Jobs at British High Commission

Main purpose of job:

To work as part of the Regional Procurement Team in South Africa handling procurement requirements for the Africa region. Working with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders on all aspects of Procurement delivery, review, monitoring and reporting. Assist the Regional Procurement Head and Regional Procurement Manager in the day-to-day procurement administration duties.

This position is based in Pretoria as part of the overall Regional Corporate Services Hub. Working hours will reflect the customer needs across the regions.

Roles and responsibilities:

Assist in the delivery of Procurement Projects 

• Proof read and edit: Review all tender documentation in line with the purchase to pay (P2P) process and UK Government Public Procurement guidelines for consistency, spelling and grammar and get sign off from the Regional Procurement Leads and Manager

Supplier Management Forms (SMF’s)

• Be the central point of receiving all Supplier Maintenance Forms (SMF’s) across the African Network
• Reviewing and approval of all supporting documentation related to the request of a new supplier to be loaded onto the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office purchase to pay system
• Load the approved SMF form via Global Transaction Processing Centres portal
• Manage all queries related to the Supplier Maintenance Forms
• Archive, save and file all Supplier Maintenance Forms  and supporting documentation
• Update the  Supplier Maintenance Forms tracker for reporting and management purposes
• Keeping the customer informed at all times of the Supplier Maintenance Forms process and advising once supplier is fully active on the system

Government Procurement Card (GPC)

• Conduct quarterly audits on Government Procurement Card Spend for the Africa Network
• Review spend in line with policy compliance
• Analyse spend with the view to; ensure three quotes were received and supplier benchmarked, below the Hub threshold contracts be put in place in line with the £3k to £10k  purchase to pay policy and where applicable above £10k contracting process be followed by customer with the Hubs guidance and input if required.
• Assist in providing training on Government Procurement Card and Corporate Credit Card guidelines and policy’s within the African region

Delivery of Regional Procurement Projects for Micro Mission with lifetime value not exceeding £25,000

• Assist the Commercial Hub in managing the contract tender process of various procurement/contract-related goods, services or work projects
• These include sourcing of suppliers, input and agreement of specification, preparation of tender documentation, liaison and coordination with suppliers to clarify requirements, coordination and evaluation of bids. In addition, the job-holder will seek appropriate approvals, be involved in direct negotiations as necessary, facilitate agreement of contracts and management and closure of contracts, ensuring that they meet legal, audit, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office requirements
• Undertake procurement activity and ensure the correct purchase to pay process is followed with Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office terms and condition templates used

Capital Procurement Activity 

• Assist in the procuring of approved capital related expenditure for the African region
• Ensuring value for money is achieved
• All Procurement Capex and financial processes are followed
• The Regional Procurement Administrator will ensure all financial general ledger charging codes been generated on approved capex items, POs generated, sent to suppliers, orders confirmed, receipting is done and orders delivered before the end of that financial year

Agreed Supplier Lists

• Assist where required in maintaining and refinement of the Agreed Supplier Lists for Africa region
• Manage and update the Agreed Supplier Lists for Africa region
• Ensuring that dormant suppliers gets removed from Prism / Hera via GTPC Manila

General Administration

• Central gatekeeper for all Commercial Hub related documentation
• Managing and updating contract register
• Maintain and update procurement records including filing of contracts, develop and maintain a filing system which will ensure all tender related documentation is filled accordingly in set format and correct naming convention in Microsoft Teams and e-procurement portal
• Maintain and update the contact lists of all Deputy High Commissioner and Corporate Services Managers within the Africa region
• Assist in the preparation of regularly scheduled reports
• Managing Commercial Hub’s central mailbox and action accordingly

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• At least 2 years hands-on procurement experience
• Strong emphasis on accuracy and detail
• Effective oral and written communication skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously to meet goals and deadlines
• Proficient to intermediate in MS Excel, MS Teams and Microsoft Outlook
• Good time management and organizational skills
• Stakeholder management and engagement
• Multi cultural organisation experience

Language requirements:

Language: English

• Level of language required: Operational -Extensive

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Experience of working in a multinational environment across multiple time zones
• Sourcing or Contract Management Experience
• CIPS Level 4 or equivalent qualification from other Professional Procurement Organisations
• Project Management Experience

Required behaviours  

• Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together

Closing Date: 20th, June 2022

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Roles and responsibilities 

• Work with Campaign Managers and a Digital Consultant to advise, develop and produce high-quality creative digital communications products – including video, graphics, photography, tweets and other short form content – in support of key strategic objectives, tailored to different local needs across Sub-Saharan Africa. This includes story-gathering – finding and bringing to life powerful human interest stories for digital platforms.
• Work closely with Africa Campaigns Hub colleagues and the UK Government’s network of communicators across Africa, providing advice and pitching creative ideas to ensure campaigns make strategic use of digital communications techniques and platforms. Ensure digital communications are fully effective, make use of audience insight, and are properly targeted and evaluated.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of a digital asset database of existing campaign assets and delivery partner multimedia content.
• Work with the Insights Manager to support the upskilling of communicators across HMG’s Africa Network in line with the latest Government Communication Service learning and development programmes, including in digital campaign planning, digital audience insight and production. This includes championing the improvement of visual content across HMG’s Africa Network, and working with local teams to adopt a storytelling approach to digital content. This includes using evaluation and data insight to inform campaign planning and understand the impact of our digital communications.
• Build trusted relationships with local, national and international partners, developing and maintaining an active directory of third-party stakeholder contacts – from academia, NGOs, think tanks, campaigners and social media influencers – for supportive digital engagement opportunities.
• Translate business and policy objectives into digital communications objectives, generating ideas and plans to meet them and being confident in providing strategic digital communications advice. This includes working closely with policy colleagues in London and across the HMG Africa Network to identify excellent digital stories that will advance our communications objectives, whilst also identifying and managing risks.
• Working with a Campaign Planning and Support Officer, input into a grid of digital communications activity to help plan future campaigning and media stories.
• Manage and set clear direction for a Digital Consultant, with responsibility for helping them deliver to their full potential, ensuring consistent delivery of their objectives, and supporting their professional development. This includes embedding a strong culture for evaluating activity and learning lessons, to continually improve performance and impact.
• Monitor digital output from across the HMG Africa Network, capturing and sharing examples of best practice across the network and identifying teams who would benefit from further training or support.
• Work closely with the FCDO’s digital network – including other regional digital hubs – and engage collaboratively with other UK government department digital teams.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Minimum 4 years’ experience producing high-quality visual content for impactful communications campaigns – ideally in a digital communications agency or a large-scale organisation delivering regular communications campaigns.
• Strong photography, video production/editing and graphic design skills and an expert in Adobe Suite or Final Cut Pro. This will be tested at interview.
• Knowledge of social media evaluation tools beyond Twitter and Facebook analytics. Experience using Brandwatch or Newswhip would be valued.
• Experience taking briefs and ability to establish a clear and nuanced understanding of client needs whilst at the same time able to shape and guide those with lesser experience on the best way to develop digital content.
• Experience of overseeing the management and delivery of a digital communication plan.
• Experience of dealing with and managing corporate brands.
• Knowledge of the social media landscape across Sub-Saharan Africa and how different social media channels are being used across the continent.
• An effective communicator with strong customer service skills, and comfortable presenting to and persuading senior staff.
• Driven and able to deliver against challenging timelines.
• The ability to learn quickly and work with a high degree of autonomy.
• A positive “can-do” attitude that can see way through challenges.
• Excellent organisational and self-management skills to respond effectively to tight – and changing – deadlines and priorities.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Experience delivering training and/or designing training to be delivered by others
• Experience of working in a crisis situation or delivering under high pressure would be highly regarded
• Experience of working with Government departments and/or public-sector agencies
• Demonstrate a good understanding of the political and media environment across Sub-Saharan Africa

Closing Date: 22nd, June 2022