View Vacancy - Community Liaison Officer (CLO)- (GEO23.052)- INTERNAL VACANCY

The British Embassy in Tbilisi is part of a worldwide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas and we are now looking for a Community Liaison Officer (CLO).

The job holder will work closely with Post management for the well-being of all staff at the Embassy, with primary function as advocate for and provision of support to UK-based staff and families (FCO and PAGs) on family and community issues, principally in the areas of information gathering, welfare and communication.

 A CLO works closely with the Embassy’s Corporate Services team but needs to maintain an objective distance from corporate service activities in order to avoid a conflict of interest with their primary function as advocate for UK-based staff and families.  A CLO also acts as the point of contact for UK-based staff and families who wish to raise issues with Corporate Services. It is for this reason that a CLO is always managed by a Post DHM.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Advocate for UK-based staff and families in addressing issues of importance with Post management, including as their representative on Post Management, Housing and Security committees, and as the chief link between the Embassy and the Diplomatic Service Families Association (DSFA) in London.

• Information gathering for UK-based officers and their spouses/partners and families (including for those not yet at Post). To include information on spouse/partner employment at Post (including completion of DSFA Spouse and Partner Annual Employment Report); children's education (through completion of separate HR School and Nursery Information Sheets of authorised schools at Post); a comprehensive information pack on childcare; adult education, career and training opportunities; single officer and foreign born spouse/partner issues; recreational facilities; and social matters.

• Welfare at Post: welcoming all UK-based staff (and accompanying family members) on posting/temporary duty  to ensure as smooth an integration as possible into the Embassy community; following up to check that the settling in process is working; being a source of referral and support where questions, problems and difficulties arise; providing a short community induction. Also to support HMA and DHM in events for the Embassy community, whether in-house (eg Christmas party) or where the embassy is participating externally (eg. IWA, British school). 

• Information management of the Welcome Pack; review and input updates to the Post Report and Fact Sheet. CLOs should be able to provide information in areas including pre-Posting information, spouse/partner employment at Post; child and adult education, childcare, recreation facilities and training opportunities.

• Communicating effectively on community and social matters across Post to all staff and receive notification of staff arrivals/departures. The CLO should advertise details of DSFA career support services and courses to eligible UK-based spouses/partners at Post. A CLO is expected to establish forms of communication that reach all UK-based staff and spouses/partners across Post.

• Emergency Planning: the CLO must be aware of and involved in the Embassy’s contingency and evacuation planning. All CLOs should complete the Crisis Preparedness Management eLearning on GLO.

• Excellent level of English is essential (both oral and written) C1 Level or equivalent*.
• Excellent attention to detail and organisational skills;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, capable of interacting with colleagues and external stakeholders;
• Knowledge and experience of living abroad;
• Ability to respond flexibly and creatively to changing priorities;
• Good computer skills, MS word, excel, power point etc.