View Vacancy - Chevening and Projects Officer, Guatemala City, Americas Directorate
Main purpose of job:
The post-holder will work within the British Embassy’s Political Team. The jobholder will be in charge of the Chevening Scholarship Programme –the UK Government’s global scholarship scheme, which covers Guatemala and Honduras with postgraduate study opportunities at any University in the UK. Jobholder will contribute to the delivery of key strategic scholarship initiatives and be responsible for the preparing scholarship applications, metric-based assessments, recording and notification of outcomes, activating and processing variations to scholarship, and providing high standard customer service to students and staff within the programme.
As responsible of the Projects Management Portfolio of the Embassy, the jobholder will manage the budget assigned to the Embassy, calling for proposals and administration of the projects according to UK financial and budgetary standards. Jobholder’s methodical yet flexible approach, with a keen eye for detail and his/her ability to prioritise a varied workload, will enable jobholder to provide effective support across a wide range of projects, and relations with stakeholders. Strong written and verbal communication skills will allow jobholder to craft compelling cases for supporting projects’ proposal analysis, and to liaise confidently and diplomatically with both external supporters and colleagues at all levels across the Embassy and UK Government.
The post holder will have strong communication skills, be able to work in a team and independently. He/she must also be able to engage effectively and develop excellent working relationships with a wide range of individuals and stakeholders at local, national and international levels. Occasional internal and international travel will be required.
Roles and responsibilities:
1. Lead the United Kingdom’s educational business portfolio in Guatemala/Honduras and management of the UK’s scholarships programme (50%)
- Lead the Chevening Scholarships Programme for Guatemala and Honduras, and activate the Chevening Alumni Association
- Organize/attend meetings to promote the UK’s education opportunities, liaising with partners such as universities and colleges, working with regional prosperity team in Panama City
- Design a strategy to respond to individual enquiries from UK education companies by liaising with UK regional business hubs in Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico, and follow up on settlement actions
- Lead on the promotion of the English language in Guatemala and Honduras by working closely with key educational suppliers in the UK
2. Management of the Embassy’s project portfolio for Guatemala and Honduras (40%)
- Develop a strategy to build alliances with like-minded partners in Guatemala which would allow the Embassy to co-sponsor projects/activities in line with country business plan
- Comply with London’s requirements in regard to project administration and forecasting requests
- Liaise with the Embassy’s Corporate Services Team to feed in finance data in the proper electronic applications
- Empower the political team to follow up with specific guidance and take ownership of proper individual projects implementation
3. Developing a sector-specific database of education contacts in Guatemala and Honduras and contribute to the greater business database of the Embassy (10%)
- Monthly review of database in search for additions/exclusion of contacts (feed information to Support Officer and liaise with Trade Officer)
- Work with regional prosperity team in Panama City
Experience or training in project management
Previous experience in similar role in project/ programme management in public sector or with bilateral/multilateral organizations
This opportunity is closed to applications.