Chevening Officer EO - (26/23 PTA) at British High Commission

• The Chevening programme officer at the British High Commission in Pretoria is responsible for delivery of the programme in South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho, working closely with the Chevening Secretariat. The duties and responsibilities set out below cover the work required to run the Chevening programme effectively.

Roles and responsibilities:

Scholar Recruitment

• Managing the Chevening application process, including downloading applications, assisting with shortlisting, arranging interviews, updating the Chevening online application system with short-lists and interview results and organising pre-departure briefings.
• Liaising with the Chevening Secretariat to coordinate the application and selection process. 
• Sitting on interview panels.

Programme Outreach and Marketing

• Generating written and visual content for social media, press and radio.
• Identifying other ways to promote Chevening, such as attending university fairs and other outreach events.
• Monitoring the Chevening marketing budget, keeping records of promotional material, contacting suppliers for quotations and following up that new orders are produced according to the Chevening branding guidelines. 
• Requesting and making use of marketing materials from the Secretariat.
• Sharing information about the scholarships to all colleagues in the embassy to foster embassy-wide promotion of the scholarships.

Programme Administration

• Adhering to deadlines and requests set by the Scholarships Unit and the Chevening Secretariat, such as submitting annual programme, marketing and alumni plans, and country briefings for the Reading Committee.
• Carrying out administration of the programme in line with Chevening policy as set by Scholarships Unit.
• Responding to enquiries regarding the scheme and acting as point of contact with the embassy team on Chevening-related marketing activities, application process and alumni events.
• Responding to requests for information or insight from Scholarships Unit or the Secretariat.
• Maintaining positive relationships with applicants and award recipients before, during and after their award.

Alumni Engagement

• Updating and maintaining the database of Chevening alumni. Promoting and actively using Chevening Connect to engage with alumni.
• Establishing and developing an effective Chevening alumni network, organising a series of alumni events from concept to delivery and an annual welcome-home event.
• Successfully bidding for alumni engagement funding opportunities and managing budgets associated with these.
• Keeping Scholarships Unit and the Secretariat regularly up to date with alumni engagement work in country.

Partnerships

• Develop local partnerships and account-manage existing partnerships including outreach, engagement and data management.
• Engage the wider embassy to get their input and support to develop partnerships.
• Ensure any existing partnerships are managed effectively, working with the Secretariat to ensure timely payments from partners.

Finance

• Ensure all financial issues are dealt with affectively and in line with policy, including ensuring costs are charged to the correct budget and meeting policy guidelines.
• Other administrative support to the Economic Growth Team as required.
• As all other staff at post, the post holder is expected to participate in wider British High Commission activities. These may include being active on various committees and in other corporate roles.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• None formally but will provide oversight to the Chevening Awards and Alumni or promotional funding.
• Line manage 1x AO officer

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• 2 years experience working in a team in an office environment
• Excellent written English and verbal communication skills
• Strong interpersonal, communication, organizational and presentation skills
• Strong customer focus and team working skills
• Strong IT skills, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and web-based applications
• People management skills
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills
• Interest in UK and SA cultural relations 
• Required behaviours  
• Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together