JOB DESCRIPTION

View Vacancy – Residence Manager

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. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.

Job Category

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Operations and Corporate Services)

Job Subcategory

Residence Coordinator

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

The British Embassy Santiago is seeking to appoint a Residence Manager, to be based at the historic British Residence in Las Condes.

The Residence is both a family home and a place of work, where the Ambassador and Embassy team host a wide range of events to engage with key stakeholders and support delivery of the Embassy’s objectives. Supporting the Ambassador, their family and the Embassy team to make this work for everyone requires tact, sensitivity and professionalism.

The successful candidate will lead the Residence team (comprising a Chef, two Hospitality Assistants and a Technical Works Assistant), as well as supervise two contracted gardeners. The primary responsibility is to ensure that the Residence and its estate are maintained to the highest possible standard and that the services it provides to the Ambassador’s guests and visitors serve as a showcase for British excellence.

He or she will co-ordinate delivery of events at the Residence, ranging from large receptions (up to 550 people at the annual King’s Birthday Party), workshops or seminars, and small lunches or dinners. These will mainly be delivered with internal clients in the Embassy (e.g. the political or trade teams). The Residence also offers its services to certain external clients (e.g. British companies or universities) on a full cost recovery basis.

The successful candidate will work closely with the Ambassador, the Ambassador’s spouse, the Ambassador’s Personal Assistant, and the Embassy’s protocol, security, finance and estates management teams.

This is a challenging position that requires excellent inter-personal and organisational skills and strong customer focus.

Roles and responsibilities:

Residence Management (35%)

• Regular meetings with the Ambassador to ensure the efficient planning and management of the Residence’s forward programme of events, maintenance and improvement projects.
• Regular communication with the Ambassador’s spouse to update them on the Residence programme (events, maintenance etc) and coordinate around family needs.
• Responsible of ensuring that procurement rules are followed when hiring services, purchasing goods and approving expense reports from the Residence team. Management of the imprest (cashbox), including monthly reporting to Finance Officer.
• Coordinate and agree with Estates Team the delivery of maintenance projects in the Residence. Supervise Residence TWA when projects are delivered by the Residence team and provide feedback to the Estates Manager when projects are been handled by external contractors.
• Working with the Embassy’s Estates and Health & Safety Manager, ensure maintenance of hygiene, health and safety standards at the Residence.
• Responsibility for monitoring and control of Residence inventories and assets.
• Maintenance of accurate records of Residence activity and tools such as Residence forward look, contact database, and statistics on the number of events organised and guests/visitors at the Residence.
• Oversight of the contract gardeners to ensure the Residence gardens are maintained to a high standard, following an annual calendar of work, and that Residence produce remains a part of our offer to guests and visitors.

Events Planning and Execution (35%)

• Co-ordinate organisation of events to a high level of professionalism, creativity and value for money, working effectively with relevant Embassy staff.
• Lead delivery of events contracted by external organisations, including preparing proposals, cost estimates, answering questions from sponsors, accounting, and payments.
• Oversee the set-up, execution and breakdown of all functions in the Residence, supporting the host in welcoming guests and supervising service, including external contractors, throughout.
• Regular liaison with the Ambassador’s Personal Assistant to coordinate on the Ambassador’s diary and the Residence programme, so that the Ambassador is always fully briefed and prepared.
• Ensure all users of the Residence services, both within the Embassy and external clients and contractors, fully understand and comply with Embassy guidance when organising events at the Residence.
• Provide accurate information to stakeholders regarding the final cost of events delivered by the Residence team.

Staff Management (30%)

• Overall supervision of Residence staff, with direct line management responsibility for the Chef, Hospitality Assistants, Technical Works Assistant, to ensure a high quality of service to guests and customers.
• Guide your team through change and develop a culture of creativity and innovation. Regular meetings with all staff to ensure they carry out their duties efficiently and effectively, and to identify learning and development needs.
• Create a sense of purpose, recognise successes, tackle poor performance and effectively manage resources to deliver results, and drive productivity and business outcomes.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Line Management of 4 direct reports (Chef, 2 x Hospitality Assistants, Technical Works Assistant)
• 2 x contracted gardeners
• Manage the inventories (Furniture, Government Art Collection, Linens, Machinery, crystal-crockery-silverware) and stocks (food and beverages).

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

Essential on arrival

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in similar position with exposure to event planning and management.
• Outstanding customer service experience, putting guests and clients at the heart of everything you do.
• Willingness to work flexibly, including in the evenings, and very rarely at weekends. The Embassy operates a comprehensive flexible working policy and offers Time Off In Lieu of additional hours worked to ensure a fair work/life balance.
• A good knowledge of accountancy, finance and reporting processes.
• Ability to plan, manage and deliver successful events, multi-tasking and working calmly under pressure.
• Excellent staff management skills and effective communication.
• A strong team player, able to work collaboratively with others to get results.
• Excellent problem-solving skills. Ability to anticipate and take initiative to avoid problems or fix them, and to use information and experience to solve problems effectively.
• Good project management skills and an understanding of standard operating procedures.
• A readiness to learn and develop, and to take advantage of the Embassy’s strong Learning & Development offer as well as opportunities to learn from and share best practice with fellow Residence Managers in the UK’s global diplomatic network

Language:

Level of language required: fluent written and spoken English and Spanish (minimum level required C1 under the CEFRL or equivalent).

 

Applicants must have the legal status to live and work in Chile

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

Desirable:

A relevant qualification in the hospitality, events and/or project management fields is desirable.

Required behaviours

Changing and Improving, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together

Application deadline

12 October 2025

Grade

Executive Officer (EO)

Type of Position

Fixed term, with possibility of renewal

Working hours per week

36

Region

Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean

Country/Territory

Chile

Location (City)

Santiago

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

CLP

Salary

2,267,755 gross

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

10 November 2025

Other benefits and conditions of employment

Candidates must have the legal status to live and work in Chile at the time of applying.

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, 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.

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.

Flexible working hours – Embassy’s working hours are Monday – Thursday 08:00 – 16:30, Friday 08:00 – 12:00.

Nevertheless, due to the nature of the work of the Residence Manager, it is expected that the successful candidate works regularly outside of those hours depending on the booked activities, either earlier for an important breakfast or later for an evening reception.

Additional information

Closing date of receiving applications is before 23:55 (Local Time) on 12 October 2025.

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’. If during the reserve period of 6 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

All applicants must fully complete the online application form, including the sections for employment and educational details, experience, and behaviour-based questions. Only those applications that contain all required information will be considered. To ensure the sift process remains anonymous, please do not include any personally identifiable information in your application form.

Fixed term, with possibility of renewal

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.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements