View Vacancy - Political officer (FRA18.488)- INTERNAL VACANCY

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 (Policy & Political roles)
Political

The British Embassy in Paris is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas. It is also part of the UK’s France Network (including offices in Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseilles and representation to international organisations in Paris (OECD and UNESCO) and Strasbourg (CoE).

We are looking for an enthusiastic team-player to join us as Political and Bilateral Officer for the Domestic Politics Team. The team sits at the heart of the wider Political Section which covers a wide range of policy issues.

 

The Domestic Politics team leads on relations with elected officials in France both at national and local levels and is responsible for explaining French politics to London. The team also plays a huge part in the Embassy’s wider bilateral work to strengthen the links between the UK and France – this includes nurturing and creating regional partnerships and leading on the Franco-British Young Leaders Programme. As a lot of this work is Embassy cross-cutting, the team often works closely with other teams to support wider Embassy objectives.

 

Within the Domestic Politics Team, the successful candidate will provide research support and write briefings for senior officials, as well as reports on the French political situation for Ministers and their teams in London. He/she will map out the influential political personalities and organise meetings for the Head of Politics and the Ambassador both in Paris and in the regions. He/she will also be expected to support and organise wider regional programmes and support delivery of our bilateral programmes, such as the Young Leaders and Entente Cordiale programmes.

 

At an important time for Franco-British relations, this will be a varied, exciting and challenging job with scope for the successful candidate to bring their own ideas and creativity. He/she will need to be able to juggle different types of work and reprioritise at short notice, working to a high standard and often to tight deadlines.

 

We also encourage all our staff to get involved in the wider work and community life of the Embassy. There are lots of opportunities for this, including volunteering for major events and summits, as well as getting involved in projects to improve our organisation.

 

Roles and responsibilities:

  • Political analysis and reporting : Follow and analyse French politics, with reporting showing added-value and contributing to the development of policy across the Embassy and in London.

  • Strategic planning and engagement: Contribute to the mapping of influencers across the country and the Embassy’s strategic engagement plan with Parliament and regional engagement plan. Support delivery of these plans through the organisation of meetings and visits for HMA and other senior officers and through building and nurturing relationships across both Houses of French Parliament, within political parties and within Mairies and Prefectures.

  • Bilateral projects: Support and lead on specific projects working with and influencing external stakeholders towards the shared objective of a strong Franco-British bilateral relationship.



  • Fluent English and French (both written and spoken);

  • Good knowledge or experience of the French political system, including political institutions, parties, think tanks or lobbying;
  • Good networking skills;
  • Excellent organisational skills;
  • Ease with contacting new people and tenacity in pursuit of goals;
  • Problem solving skills and ability to think creatively. 

  • Used to work with senior officials.

  • Interest in the UK and UK politics.

  • Experience in office management.

  • Experience in project management.

  • 2+ years of relevant experience.


22 August 2018
Executive Officer (EO)
Fixed Term, Full-time
35
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
France
Paris
British Embassy
1
EUR
3,830 gross
1 September 2018

This is a full-time and fixed-term contract.

All appointments are subject to professional background check satisfactory security clearance. The successful applicant will be required to provide a copy of his/her passport or national identity card for all nationalities held, an up-to-date criminal record (casier judiciaire) for recent countries of residence (which can be obtained online at https://www.cjn.justice.gouv.fr/cjn/b3/eje20 ), two written proofs of address (utility invoices and/or bank statements) and two references.


Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy in France are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local French employment law and FCO guidance for Local Staff. The posts we offer are not an entry point into the UK’s Diplomatic Service.


Your application will only be considered if you follow the guidance below:

  • Your application must be sent in English only.
  • Your application must clearly indicate all nationalities you hold.

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.

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.