Main purpose of job:

The British High Commission Suva is part of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) world-wide network of 270 Posts, representing British political, military, development, economic and consular interests overseas.  The successful applicant will be part of the regional Pacific Development Unit, which is co-located between our High Commissions in Suva, Wellington and Canberra.  

The successful applicant will play a key role in delivering the UK’s development engagement in the Oceania region, as set out in our White Paper on International Development in a Contested World: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change and the Integrated Review Refresh 2023: Responding to a more contested and volatile world. You will work on an exciting breadth of issues and activities including regional development and humanitarian programming, policy engagement, strategic communications and engaging with and influencing partners.  

Reporting to the Development Counsellor in Suva the role will deliver:

• Policy support on key development and humanitarian priorities including on human and economic development, gender, social protection, capacity building and disaster risk finance for Pacific Island Countries;
• Support the delivery of the UK’s development programmes across the Oceania region, including through partner engagement, monitoring and evaluation, reporting and communication; and
• Provide administrative support, including organising events and visits, across the Pacific Development Unit.

The ideal candidate will have qualifications and/or experience working on international development and humanitarian issues and be able to demonstrate relevant skills and experience.  The role will require regional travel for both work and for training, occasionally at late notice, and the ability to deputise for colleagues. Flexibility, adaptability and enthusiasm will be important, as will readiness to work on multiple agendas simultaneously and to take on new challenges.  

There is considerable scope to develop skills and experience in the development and humanitarian fields whilst working in the friendly, supportive and dynamic environment provided by the British High Commission Suva.  

As with any role, there will be occasions when the work is reactive to instructions and tasking beyond planned workloads.  All staff are expected to be collaborative team players, willing to turn their hand to any task.

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

• qualifications and/or experience working on international development and humanitarian issues;
• policy and programme management skills and experience;
• communication and presentation skills (both written and verbal in English), and the ability to deliver high quality work on time; and
• an ability to assess and prioritise own workload and deliver outputs on time.

The British High Commission is a responsible and flexible employer that puts values of inclusion, respect and excellence at the heart of everything we do. The successful candidate can expect to join a supportive working environment that promotes learning, inclusion, welfare and prioritises creativity and development.

Roles and responsibilities:
     
1. Policy Support and Programme Management (50%)

• Provide policy support on development and humanitarian issues that affect the Pacific Island Countries. This may include background research and providing summaries of key information with recommendations for further action;
• Support the programme management of UK development programmes including design, reporting and communication, partner engagement, monitoring and evaluation; and
• Support evidence and data collection and analysis of the UK’s development engagement in the region, and shape the communication of this information both internally and externally.

2. Administration and Briefing (40%)

• Maintain information briefings on key thematic issues and partner countries for internal use including for UK ministers, the Oceania network, and to inform external communications;
• Organise events including internal seminars, external workshops and conferences, and staff training; and
• Support discussions on development issues internally and externally.

3. Learning and Development (10%)

• Proactively maintain on-going learning and development across the international development and humanitarian agendas and programme management to strengthen skills and experience.  This could include overseas travel to work on development issues in other posts in the network.

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 FCDO. These responsibilities may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the FCDO Oceania network. 

• Degree and/ or four years of professional work experience, preferably in the development and humanitarian field;
• A “can-do” attitude and willingness to work flexibly across the breadth of the development and humanitarian agenda including support for our posts across the Oceania network; and
• Enthusiasm to work on international development agendas, including willingness to travel around the region and potentially to the UK
• Must be a Fiji citizen or have a current work permit