Location:

Wellington, New Zealand
Salary:

$468,960 / YEAR
Job type:

FULL_TIME
Posted:

4 months ago
Category:

Documentation and Information Management
Deadline:

07/08/2025

JOB DESCRIPTION

View Vacancy – NZ (Wellington) – Residence Officer, S1

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 (Residence and Support Staff)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

This role is part of a close-knit team responsible for running the day-to-day operations and high profile business hospitality events at the official residence and on occasion at the British High Commission in Wellington. The Residence Officer is primarily responsible for housekeeping in the Residence as well as food and beverage service at events which range from morning teas to intimate lunches/dinners to large scale receptions. The role works closely with the Residence Manager who has oversight of the running of the residence and the Chef. The role will deputise for the Residence Manager in their absence. The Residence Team are part of the wider British High Commission team and will be expected to play a role in the wider functioning of the High Commission as well as having opportunities to take part in learning and development and other High Commission activities.

Roles and responsibilities:

Housekeeping

Maintaining a high standard of housekeeping of official and household areas at the residence, including cleaning and care of rooms, furniture and official crockery / glassware.
Laundry of official linens used for events.
Preparing bedrooms and bathrooms for houseguests; cleaning of household rooms
Working with Residence Manager and facilities management company who deliver household maintenance

Event Management

Assist with set-up and delivery of food and beverage service at events
Manage food and beverage service at events
Support the Residence Manager on guest lists for events and guest management

Beverage Service Management

Oversight of stock and procurement for all beverage stock
Barista style coffee service (training available)

Management of Casual Staff

Oversight of casual waiting staff for events, ensuring they are familiar with Residence best practice and health and safety

Deputise for Residence Manager

In the Residence Manager’s absence, liaise with High Commissioner and High Commission team on planning and running events at the Residence
In the Residence Manager’s absence, oversight of running of the estate in coordination with the facilities management company
In the Residence Manager’s absence, provide written updates to the High Commissioner on events and plans at the Residence

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

Manage and recruit casual staff to assist with large events.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

Must maintain a full New Zealand drivers’ licence.
Exceptional customer service skills in a hospitality environment.
Experience working efficiently under pressure including multitasking, handling back-to-back events and serving high level guests.
Knowledge of pairing wine with food.
Experience managing a small team.
Problem solving and initiative.
Attention to detail.
Experience using basic computer skills.
Excellent interpersonal skills, and able to treat others with respect and courtesy regardless of work pressures.
Able to act with discretion at all times.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

Experience in developing and managing events.
Barista skills.
Experience creating cocktails.
Experience in Hotel Management.
Qualification for food health and safety.
Qualification in Professional wine.
Experience with using Microsoft 365.

Required behaviours

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

Application deadline

7 August 2025

Grade

Type of Position

Permanent

Working hours per week

36.25

Region

Asia Pacific

Country/Territory

New Zealand

Location (City)

Wellington

Type of Post

British High Commission

Number of vacancies

Salary Currency

NZD

Salary

$66,000.00 per annum

Type of Salary

yearly

Start Date

1 October 2025

Other benefits and conditions of employment

Only candidates with the legal right to work in New Zealand will be considered.

Working patterns:

Flexible, to be completed between Monday – Friday, 08:45 – 17:00. The successful candidate will be encouraged to develop a pattern of working that works best for you and the wider team. The BHC supports flexible working, including some working from home. There will be a requirement for occasional and limited out-of-hours work around major events and visits.

Appointment is subject to a 90-day trial period pursuant to section 67A of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and gaining and maintaining Posts security clearance requirements.

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

The British High Commission is committed to learning and development for all staff, and a wide range of training opportunities are available.

For this role we encourage First Aid training (available through the High Commission).

Additional information

Please ensure that your application is authentically written based on your own experiences. If AI tools are used, their usage must only be limited to specific tasks such as ensuring formatting consistency and keyword relevance. The core content, personal narratives, and responses to behaviour and skill-based questions must genuinely reflect your professional journey, experiences, and achievements. We place great importance on originality and individual effort throughout the application process. Any form of plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification.

Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen. We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.

Note: All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the online application form completely including the employment and educational details, experience, professional skills and behaviour-based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the applications and incomplete form in any respect may not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Only shortlisted candidates for interview will be contacted. Interviewees will be assessed on the core behaviours/qualifications listed above. Unsuccessful candidates will be notified via the system in due time. 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.

To ensure a successful application it is important that you explain how you demonstrate these behaviours, including through your experience. You are strongly advised to read the Success Profiles Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which provides detailed guidance on how the behaviours are defined. Applicants are encouraged to use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) format to prepare specific examples of when they have demonstrated these behaviours in their application. Using the STAR format to provide evidence of your skills and experience in your application and at interview helps to give a structure. You briefly describe the situation in which you showed the behaviour, and then explain your task in addressing the situation, what action you took and the result of this.

For inclusivity and diversity, please remove the following personal information when uploading your CV: name, address, email address, age, date of birth, gender and nationality. The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements

This job has expired.