Overview
SRR – Deputy Programme Manager, MOD PMO TMO (HEO) Jobs in Riyadh at Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Title: SRR – Deputy Programme Manager, MOD PMO TMO (HEO)
Company: Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Location: Riyadh
Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)
The British Embassy Riyadh has a vacancy for a Deputy Programme Manager under the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Programme Management Office (PMO) Saudi Transformation for a fixed-term contract of one (1) year. There is a strong possibility of extension of the contract, dependent on the renewal of the UK-KSA government-to-government contract, on the jobholder’s performance, and operational needs.
The PMO is expected to offer advice on a wide range of issues, including strategic planning, internal and external relationships, implementation of best practise, departmental structures, responsibilities, and collaboration and governance.
This Deputy Programme Manager role will allow the successful candidate to develop skills in managing programme delivery, including the development of process to support the programme and liaising extensively with the Saudi MOD and their requests. The role offers the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge of the Ministry of Defence in Saudi Arabia. It would be an excellent career stepping-stone for anyone with an interest in Defence and Programme Management.
The role comes at an interesting time as the MOD moves in to Year 3 of supporting the Saudi Modernisation Programme led by the Saudi Transformation Team. This role requires the jobholder to build relationships and work with colleagues in the advisory programme but also across other government departments in Saudi Arabia and London.
Duties and responsibilities:
Project management
Provide project management support for the UK advisers, including but not limited to engaging and maintaining a relationship with senior UK consultants, understanding the broad delivery of their activity, and the different stakeholders involved in their work.
Overseeing and undertaking the implementation and maintenance of appropriate systems and tools to enable effective planning and scheduling of activities, and overall running of the programme with SO2 Transformation/ Programme Manager.
Jointly leading the delivery and briefing for the two biannual governance meetings at senior levels, which oversees the direction of the government-to-government programme.
Establish, manage, and maintain project documentation and controls, preparing project performance reports and documentation to support effective governance, assurance, and decision-making.
Capture lessons learned from visits and other adviser activity and ensure they are effectively used to inform future activity.
Lead the tracking of programme achievements and deliverables, ensuring that best practice is identified and programme objectives are met.
Identify and monitor Risks and Issues with the programme and logging mitigating actions, raising as appropriate.
Relationship management
Build and maintain effective relationships with a range of stakeholders, including at senior levels across the Directorate and with Saudi MOD.
Develop a full understanding of adviser roles and outputs to show progress at Saudi Transformation Management Office (TMO) Fusion and weekly meetings.
Act as secretariat for weekly meetings, agenda and notes for weekly engagement meetings with UK Advisers.
Provide effective support to the Programme/Project Manager(s), organising and facilitating key meetings, providing follow-up action, and ensuring that information requests are actioned.
Operational management
Coordinate and present visit programme schedules for reporting purposes, including the collation of UK adviser post visit reports.
Manage approvals and programme budget to ensure that financial spend by advisers are properly considered and appropriately expensed.
Be the single point of contact for advisers on wider inward visits on logistical arrangements by senior officials and the Transformation Management Office (TMO).
Take sole responsibility for information management on behalf of the PMO to help interpret adviser performance.
Set-up and maintain a central record of programme activities and stakeholder database.
Have full responsibility for overseeing, organising, and managing the SharePoint site on both Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and MOD systems to ensure that files are up to date, filed correctly, and are accessible.
Lead on writing, compiling, and facilitating a British Embassy ‘Induction Package and Welcome Pack’ for incoming UK advisers.
Planning, management, and administrative support of engagement between UK Advisers, PMO and Defence Section mainly through regular weekly meetings, including drafting minutes/readouts.
Adviser Real Life Support (RLS)
Develop a close relationship as the key interlocutor with Arabian Enterprise Incubators (AEI), the Real Life Support (RLS) provider to liaise on monthly expenditure and budgetary issues, ensuring audit compliance and preparing all material for inspection by UK Defence and Saudi officials.
Act as the first point of contact with AEI on RLS issues and work to resolve the resolution of any issues in consultation with AEI, MOD colleagues and advisers, escalating as required.
The above list is not exhaustive and the jobholder will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required, including participating in the Embassy’s emergency planning and any other response to a crisis affecting UK citizens.
Key behaviours required:
Working Together – Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources and support.
Communicating and Influencing – Communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity, and enthusiasm. Respect the needs, responses and opinions of others.
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.
Seeing the Big Picture – Understand how your role fits with and supports organisational objectives. Recognise the wider priorities and ensure work is in the national interest.
Delivering at Pace – Taking responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.
Managing a Quality Service – Deliver service objectives with professional excellence, expertise and efficiency, taking account of diverse customer needs.
Eligibility:
The successful applicant will be required to obtain the necessary security clearance. Higher clearances can be granted only to certain nationalities. For this reason, candidates must be of British, American, Australian, Canadian, or New Zealand nationality in order to gain the level of clearance required for this role.
The position is available to current holders of valid Saudi residence permits or transferable iqama. The successful candidate will be asked to transfer their sponsorship to the British Embassy.
Essential qualifications, skills and experience
Previous successful team co-ordination, project management, and office management experience.
Collaborative approach to colleagues and stakeholder partnerships. Ability to develop and maintain strong working relationships with a range of contacts, including with senior military personnel and civil servants (both serving and retired) to build effective working relationships.
Demonstrates courtesy and consideration in dealing with stakeholders. Able to show discretion in handling any sensitive matters, with the trust of all involved.
Excellent organisational ability with proven ability to manage, plan and prioritise task and workload and a proactive approach to problem solving.
Proven ability to work autonomously, support others and deliver within timescales.
Excellent communication skills in English both verbal and written. Able to express ideas and messages clearly, concisely, and confidently, both orally and in written communication.
Very good level of IT skills and proficiency in using Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams).
Desirable qualifications, skills and experience
Experience working with/ in the UK military or UK Civil Service.
Experience working with Government and Military officials, Ministries, and Institutions, either in the UK or KSA.
Experience of working in a similar role either the public or private sector in the UK or the UAE.
Familiarity with Riyadh.
Experience of visit organisation.
Arabic language skills (both written and spoken).
Required behaviours
Seeing the Big Picture, Changing and Improving, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
Application deadline Application deadline – day Application deadline – month Application deadline – year
2 January 2023
Grade
Higher Executive Officer (HEO)
Type of Position
Fixed Term, Full-time
Working hours per week
35
Duration of Post
12 months
Region
Middle East & North Africa
Country/Territory
Saudi Arabia
Location (City)
Riyadh
Type of Post
British Embassy
Number of vacancies
1
Salary Currency
SAR
Salary
17,763.04
Start Date Start Date – day Start Date – month Start Date – year
1 March 2023
Other benefits and conditions of employment
The Embassy aims to offer an attractive working environment and remuneration package for this role.
Salary details:
Base Salary including Eid bonus – SAR 13,890.44
Housing Allowance – SAR 3,472.61 (subject to eligibility)*
Travel Allowance – SAR 400 (subject to eligibility)*
Total – SAR 17,763.04
Allowances are not payable to staff who receive official provision for such expenditure in some other form.
No accommodation and relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position.
This position is full-time, based on 35 hours per week. Normal working hours for the Embassy are from 08:00 to 15:00 from Sunday to Thursday, with core working hours from 10:00-15:00. Core working hours is the period of the day that employees are required to be at work. The working day outside of the core hours is a flexible period, which allows employees to choose when they work, subject to operational needs.
The jobholder will be required to be flexible in their approach to hours worked as these will be dictated by operational needs and may involve working out of hours (evening/ weekend) during visits and events.
The successful candidate must also be available for occasional travel within KSA and possibly further afield in the Gulf region and/ or to the UK for business/ official purposes.
The successful candidate will be subject to a 90-day probationary period.
Additional information
How to apply:
Interested candidates must include to their online application form 1) an updated Curriculum Vitae (CV) and 2) a covering letter/ motivation essay stating how you meet the requirements of the role, and 3) examples in the relevant sections of the online application form of how you meet the key behaviours and skills required.
Applications that do not include this information will not be considered.
The closing date for applications is at 23:55 KSA local time on 02 January 2023.
Applications received after the stated deadline will not be considered.
Due to the large number of applications we receive, only those shortlisted for the next step in the recruitment process will be contacted.
The start date mentioned in the advert is an assumed 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, medical clearance and reference checks.
The British Embassy Riyadh is an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to inclusivity, a diverse workforce and valuing difference. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy is subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Saudi Arabia employment law.
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.
