View Vacancy - Assistant Social Secretary (FRA18.166)

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 (Operations and Corporate Services)
Protocol, Visits and Events

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).The British Embassy is currently looking for a Assistant Social Secretary (Paris Residence).


The Assistant Social Secretary provides administrative and logistical support to the Social Secretary in the organisation of all events in the Residence ensuring that they are well targeted and run smoothly and efficiently. This includes not only the Ambassador’s official entertainment but also events held on behalf of the wider Embassy and externally sponsored events with a British interest. Approximately 450 separate events are held in the Ambassador’s Residence each year, entertaining a total of around 15,000 guests.

Roles and responsibilities:

Responsible for the daily management of the Residence calendar and the events’ management database; updating details of events, menu choices and guest numbers and communicating the household programme to the wider team on a daily basis. Assisting the Social Secretary with updating and archiving the Ambassador’s contacts; maintaining regular contact and good relations with important clients.

Assisting the Social Secretary with the organisation of the Ambassador’s official entertainment by undertaking tasks such as drafting and sending invitations, collating guest lists, monitoring replies, creating seating plans and menus. Responsible for booking and managing extra staff for events. Playing a key role in running logistics and troubleshooting at weekly events and being present at out-of-hours events as necessary.

Assisting the Social Secretary with streamlining the processes involved in the constantly evolving management of events throughout the Embassy. Working in close partnership with other teams, in particular Outreach, to fulfil global objectives.

Representing Residence interests at regular Embassy team meetings; being in charge of preparing key documents such as diaries, agendas and minutes.

Management of a rolling programme of house tours, liaising with educational groups and cultural associations and organising tour guide payment.

Maintaining Residence events and houseguest statistics & preparing summaries when necessary.

Managing income generated through book sales and house tours in liaison with the charity committee.

Residence team SharePoint site manager.

Office administration: management of shared event files; coordinating feedback after events; dealing promptly with incoming/outgoing correspondence; supervision and ordering of office stationery; providing any assistance required by the Ambassador and his spouse for official duties.


Able to multi-task and prioritise urgent work while ensuring that routine tasks are not overlooked.

Able to communicate clearly and to liaise closely with contacts at all levels.

Computer-literate (Outlook, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Sharepoint).

Fluent in spoken and written English and French ( both oral and written).

Able to work out of hours for specific events.

Possess an enthusiastic, team-player attitude.



Maintain extremely high standards.

Show discretion at all times.

Have the ability to work independently, without constant supervision.

Be able to react to situations that can often arise unexpectedly.

Good, clear hand writing (for table placements & invitation cards).

Be willing to learn and be flexible.

Be observant and aware of situations.

Dress appropriately given working at receptions and dinners.

26 April 2018
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Permanent
35
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
France
Paris
British Embassy
1
EUR
3126€ gross
3 September 2018

This is a full-time and permanent position.


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 www.justice.gouv.fr/cjn/), 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.