View Vacancy - Science & Innovation Administrative Officer

Main purpose of job:

The British Embassy in Mexico City is looking for a Locally-Engaged A2(L) Science & Innovation Administrative Officer to support the UK Government’s (HMG) work on the Newton Fund through the coordination of strategic projects in order to ensure efficient use of budgets and maximum impact of the Fund.

The Newton Fund is the £735m UK’s government initiative under which the HMG seeks to develop science and innovation partnerships that promote the economic development and social welfare of partner countries. In Mexico, the Newton Fund will have a total value of £74m to 2021, reason why the successful candidate will be a key component for the efficient management of the programme.

The A2 Science and Innovation Administrative Officer is responsible for supporting the Newton Fund team in two main areas: communications and promotion, and financial management. This, by monitoring projects, administering budgets, and working on logistical aspects of visits and events to ensure best value for money and high quality outcomes in programmes mainly related to:

• Furthering UK science.
• Research and Innovation partnerships.

Roles and responsibilities:

The successful candidate will be expected to achieve the following:

- Financial Management:

• To ensure the Newton Fund’s effective budget management. Monthly monitoring of finances, production of expenses reports, and definition of mitigation plans for under/overspend risks.
• Deliver a Best Value for Money service, ensuring that purchasing, financial and budget procedures are followed in a fair, transparent, accurate and timely manner.
• Monitoring and storage of sensitive financial data.

-Communications and Promotion:

• Liaise with the Embassy’s Press and Communications Team (PCT) to promote the Newton Fund and other Science and Technology international collaborative programmes.
• Working with the Embassy’s PCT team, to deliver and implement a coherent and innovative media strategy to increase the number of people engaged by the Newton Fund communications and showcase the Embassy’s work on Science and Innovation. This would include an engagement plan with national and state media outlets, negotiation, and arrangement of interviews for the Newton Fund team.
• Co-production of promotional material –in conjunction with the PCT-, ensuring the correct use of the Newton Fund brand.
• Production of quarterly reports on impact, monthly reports on NF highliths, weekley scenesetter internal report for the Embassy.

In addition to this, the selected candidate will be responsible for:

• Coordinate logistics and oversee the management of events related to the Newton Fund activity.
• Support the team in giving follow up to Newton Fund related programmes, their beneficiaries and outcomes.
• Support Newton and Embassy’s strategy on cross-cutting objectives among different areas.
• Building and Management of Alumni, beneficiaries, stakeholders databases in coordination with NF intern
• These responsibilities are not limited and could change with new objectives and strategy of NF. 

All employees in the Embassy network are expected, as part of their job to contribute towards the corporate activity organisation.

Resources managed:

The selected candidate will be co-responsible for the correct administration of an estimated £65k annual budget for internal expenses and line manager of  the Newton Fund Intern.

• Minimum 1 year of relevant work experience in financial or budget management or communications support roles.   
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, as well as organisational skills.
• Graduated from a BA in International Relations, Communications, Administration or related subjects.
• Excellent IT skills are required, including Microsoft Excel, Outlook and Word and the ability to use these systems to produce reports and mail-shot communications.