View Vacancy - Political and Foreign Policy Adviser B3, Ljubljana (SVN18.161)

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 Ljubljana is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic, consular and Defence interests overseas and is now looking for a Political and Foreign Policy Adviser.

We are looking for a motivated, proactive and organised colleague to drive the Embassy’s understanding of Slovene politics and the economy and lead our engagement of key foreign policy issues in Slovenia. This is a great opportunity to develop your leadership skills: you will be empowered to build a wide range of senior contacts, provide analysis and advice to the Ambassador and Deputy and represent UK policy priorities with the Slovene government.

The main purpose of the job is to advise the British Ambassador and UK Government on Slovene domestic politics and economy, focussing on areas on of greatest interest to the UK. To coordinate the Embassy’s foreign policy engagement, including on multilateral issues. To support Embassy engagement on UK – Slovene cooperation on the Western Balkans. More broadly to provide support, advice and context to colleagues on range of work of Political team, including EU exit issues.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Lead the British Embassy Ljubljana’s analysis and reporting on domestic political and economic issues. Advise the Ambassador and team on engagement with government, parliamentarians, business, media and NGOs to ensure we have strong contacts and understanding of key issues facing Slovenia. Report to London on key issues, with a focus on areas of UK interest. You will develop a thorough understanding of Slovene and UK context to spot opportunities for building bilateral cooperation.
  • Support Embassy engagement and analysis on EU exit related work. This will involve research, briefing, setting up meetings and visits and accompanying the Ambassador and senior Embassy staff to meetings.
  • Support Embassy’s foreign policy engagement with Slovenia. This will include developing a wide range of contacts with government and beyond and responding quickly to requests for information from London. Focus will be on Western Balkans, multilateral issues (eg UN, NATO) and other top foreign policy issues for the UK.
  • Contribute your skills and expertise to corporate and team development within the Embassy.
  • Training and personal development. You will be actively encouraged to develop your skills and experience, through formal and informal training opportunities.
  • The ability to communicate effectively and confidently in English and Slovene, in person and in writing.
  • A track record of delivery. We want to know what and how you have achieved results in previous jobs.
  • Sound problem solving, analysis and judgement. You will need to provide sound recommendations to the Embassy leadership team and the UK Government.
  • Flexibility and teamwork. Government priorities change, unexpected events happen, things don’t always go to plan. We are looking for candidates with resilience, the ability to adapt and to support the wider Embassy team.
  • Ambition to develop and contribute to the development of the wider Embassy team. We are committed to supporting you in this and there will be lots of opportunities available to you, including job swaps in London or other Embassies, formal training (e.g. UK diplomatic academy accreditation) and lots of on the job learning opportunities (not least being part of the UK’s global diplomatic network).
  • University degree.
  • Good understanding of Slovene politics and the economy.
  • Working knowledge of the EU or other multilateral institutions would be useful, but you will develop this on the job and through training opportunities.
  • Experience in policy making, international affairs or working with governments.
2 May 2018
Executive Officer (EO)
Full-time, Fixed Term
40
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Slovenia
Ljubljana
British Embassy
EUR
2.564,83 (Gross)
1 June 2018

This is a fixed-term full-time position for a contract of 1 year with possibility of extension for another year, 5 days (40 hours per week), subject to a probation period of 6 months. Working hours are flexible and staff are entitled to time-off-in-lieu for extra hours worked.

The successful candidate will be subject to confirmation of a background check and security clearance.

You must have pre-existing work authorisation for Slovenia in order to apply.

Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy are subject to terms and conditions service according to Slovenian 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.

Please be advised that the British Diplomatic Missions will not be able to meet the travel costs incurred when travelling to the interview, nor the costs connected with relocation if offered a job.

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.