HR Hub - Recruitment and Communication Advisor EO - (29/24 PTA) at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Main purpose of job:

• The Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has a Regional Corporate Services Hub (RCSH) based in Pretoria, providing Finance, Human Resources, and Procurement services to 44 High Commissions, British Embassies and Consulates in 39 countries in the Africa region.  The HR Hub is an integral part of the global HR team serving staff working in the overseas network for the UK Government. The role of the HR Hub is to be a strategic partner to Senior Leaders at Post and deliver CBS HR services (i.e. recruitment, pay and reward, HR advisory) for over 2500 CBS in FCDO and PAG-funded positions. 
• The Recruitment and Communication Advisor role is responsible for the delivery of key HR Hub communication and recruitment improvement services and processes that support the HR management of CBS at British High Commissions, Embassies and other Offices located in the region. The role reports to the Deputy Head of the HR Hub - Recruitment and Communication and will deliver through their HR Hub recruitment team, working closely with the HR Hubs Recruitment Group, HR Policy leads, and other stakeholders to develop and manage recruitment policies and processes, which are globally consistent and locally appropriate. The role is responsible for: (1) contributing to the development and implementation of recruitment improvement plans and processes, as well as monitoring the performance of the recruitment software for the HR Hub; and (2) supporting the delivery of timeous and effective communication to the HR Hub’s stakeholders in the Africa network.
• Responsibilities that would be covered in HR Hub Comms role.

Roles and responsibilities 

Recruitment/JEGS Reviews

• Deliver improvement on the recruitment function of the HR Hub to increase customer and stakeholder satisfaction through global/regional HR Hub plans and follow up on feedback from customers/stakeholders (e.g. via Overseas Platform Users Survey, OPUS; emails to the HR Hub, etc).
• Improve the recruitment service offered by the HR Hub to our stakeholders by obtaining feedback on a regular basis, doing research on recruitment advertising mediums, and other methods available to gain insight into the service provided by Recruitment
• Manage and improve the recruitment Application Tracking System (ATS), Oleeo by attending relevant meetings and training session with Oleeo, seek feedback from recruiters in the HR Hub Africa and other HR Hubs globally, and agree any changes with all the HR Hubs before implementation. Communicate changes on the ATS to all relevant stakeholders when available Inform the recruitment team of any new tools available on the ATS
• Contribute to improve delivery of effective management information on the recruitment software of HR indicators for the team and contribute to delivery of the Regional Hub, Service Level Agreement with Posts
• Keep professional knowledge up-to date, following trends, ideas and innovations occurring within the HR Recruitment sphere, to ensure services standards are met and a culture of improvement grows within the HR Hub
• Perform light touch JEGS reviews and provide professional and expert advice on Job grading/evaluation reviews (JEGS) under the central guidance
• Assist other HR Hubs with light touch JEGS reviews when required or if a second option is required for the review
• Contribute on development of regional HR Recruitment policies and processes which are agreed with other HR Hubs and is globally consistent
• Contribute to the HR Hub business continuity planning and arrangements 
• Take part in the British High Commission emergency planning and any response to a crisis situation. 

HR Hub Communication

Support the delivery of the HR Hub Communication to the region including but not limited to.

• Quarterly Hub Highlights and HR Hub bulletins
• HR Hub Africa intranet page
• Intro calls as RCSH with new HoMs/DHMs; this may have follow up items, e.g. post dashboard.
• Quarterly calls with CSMs/HR to inform Post of any HR developments or changes (policies, procedures, processes) and respond to feedback/emerging issues on CBS HR related matters.   
• HR Hub/Post sessions to promote communication and engagement on post-specific issues and relevant HR Hub support.
• Regional CBS HR workshops (e.g. annually at a Post)
• Post visits (by the Hub), Hub visits (by Post)
• Manage mailbox auto-replies, e.g. SLAs, launch of/signposting for Hera, etc.
• Support internal HR Hub communication and relevant tools, e.g. Teams site for calendars, events, contacts, etc.
• Communicate / send quick blurbs, e.g. if a system is down (e.g. Oleeo, etc); UKinSA Weekly Digest, etc.
• Collaboration with HRD (e.g. CBS Policy, Hera, etc) on any updates for Around the World.

The above will be achieved through:

• Communication through diverse formats, reaching out proactively to stakeholders to engage and share CBS HR information.
• Participating in collaboration / learning / skill-building opportunities related to communication and recruitment, and implementing and transferring knowledge to Hub colleagues and regional stakeholders
• Supporting the HR Hub to enable Posts to meet their priorities

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• 3-5 years HR generalist and experience delivering HR from a shared services environment across multiple countries or sites
• Experience in Management Information & Reporting 
• Excellent collaboration and team leadership skills 
• Outstanding interpersonal skills: ability to work with people at all levels of seniority in an international environment and within a fast paced, results oriented organisation
• Excellent IT skills in Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint 

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Able to adapt to a quick changing and evolving policy framework and present solutions in an autonomous and efficient manner 
• Articulate, level-headed with very good customer service orientation
• This role is likely to require some regional travel, a valid passport is therefore essential