Jobs at Her Majesty's Government (HM Government)

Main purpose of job:

• This role is to lead the day-to-day oversight, engagement, delivery, and coordination of programmes and projects under the BPF programme across West Africa, and contribute to the design of other BPF programmes that will deliver in the region. This role will also ensure the BPF supports marine nature commitments made by countries in West Africa. This role will require close collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including British Embassies and British High Commissions (BHC), regional and multi-lateral organisations, the Defra and FCDO BPF programme teams in the UK, UK government departments, non-government organisations (NGO), and the private sector, to maximise the impact of the BPF programme in the region.
• This is a great opportunity for a highly motivated self-starter with strong project management skills, experience in advising on programme design of international development and/or marine programmes, and stakeholder engagement, including with senior government officials and local communities. We are looking for someone with a ‘can do’ approach to help to design, oversee and implement projects under the BPF delivering in the West African region.
• Reporting to the FCDO Team Leader of the Climate and Investment team at the BHC in Accra and to the International Sustainable Blue Finance team in London, you will enjoy a good level of autonomy and decision-making. You will also be able to access professional development opportunities, including scope to work on the wider BPF programme and other embassy priorities, including UK advocacy work on the marine environment across the region. The role will also support Defra and FCDO BPF teams to coordinate the delivery of all BPF programmes in the region. You will need excellent communication and presentation skills (both written and verbal), and the ability to deliver high quality work. You will need to assess and prioritise own workload within given timeframe, to meet project schedules. This role will also require good international development, political and policy skills to ensure successful HMG BPF delivery, cooperation and collaboration between delivery partners, and results for recipients. This role will also require you to undertake a certain amount of regional travel, which will be planned well in advance approximately once every 2-3 months.  As with any role, there will be occasions when the work is reactive to instructions and tasking either from teams in the UK or from Embassy Senior Management. All staff are expected to be collaborative team players, willing to turn their hand to any task.

Main duties include:  
   Programme coordination and delivery – 80%  

• Ensuring BPF programming is complementary with other in-country and regional donors and their activities, including liaising with other donors, multilaterals, and diplomatic missions to ensure programme activity does not duplicate other work 
• Supporting on the day-to-day relationships with BPF programme delivery partners and country governments receiving support through the BPF, ensuring join up across the programmes and other donor programmes 
• Coordinating Defra and FCDO BPF programme activities in West Africa to ensure complimentary, and advising Defra on how to improve joined-up delivery
• Providing advice and support to UK BPF teams on the delivery and design of BPF programmes in West Africa (eg. supporting the Ocean Country Partnership Programme and the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) develop their partnerships in West Africa, and providing support for Defra’s competitive fund, providing support to FCDO’s Climate and Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition programme)
• Regular reporting to UK-based teams and regional boards, including consulting and aligning on UK government priorities and liaising with UK government departments to identify and follow-up on opportunities arising from programme activities  
• Advising – and subsequently supporting – communications activities in the region to ensure uptake of key lessons from BPF projects and to promote and raise the profile of the UK and the BPF across West Africa  
• Providing advice and guidance to British Embassy and High Commission staff in the region on all aspects of BPF programme activity, including regularly reporting to the One HMG Board at the British High Commission, as well as other relevant Embassy boards in the region.    

Blue Planet Fund policy and wider UK government support on the marine environment – 20% 

• Deliver wider mission critical work as required as part of the team at the British High Commission  
• Drafting briefings, reports and presentations on the marine environment as required  
• Representing the UK at meetings across West Africa to influence and communicate UK marine priorities  
• Participate in self-development to continually improve performance/systems and undertake development activities that are identified 
• The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by the Defra and FCDO programming teams. These responsibilities may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the BPF and the organization. 

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Travel and subsistence (T&S) arrangements will be in place to reimburse any additional and reasonable expenses necessarily incurred on official business.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Degree qualification or equivalent experience
• Training and/or experience in project management
• Previous experience in similar role in project/programme management in public sector or with bilateral/multilateral organizations.
• Experience of building a network and managing effective relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, including government officials, delivery partners and local and community groups.
• Understanding of marine environment, biodiversity conservation, fisheries management, and marine pollution
• Fluent written and oral English
• Excellent written and oral communication skills on complex matters, often requiring persuasion and influence.
• Ability to identify strategic opportunities and risks, underlying drivers and connections.
• Ability to effectively as part of a team which is dispersed across the region and in the UK
• Effective organization, prioritization and planning skills.
• Ability to work on own initiative and organize own workload without supervision working to tight and often changing timescales.
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change.
• Ability to handle strictly confidential information from internal and external sources whilst always adhering to best practices of confidentiality.
• Computer literate and proficient user of Microsoft programs such as Outlook, Word, Excel and SharePoint.
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, but also in relation to management systems

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Experience/knowledge of the region (politics, socio-economic situation)
• Experience drafting briefing papers, reports and presentations.
• Experience of organizing events/conferences/ workshops
• Ability to analyze and interpret complex information and recommend appropriate actions.
• Advanced-intermediate French

Required behaviours  

• Seeing the Big Picture, Managing a Quality Service, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together

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Main purpose of job:

Roles and responsibilities:

 Investigation:

•    Individual case working investigations as tasked by Home Office -International Operations.
• Individual case working investigations as tasked by the Head of Section and Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) as well as other government departments.
• To disrupt the flow of illegal migration by air to the United Kingdom and identify and disrupt the activity of the organised crime groups behind it
• Support Visa Status and Information Services (VSI) section to protect the integrity of the UK visa regime and identify and disrupt activity of the organised crime groups attempting to exploit it
• Develop operational intelligence products through the collection, interpretation and evaluation of relevant quantitative and qualitative information sources
• Work closely with HMG partners at post, host authorities and international partners to support the development of intelligence and investigations to disrupt organised crime groups
• Conduct training sessions with international partners
• Provide presentations to host authorities and international partners
• Support on projects and work with Non-Government Organisations to deliver quality outcomes

Crime: Using collaborative working with overseas and UK law enforcement partners develop intelligence and investigations to disrupt organised crime groups targeting the UK.

Intelligence gathering and analysis: Develop operational intelligence products through the collection, interpretation and evaluation of relevant quantitative and qualitative information sources. Strong problem solving skills are required to identify and investigate suspected organised immigration crime and to gather evidence-based intelligence. Ensure that all relevant intelligence is gathered, assessed and disseminated in line with guidance.

Liaison: Build effective working relationships with host authorities, international partners. (FCC/EU) and UK partners to support the delivery of crime and intelligence objectives. Lead the exchange of actionable intelligence with local law enforcement partners and counterparts in other Diplomatic missions to identify and mitigate threats to the UK Border. Representing the Home Office professionally, developing effective partnerships with the wider British High Commission and with key external partners.

What we do:

• Home Office International Operations (HOIO) operates to prevent illegal immigration, the trafficking of illicit commodities and disrupt the organised crime groups behind it, whilst supporting the Home Office purpose. We have staff deployed to approximately 42 locations across the world.  

We deliver this by:

• Providing intelligence support to the UK visa operation, supporting UKVI to take an increasingly global approach to risk streaming built on the analysis of objective data and enhanced with local risk indicators
• Working with carriers around the world to reduce the threat of inadequately documented arrivals (IDAs) reaching the UK by air
• Developing intelligence packages related to the visa or air threat for subsequent criminal investigations and prosecutions
• Working with key stakeholders to train & equip them to identify, seize, investigate and disseminate intelligence on illicit commodities and the associated criminal networks

What we want from you?

• In order to meet Home Office security requirements, we need to recruit a new ILA from either the UK/US/Canada/Australia/NZ or the EU where they have a footprint in their home country.
• We need the ILA to have excellent interpersonal skills that they can use strategically to build relationships with key partners to assist Home Office International Operations in delivering their objectives. Face to face work is a fundamental part of the job, as is the delivery of training, so the successful candidate should be prepared to do public speaking.
• The role of ILA is extremely varied. The challenge with all HOIO work is to deliver both the reactive elements such as air calls and requests for support from visa section, as well as the pro-active elements such as intelligence research and liaison with stakeholders. As such, ILAs need be able to manage very challenging workloads, deliver at pace and be flexible in support of business aims. Once trained, the successful candidate should be able to work towards objectives with minimal supervision.
• Resource Managed:  Ad hoc management of x 2 LE Employed Driver

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Computer literate with Microsoft desktop functions (e.g. Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Explorer) at a level where you can: create, use and interrogate complex templates, tables, data-sets on Home Office and FCDO IT platforms
• Strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills
• A high level of written and spoken English with the ability to write high quality reports and briefings
• Strong organisational and time management skills
• An ability to work under pressure with minimal supervision

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Previous immigration, narcotics, law enforcement and/or analytical or investigation experience would be an advantage.
• Proficiency in French would be an advantage but not mandatory.

Required behaviours  

• Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing