View Vacancy - Senior Political Adviser

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

Lead on the UK government’s political engagement in Brazil.  Lead on analysis and reporting on developments in Brazilian internal politics (federal, state and local level) and implications for UK. Support teams across the UK Network in Brazil to achieve their objectives across all areas of UK interest, from trade and investment, to climate and energy, to defence and security.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

This is an excellent senior adviser job in the British Embassy, Brasilia.  It involves leading on the fascinating area of Brazilian internal politics at the federal and state level, and links to the bilateral relationship between the UK and Brazil.  You will be a key adviser for the Ambassador and other senior colleagues in the Brazil Network (posts in  Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Recife covering political, prosperity and commercial work).  You can expect to:

  • Lead delivery of the UK Government’s 2022 Elections Strategy, leveraging your networks and developing relationships within priority federal and state campaign teams you will support senior leadership and teams across the Brazil network identify, prioritise and access key influencers across priority areas as they build their understanding of policy platforms.   
  • Deliver insightful and regular analysis on the elections. You will cut through the noise of the election campaign to identify the issues driving candidate’s positions and spot emerging opportunities or barriers that have the potential to impact delivery of UK priorities in the short or long term, offering guidance to Brazil network teams on how they should respond.
  • Support teams across the Brazil network develop their own political relationships and to identify early those who may take up positions in the next administration.
  • Develop a post election strategy that prepares the Brazil network to deliver impactful engagements in the period between the election and the initial months of the next administration
  • Work closely with British diplomats and a wider political team that covers Brazilian internal politics and Brazil-UK political relations;
  • Lead the UK government’s political engagement in Brazil. Develop and deliver engagement to build excellent relationships across the “3 powers” (executive, legislative and judiciary) and civil society. Engaging with the Brazilian government (federal and state level) and Congress will be a top priority. You will be responsible for making sure that the Embassy and other UK diplomatic offices in Brazil, from the Ambassador down, have the right relationships with all the key people (politicians and advisers). 
  • Use your detailed knowledge of Brazilian politics, plus your extensive contact network and other sources (e.g. media; blogs; political commentary etc) to track political developments and trends and to produce impactful analysis and advice that informs UK-Brazil relations and helps deliver priority outcomes, e.g. in securing Congress approval of UK-Brazil agreements;  
  • Lead on regular political reporting to inform contacts in London on key issues.
  • Support delivery of an ambitious regional outreach strategy for the UK government in Brazil, advising on political priorities and identifying opportunities in key states and cities;
  • Ensure incoming high level HMG visitors (government ministers and senior officials) have impactful political meetings as part of their visit agenda;
  • As a membership of our leadership cadre, contribute to the internal leadership and management of the UK Network in Brazil, and take part in or lead an element of our programme to make the UK in Brazil an excellent place to work. Uphold and role-model our values of Respect, Excellence and Together.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

The job holder will manage current and future small scale programme activity.

At least 5 years professional experience in a relevant field.  Expert knowledge of the Brazilian political system (executive, legislative and judiciary); well established network of contacts, and the ability to build this further and use effectively.

Language: Portuguese and English

Level of language required: Fluency in each – including the ability to write reports for senior audiences in English

Experience of working for a Brazilian political institution – e.g. Congress, Ministry. 
Experience of working in an international environment may be helpful – but not essential.
Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing
9 August 2022
Higher Executive Officer (HEO)
Full-time, Permanent
36.5
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Brazil
Brasilia
British Embassy
1
BRL
11,005
12 September 2022

Learning and development opportunities:

We place a strong emphasis on learning and development.  You will be encouraged to undertake developmental training and get involved in corporate activities.  The Embassy has a strong L&D offer (including L&D Weeks and the possibility of securing funds for personal L&D). 

Working patterns:

  • Job share: No  
  • Working from home (1-2 days a week): Yes
  • Working from home (3-4 days a week): No
  • Fully remote working (with jobholder based in the UK): No
  • Fully remote working (with jobholder based overseas): No
  • Compressed hours / Flexi-time: Yes  
  • Reduced hours/days: No
  • Term time only: No 

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, eg some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

The British Embassy Network offers a strong benefits package. This package includes generous vacation and leave time, flexible working patterns, and enriching learning and development opportunities. Eligibility to work and live in Brazil is required and able to conduct official travel regionally and to the UK.
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.