View Vacancy - Visits and Events Officer (ESP21.146)

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)
Economic and Prosperity , Political

Due to COVID-19, you may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign. We are working hard to minimise any disruption. You may find more information in the Additional Information section below.

The British Embassy in Madrid is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas and is looking to recruit a permanent Visits and Events Officer.

The main purpose of the job is:

  • Overall Coordination of Visits and Events for the Economic and Political Teams;
  • Lead officer for event planning and delivery;
  • Embassy lead for all protocol aspects of visits;
  • Coordination and supervision of Embassy transport team during visits;
  • Embassy point of contact for relationships/negotiations with hotels and venues;
  • Develop and maintain contact bases across Ministerial offices in Madrid and in London.

Roles and responsibilities:

  • Create a project structure around all visits to establish clear action points; agree a division of labour; set deadlines and put a system to monitor progress in place;
  • Work jointly with the Policy Officer to understand the objectives and goals for the visit in order to be a credible interlocutor with relevant ministerial offices;
  • Help identify potential ES/UK speakers/organisations for seminars and events;
  • Identify and deal with appropriate suppliers to cover event needs such as venue, translation, catering, sound, security;
  • Liaise with Communication department to promote public events;
  • Liaise with Private Office when HMA is involved;
  • Deliver the event on the day and be on hand to ensure the event goes smoothly;
  • Lead on all aspects of procurement processes around visits and events;
  • Lead on all issues related to protocol and logistics for high-level UK visitors (these have included Royal visits, Prime Minister, Ministers) and Summits (e.g- ASEM, COP). This involves dealing with the Heads of Protocol in a wide range of government departments including the PM’s office and the MFA;
  • Draw up a transport plan during visits and events to coordinate the work of the Embassy drivers;
  • Develop a strong working relationship with high-level hotels and venues in Madrid and Barcelona in order to be able to negotiate the best conditions in terms of costs and services.

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills enabling effective communication in both English and Spanish (minimum C1 level);
  • Honed IT skills including Excel and Teams;
  • Proven project management skills and experience of organising large and complex events. The successful candidate will have at least five years relevant experience and will have been trained in the field of project management;
  • Experience of working on virtual events;
  • Proven abilities of working in an bilingual environment
  • Experience of negotiating the terms and conditions of events;
  • An understanding of the workings of the UK and Spanish government machines.


  • Experience of dealing with senior figures in government and the private sector;
  • Experience of working with social media;
  • Background in public relations.

18 May 2021
Executive Officer (EO)
Full-time, Permanent
37.5
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Spain
Madrid
British Embassy
1
EUR
36,413.55
18 July 2021

This is a full-time and permanent contract for B3 (EE) grade. Normal working hours are 37.5 per week.

The successful candidate is subject to a confirmation of a background check, security clearance and the successful completion of a probationary period.

The successful candidate will be enrolled in the Spanish Social Security Scheme and will therefore not be entitled to any gratuity from the Embassy based on gross annual salary.

The Embassy is a Diplomatic Mission with tax exempt status and does not collect taxes for other States. Employees are fully responsible for payment of income tax at the legally required rate. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy in Spain are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local Spanish employment law.

Visa/work permit requirements: Candidates must currently hold the independent right to live and work in Spain and be prepared to ensure that right remains throughout the scope of the contract.

Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure you meet the legal requirements to live and work in this country.

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.

FCDO does not pay for travel related expense incurred in interviews (including Security Check) or accept any financial risk, including cancelation or reschedule costs. The FCDO will not meet the costs connected with relocation if offered a position.

*Please note for more information on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment levels please click on the following link CEFR. Please bear in mind in case you are invited for an interview your language skill is going to be assessed.

Additional Information (due to Covid-19):

  • You may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign and we are working hard to minimise any disruption;

  • Interviews will be done remotely if the existing situation determines this to be the right course of action;

  • Starting date may be delayed depending on circumstances at the time and it will be agreed with the selected candidate.

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.