JOB DESCRIPTION

View Vacancy – DXB – Learning Designer (HEO)

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

Learning and Development

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

The British Embassy Dubai has a vacancy for a Learning Designer, job grade Higher Executive Officer (HEO) on a fixed-term contract for two (2) years.

The role is based within the Office of the British Embassy in Dubai, but has a global remit, working with stakeholders across the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in service of 19,000+ staff across 270+ posts and 168 countries.

The FCDO has set out a high ambition vision for establishing a new College as a world class institution for international relations, capability and professional development. This is a high-profile project which forms part of the FCDO 2030 agenda. We aim to situate the FCDO as the lead and main source of capability and expertise on development, diplomacy and international leadership for the UK government. Our current vision is to achieve an FCDO learning culture which equips all staff with the right capabilities and expertise in the right places to support FCDO 2030.

We are currently on a journey to transition our existing Learning and Development (L&D) function into the College and are looking for an individual who can operate at the intersection of business partnering/consulting and instructional design. Joining an existing team of learning and digital learning designers, you will – on a project basis – partner with organisational stakeholders to understand their challenges, define problems, and identify where learning interventions could be most effective. From there, you will design impactful, evidence-based learning solutions that span various modalities including digital, face-to-face and blended.

This is not a traditional ‘order-taker’ design role. We are looking to drive a change in how our stakeholders think about L&D. As such we are looking for someone with strong workplace L&D skills and experience who can act as a reliable learning advisor and at the same time design impactful learning solutions. You will bring strong consulting and business partnering skills and a design thinking mindset, being curious, analytical, and human-centred. You will also be expected to bring an AI-savvy approach, understanding how generative AI and related tools can be used responsibly and in partnership with your own expertise throughout the learning design and development process.

The FCDO is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We do not discriminate on any basis, including categories protected by law. In keeping with the FCDO’s commitment to disability inclusion in the workplace, hiring managers must incorporate the principles set out in the FCDO Disability Confident scheme job applications in the CBS recruitment process. Our CBS are recruited by Missions in-country in line with local employment laws.

Duties and responsibilities:

Stakeholder engagement and analysis

• Partner with stakeholders to conduct early-stage consultation and analysis and uncover the real performance or capability needs behind initial requests; take the lead role in guiding them through this process.
• Combine information and formulate recommendations in reports and presentations for stakeholders to gain their agreement, support, and buy-in.

Learning design and development

• Design engaging, multifaceted learning solutions (e-learning, face-to-face, blended, performance support job aids and so on) applying evidence-based learning models and frameworks to your designs.
• Design and implement approaches to measuring impact and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions.
• Collaborate closely with digital learning designers to create high-quality, user-centred digital assets.
• Work with team members on both quality assurance and quality control of assets.

Project leadership and management

• Lead on small design and development projects using appropriate project management skills.

Innovation and continuous improvement

• Stay ahead of developments in the field of AI, learning science, and learning design and delivery, applying these to your work appropriately and responsibly.
• Show a strong commitment to your own growth and that of others by continuously developing your skills, staying up to date with the latest L&D research and practices and sharing this with others.

The above list is not exhaustive, and the jobholder will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required.

Key behaviours required:

• Communicating and Influencing: Communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity, and enthusiasm. Respect the needs, responses, and opinions of others.
• Working Together: Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources, and support.
• Making Effective Decisions: Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. Carefully consider alternative options, implications and risks of decisions.
• Changing and Improving: Seek out opportunities to create effective change and suggest innovative ideas for improvement. Review ways of working, including seeking and providing feedback.
• Managing a Quality Service: Deliver service objectives with professional excellence, expertise, and efficiency, taking account of diverse customer needs.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• 5-7 years’ experience in a workplace in learning design and development role.
• Professional qualification in L&D, such as CIPD, ATD or equivalent.
• A proven track record in consulting/business partnering with clients; ability to ask the right questions, uncover real needs, and challenge assumptions.
• Ability to design learning programmes and offers across multiple formats; ability to apply evidence-based learning design principles, frameworks and approaches to your designs, drawing on insights from learning science; ability to evaluate impact.
• Basic digital learning design skills – use of e-learning authoring tools and multimedia with the ability to collaborate effectively with specialists.
• An understanding of how AI is reshaping L&D and the ability to apply AI tools effectively and ethically.
• Excellent English language ability, communication, stakeholder engagement and influencing skills.
• Ability to lead projects and apply project management skills: create a schedule, liaise with stakeholders, anticipate, flag and manage risks.
• Demonstrates a proactive, self-starting approach to work; able to take ownership of tasks, work independently without close supervision, and drive progress with minimal direction.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Experience working in the public sector.
• Familiarity with learning analytics.
• Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment.

Required behaviours

Changing and Improving, Communicating and Influencing, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together

Application deadline

9 November 2025

Grade

Higher Executive Officer (HEO)

Type of Position

Full-time, Fixed Term

Working hours per week

40

Duration of Post

24 months

Region

Middle East & North Africa

Country/Territory

United Arab Emirates

Location (City)

Dubai

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

AED

Salary

26,395

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

12 January 2026

Other benefits and conditions of employment

Working hours and remuneration:

The Embassy aims to offer an attractive working environment and remuneration package for this role, which includes 25 days of leave per annum (calculated pro-rata).

The salary for this role is AED 26,395 per month and is non-negotiable.

There are no other allowances payable as part of this package. No accommodation and relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position.

This role is for a full-time employment, on a fixed term contract basis for two (2) years, subject to six (6) months’ probationary period. The contract may be extended, subject to satisfactory performance and on on-going business requirement. 

The Embassy is open from Monday to Friday from 0700 to 1800 hrs.  The Employee’s normal weekly working hours are forty (40) Monday to Friday (inclusive). This is inclusive of one-hour paid rest break for each five (5) hours worked; the timing of the rest break shall be approved by the Employee’s Line Manager and in accordance with operational requirements.

As this is a global role, the successful candidate should expect to be flexible and adaptable to changing priorities, including working with teams across different time zones which will sometimes involve working out of hours.

This role may require occasional international travel for business purposes. The successful candidate must be able to secure visas for these countries. 

The Embassy has an active Learning and Development Committee, and the whole of Post is committed to providing the time and resources for staff to develop personally and professionally. The 70/20/10 learning and development model is applied in a flexible manner, with extensive informal and formal opportunities readily available.

The successful candidate will be required to transfer their visa under the Embassy”s sponsorship.

Additional information

How to apply:

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.

Interested candidates must ensure that the following is fully completed:

1. Fully completed online application form which must include:
2. Fully completed education details and employment history
3. Fully completed experience, professional skills and behaviour-based sections in the online application form.

Please note: It is mandatory that all applicants complete the online application form including the employment and educational details, technical, skills and experience sections and the behaviour-based questions. Applications that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered whilst shortlisting for the next stage.

Closing date for applications is at 23:55 UAE local time on 9th November 2025.

Applications received after the stated deadline will not be considered.

Internal candidates (i.e., those employed by the British Embassies in Abu Dhabi & Dubai) applying for this position are advised to inform their current line managers upon submission of their application.

Process:

The recruitment process, including security clearance, is expected to take around two to three months. The security clearance process includes checks available in country and with UK, dependant on the security level required for the role and the candidate”s profile and UK footprint. You may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign, and we are working hard to minimise any disruption.

Due to the large number of applications, we receive, only those shortlisted for the next step of the recruitment process will be contacted.

The start date mentioned in the job advert is tentative and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures before employment can begin. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances.

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.

The FCDO operates an agile approach to delivery. To facilitate an agile workforce, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require.  The British Embassy Dubai is an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to inclusivity, a diverse workforce and valuing difference.

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