Corporate Services Manager

70 of us, of many different nationalities and backgrounds, work together at the British Embassy in Doha to make the United Kingdom more prosperous and more secure, and to give consular assistance to British citizens who need their Government’s help. The Corporate Services section is at the heart of the Embassy, responsible for many operations from recruitment, IT, finance, estates management and so on. • *Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)** We pursue our national interests and project the UK as a force for good in the world. We promote the interests of British citizens, safeguard the UK’s security, defend our values, reduce poverty and tackle global challenges with our international partners. FCDO brings together the best of Britain’s international effort and demonstrates the UK acting as a force for good in the world. We employ around 17,300 staff in our diplomatic and development offices worldwide In 280 overseas embassies and high commissions. • *Main Purpose of the Job**: To provide strategic direction to corporate services; leading an efficient, cost effective and professional team to deliver all services to the partners (from across the UK government) on the platform provided by the FCDO. As the driving force for corporate delivery, the jobholder will be a core member of the senior leadership team and management board providing corporate, financial and local insight to inform decision making. This role will lead and develop a diverse team of 6 corporate staff, with oversight of outsourced service providers. • *Main Duties and Responsibilities**: • *Strategic Planning and Leadership 30%** - To provide strategic leadership and planning in support of the corporate agenda including the country business plan and risk management. - Act as trusted advisor to local leadership and partners on the platform ‘horizon scanning’ locally to enable proactive resource and activity planning. - Manage the platform (currently supporting 7 partners) and support regional teams, influencing at a senior level to maintain and strengthen inclusiveness. - Actively build and deepen relationships with key stakeholders internally, within regional and global hubs and with external partners (at other diplomatic missions, government departments and suppliers) to maintain informed and current corporate knowledge. - Ensure local policies are reviewed and aligned to global and local requirement and adopted by all partners on the platform. - Lead and monitor the delivery of services against the local corporate services charter. • *People 20%** - Lead on the overall employer proposition, including terms and conditions of service and pay and benefits for country based staff (CBS), ensuring compliance with local labour law. - Provide guidance and act as an escalation point on sensitive staff matters for diplomatic and CBS, including management issues and dispute resolution, engaging with specialist HR functions where necessary. - Champion and embed a collaborative and inclusive culture. • *Delivery 40%** - Oversee all corporate delivery across finance, HR, protocol working closely with the regional HR, finance and procurement hubs and the Global Processing Transaction Centre (GTPC). Ensure full use of self-service access to corporate services and regionalised services. - Direct the management of the estate, ensuring that UK and local standards are met through planned and reactive maintenance and in compliance with corporate procedures, including local and UK health and safety regulations and policy. - Act as the ‘intelligent client’, identifying requirements, appropriate service level agreements and key performance indicators to manage and monitor supplier contracts. - Oversee the local delegated budget in accordance with corporate policies to ensure on-budget expenditure and value for money. - Instil a continuous improvement mentality within the team, leading on corporate projects and the change management required to deliver them. • *Resilience 10%** - Respond to operational crisis, providing leadership and flexing team prioritisation as required. - Ensure cross training within corporate services roles to provide resilience within the teams and across the region. - Work with the Deputy Head of Mission to plan long-term resource and development needs. - Ensure wellbeing and engagement are maintained within the corporate services team, seeking regular feedback and embedding the values of resilience and respect. • *Additional duties**: