JOB DESCRIPTION

View Vacancy – Executive Assistant to the Deputy Head of Mission

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

Private Office

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

The Executive Assistant to the Deputy Head of Mission (DHM) is a key administrative and support role within the Private Office. Reporting to the Chief of Staff (CoS), the jobholder will ensure administrative and operational support for the DHM (and HMA).

This role is primarily focused on delivering high-quality administrative support, including diary and travel management, coordination of meetings and events, preparation of briefings, minutes and correspondence, oversight of budget-related tasks whilst ensuring a good knowledge of the Embassy’s work. The Executive Assistant acts will be point of coordination by managing day-to-day logistics and ensuring smooth internal and external engagement.

The successful candidate will be highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple tasks in a fast-paced diplomatic environment. Working proactively to promote the British Embassy priorities, activities and initiatives across all policy areas, working closely with HMA, DHM, CoS and Embassy colleagues while having the opportunity to support meetings and events with key stakeholders to the UK.

Roles and responsibilities:

The Executive Assistant to the DHM will support the smooth and strategic functioning of the Deputy Head of Mission (DHM) and His Majesty’s Ambassador Private Office. This role requires strong organizational skills, discretion, and a proactive approach to supporting senior leadership.
This position demands a high level of organization, discretion, and initiative, supporting senior leadership in delivering on the Embassy’s priorities.

1. Diary Management – 30%
• Manage and prioritize diary requests for DHM & HMA.
• Track stakeholder engagement, ensuring adequate follow-ups and introductory meetings.
• Support coordination, note-taking and recurrency of Embassy committees.
• Support and coordination of DHM travel agenda, ensuring adequate logistics and planning.
2. Briefings, Speeches & Communications – 20%
• Commission, compile, and quality-check briefings, speeches, and communications for DHM & HMA.
• Ensure clarity, consistency, and alignment with Embassy messaging and priorities.
3. Correspondence & Information Management – 20%
• Receive, classify, and distribute incoming mail and emails.
• Prepare official correspondence and maintain archives.
• Record meeting minutes and provide translation (English-Spanish / Spanish-English) as needed.
4. Event Coordination – 10%
• Support planning and execution of Residence events as part of the Private Office team.
5. Budget Oversight – 10%
• Manage own and DHM expenses and contribute to budget forecasting.
• Ensure efficient and transparent use of resources.
6. Team Resource – 10%
• Co-manage the Private Office intern and support team as needed.

Resources Managed:

Co-manage Private Office Intern

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Full-time availability.
• Previous experience or qualifications as a bilingual secretary or diary manager.
• Interest and knowledge of the Colombian political landscape
• Interest and knowledge of the United Kingdom.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite.
• Responsible, well organised and strongly committed to the job.
• Sociable, able to interact and collaborate with different teams and requests.
• Excellent teamwork and communications skills.
• Works well under pressure and against deadlines, able to deal effectively with stressful and difficult situations.
• Fluent in both written and spoken English and Spanish. (Desirable C1 certified -IELTS or TOEFL).

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Protocol knowledge
• Previous experience of working in an international organisation

Required behaviours

Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Seeing the Big Picture, Working Together

Application deadline

3 December 2025

Grade

Administrative Officer (AO)

Type of Position

Full-time, Permanent

Working hours per week

35

Region

Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean

Country/Territory

Colombia

Location (City)

Bogota

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

COP

Salary

COP$ 5,819,519

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

5 January 2025

Other benefits and conditions of employment

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

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.

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 British Embassy Network offers a strong benefits package. This package includes generous vacation and leave time, flexible working patterns, and enriching learning and development opportunities.

The successful candidate will have to go through a background check process, according to Embassy policies.

Additional information

Closing date of receiving applications is before 23:55 (Local Time) on 3rd December 2025

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.

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.