View Vacancy - AUS (Sydney) - Executive Assistant to the British Consul-General, EO

Main purpose of job:

To provide an executive office function for the British Consulate General Sydney.  Your focus will be on supporting the British Consul General & Deputy Trade Commissioner (ANZ) with some support also provided to the Deputy Consul General.

The role is similar in content and seniority to others in the DBT and wider UK Government operation in Australia. People applying for this position will be considered for other vacancies in the Network.

Our network and team

We don’t only recruit government specialists to work with us. Not all our recruits have extensive and specific skills for unique roles. We recruit people with a wide variety of backgrounds and skills that are relevant and transferable. If you have good motivation and core competences, we can help you develop the network and expertise needed to thrive in our network and in specific roles. 

Our team members enjoy large amounts of delegated responsibility and personal involvement with senior staff and visitors. They have the chance to develop a wide range of important and marketable skills as well as important networks for their professional advancement. We have a strong record of preparing people for promotion within the organisation and for helping people develop skills and profile to secure advancement externally.   

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the UK Government
DBT is the part of UK government with primary responsibility to promote UK trade and investment. DBT brings together policy, promotion and financial expertise to break down barriers to trade and investment and help businesses succeed across the world. The UK–Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), UK–New Zealand FTA and AUKUS agreements offer unprecedented opportunities to strengthen economic ties between our countries. 

The DBT team works as part of core part of the UK Government’s overseas engagement, activity and diplomacy. The successful candidate will work closely with the Consul General to Sydney who is also the Deputy Trade Commissioner and head of DBT for Australia and New Zealand.  They will also work with colleagues from other departments across the UK in Australia network as well as collaborating on a wide range of VIP visits. You will work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds, and we work together as one team. 

DBT and the Australia Network are inclusive and equal-opportunity employers. We have a supportive workplace that offers a wide range of continuous learning, development and mentoring opportunities for all our team. We embrace flexible and remote working and have a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying, harassment and discrimination. 

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

• Provide a high-quality executive office function ensuring day to day activities, meetings, internal and external communication and events run smoothly.
• Provide an executive office function on operational matters including internal comms within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) network, budgets and team management.
• Ensure diaries are managed efficiently, arranging and booking travel and coordinating the Consul General’s & Deputy Consul General’s domestic and international visit programmes.
• Provide support for the wider team and Australia network on arranging programmes and logistics for incoming Ministerial, VIP and other official visits. 
• Work with the events/visits officer to support them manage invitations, guest lists, co-ordinate with members of the team, arrange catering and security.  Oversight of events to ensure that they are run to an exceptionally high standard. Some events may require early starts or evenings.
• Provide resilience cover in the office to events/visits and corporate services working as part of a high performing team.
• Work with DBT colleagues and others in Sydney to support event management for British company events, round tables, trade missions, exhibitions and conferences and other internal and external DBT events. Ensure value for money from catering suppliers and other service providers. 
• Develop and maintain a database of contacts for the Consul General and wider team.  
• Provide research support as necessary on commercial, economic and political issues for speeches, analysis or operational business.
• Receive, sort and prioritise incoming correspondence and pass to relevant staff for action. Consult and draft suitable replies on behalf of the Consul General where appropriate.
• Manage the Executive Office budget and expenses. Track expenditure against allocation for both DBT and FCDO budgets, monitoring value for money across all expenditure. 
• Other tasks as may be necessary.

Please note that the role holders’ job specification may be subject to change in line with evolving business priorities.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Line Management of 1 staff member (Visits and Events Officer)

• Self-Starter – must be able to work at a fast pace to a high standard. 
• Must be able to take initiative using judgement, strong problem-solving skills, and displaying resilience. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills – ability to deal with difficult situations with tact and diplomacy and a high degree of confidentiality when required to achieve desired outcomes.
• Ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Must be confident in dealing with senior figures, Ministers and VVIPs and their offices. 
• Good desk research skills and excellent writing skills
• High level experience using Microsoft Office