrivals and departures. Advertising details of Diplomatic Service Families Association career support services and courses to eligible spouses and partners at Post. Keeping in touch with, and linking up, spouses and partners across Post..
- Information Management: maintaining an updated Post Welcome Pack and the Community Liaison Officer homepage on Post’s Intranet/SharePoint site; keeping the UKMIS Geneva Post Report and Fact Sheet up to date. CLOs should be accessible and able to provide information for officers and families before their posting, including on spouse/partner employment at Post; child and adult education, childcare, recreation facilities and training opportunities. CLOs should be proactive in signposting staff and families towards FCO services in London and locally.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
- Supporting UKB officers and their families at Post to help them prepare for, settle into and face challenges of life in a new environment (60%);
- Liaise and communicate with Diplomatic Service Families Association, Post Management, Post Housing Committee (10%);
- Ad hoc duties as necessary (10%).
- Fluency in English (both oral and written);
- Enthusiasm to communicate and organise events;
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
- Strong team player;
- Good understanding of the issues faced by staff moving to live overseas;
- Confidence with Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook;
- Be able to handle personal information confidentially and with discretion.
- Some experience of work in a foreign diplomatic mission or as a diplomatic spouse/partner;
- Basic French would be helpful.
This is a part-time position, for a fixed-term contract of 2 years, with the possibility of renewal.
The successful candidate will be subject to professional background check and security clearance.
Please note that you must have the right to work and reside in Switzerland without visa sponsorship. (For information: EU nationals do not require visa sponsorship).
Staff recruited locally by the UK Mission in Geneva are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Swiss employment law.
Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.
We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application, since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.
Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.
The UK mission does not pay for travel related expense incurred in interviews (including Security Check) or accept any financial risk, including cancelation or reschedule costs. The UK mission will not meet the costs connected with relocation if offered a position.
* Please note Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment indicates Level C1 as Mastery or proficiency Level which comprehends that a person can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read; can summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation; can express themselves spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations. For more information please click on the following link CEFR . Please bear in mind in case you are invited for an interview your languages skills are going to be assessed.
This opportunity is closed to applications.
