British High Commission Chevening Officer EO Jobs in South Africa

British High Commission Chevening Officer EO Jobs in South Africa

Main purpose of job:

Many countries, including middle-income countries still face considerable challenges such as youth unemployment, climate change, high and persistent inequality (including gender inequality) and digital exclusion, which can lower long-term growth prospects.

Education and Skills

Roughly 8 out of 10 children can’t read for meaning by Grade 4. Higher Education excludes many and the cost of tertiary education in much of sub-Saharan Africa exceeds 60% of average incomes. The UK government is leading and mobilising global commitment and investment in education, including for marginalised girls; and working to deliver a joined-up UK international education offer.

Our two bold global targets – 40 million more girls learning, and 20 million more able to read by age 10. Within the British High Commission in South Africa, our top priorities in supporting education are through support for Higher Education, Technical, Vocational Education and Training, skills development and youth employment.

Skills development and youth employment in particular, are key objectives of South Africa’s National Development Plan, top of the President’s agenda and are consistently woven into the fabric of policies across the government. Addressing the skills shortage is widely regarded as a key ingredient to reducing endemic poverty, which disproportionately affects women and young people from low income backgrounds in South Africa.

Chevening Scholarship

Chevening is the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s flagship global scholarship programme. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023/2024, Chevening identifies future leaders and key influencers across 160 countries and territories, providing them with an opportunity to study a postgraduate degree in the UK. Chevening has a 55,000 strong global alumni network.

Since Chevening’s inception in 1983, over 880 South Africans have had the opportunity to participate in this program. Our alumni continue to contribute to South Africa’s development in different capacities. The incumbent will work with a dedicated team at the High Commission in Pretoria to deliver the Chevening Scholarship Scheme.

We run a flagship Chevening scholarship programme, offering ~50 scholarships in South Africa to fully fund graduate studies in the UK. The Chevening Scholarship scheme enables students in South Africa with leadership qualities to undertake postgraduate study or courses in universities in the United Kingdom.

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

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; British High Commission Chevening Officer EO Jobs in South Africa

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