Internship | Job Vacancies at British High Commission Nairobi

Electrician & Generator Technician at British High Commission Nairobi

Deputy Estates Manager at British High Commission Nairobi

Main purpose of job

The job holder will lead a large and diverse team of technicians from various disciplines in delivering a safe, fit-for-purpose and efficient Estate that meets Health and Safety compliance standards of the UK. They will collaborate with the Deputy Estates Manager – Accommodation in project delivery and day-to-day running of the Estate. 

They’ll use their experience in contstruction, facilities management and/or health and safety in delivering a programme of works to keep the High Commission, its offices and residential Estate maintained to high health and safety standards, escalating any major concerns to the Estates Manager for guidance. They will work with the UK Technical Works Supervisor’s (TWSs) and Senior Regional Technical Lead (SRTL) to ensure UK compliance standards are achieved across the Estate.

They will be responsible for supplier management of numerous goods and services related to technical works, and positively contribute to a cost reduction strategy within Estate team programmes and budgets to achieve further efficiences in the Technical Works Group.

They will deliver high standards of customer service (in person and in written form) and be responsive to customer requests in a concise, clear and empathetic way.

Roles and responsibilities

Project Management (25%):

  • Using their construction, facilities management or health and safety experience the job holder will ensure technical projects are sequenced and planned for timely delivery of works across the Estate.
  • Strive for resource efficiencise in project delivery through prioritising work requests knowing when a job isn’t required or can be done differently to achieve a good enough outcome.
  • Seek advice and implement advice from UK Technical Works Supervisors (TWS) and Senior Regional Technical Lead (SRTL) to ensure projects are designed and delivered to UK standards, including centrally-funded projects.
  • Provide oversite and quality assurance of Planned, Preventative Maintenance (PPM) schedules for the Estate and delivering adjustements to the Estate.

Procurement and Supplier Management (25%):

  • Work with procurement colleagues in fulfilment of tender processes to successful contract award ensuring contracts are in place for maintenance and other services.
  • Regular oversite and engagement with supplier to ensure contracts are managed effectively against contracts terms and conditions including addressing poor performance where necessary.
  • Develope scope of works for tender packs and peer review scope of works across the whole BHC office for technical compliance (even if works are not Estates related)

Team Leadership (20%):

  • Collaborate with the Deputy Estates Manager – Accommodation in the joint delivery of projects, including compliance refurbishements, deputising and covering duties across the Estate Management piece as required.
  • Recognise good performance through award schemes, 1:1’s, tema meetings and line management meetings, and with the support of HR, where there are incidences of poor performance or disciplinary issues within the technical team, help guide line managers on swift and responsive actions.
  • Work with mission wide learning and development, mental health first aiders, and first responders to ensure the wider technical team feels supported in a safe working environment.

Health & Safety (15%):

  • Chair the Post Health & Safety Committee working with the secretariat to develop quarterly agendas, follow-up actions and update senior leadership (at least annually).
  • Address Health & Safety matters promptly and investigate significant incidents reporting back to HQ as required.
  • Review, edit and authorise health & safety communication and schedules to ensure they are least intrusive to occupants within the residential estate.

Finance (15%):

  • Communicate daily with the Estates manager on any finance-related activities within the technical team, and ensure timely payment processing of all Estates technical invoices.
  • Coordinate capital bids submission annually and ensure prompt escalation of works required for safety compliance valued over £3,000 (or specified threshold) with HQ Global Maintenance teams
  • Ensure timely reconciliations, receipt and payment for supplier purchases via government procurement card

Resources managed

You will be the direct line manager to:

  • AO Estates Accommodation & Technical Works Officer
  • AA Storekeeper
  • AO General Foreman – Residential
  • AO General Foreman – Non Residential
  • AO Health & Safety Officer
  • AA TWG Office Assistant

Quality Assure and provide leadership to the rest of the Technical Works Group which is approximately 36 pax.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

  • Demonstrable work experience in Construction or Facilities Management or Health & Safety
  • Supplier management and following procurement processes
  • Finance/accounting experience
  • Direct line management and managing a large team experience
  • Clean driving record with valid Kenyan driving license (must pass a BHC drivers test during interview phase)
  • Language requirements: Proficient in English and Kiswahili

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

  • Project Management Experience
  • Customer engagement
  • NEBOSH Certificate
  • Degree, Diploma or certificate in Construction or Facilities Management or Health & Safety
  • Health & Safety training to UK standards

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Regional Crisis Adviser at British High Commission Nairobi

Regional Crisis Adviser (East and West Africa) EO (25/25 NR)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.

Main purpose of job:

  • UK diplomatic posts overseas are at the frontline of a UK government response to an overseas crisis affecting British people and interests.  This role focuses on ensuring that our staff have the right plans and skills to be able to respond to a range of different crisis scenarios. Within your region you will be responsible for understanding the risks that different posts face and their overall preparedness and providing support, training and advice to help them improve their ability to respond.
  • You will champion the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) clear crisis management methodology and training products, supported and directed by the FCDO Crisis Management Department in headquarters and working closely with regional crisis leads and consular staff.  As one of the two Regional Crisis Advisers for the Sub-Saharan Africa region, you will have opportunities to work together and will both be an important part of the Sub-Saharan Africa Consular and Crisis leadership team. You will feed into broader consular policy in the region and role model the Sub-Saharan Africa Consular Network leadership values.
  • The role will be based at British High Commission Nairobi, Kenya. However, as a regional role, you will be expected to travel frequently to the Posts across East and West Africa that make up your ‘East and West Africa’ region (known as East & West Africa).
  • At these posts you will need to be able to form close working relationships with your colleagues at all levels and experience, prioritising posts with the greatest need for support. You will benefit from excellent learning and development opportunities, which will allow you to deepen your crisis management skills as well as a supportive network of colleagues both in HQ and our global network. 


Roles and Responsibilities:

You will be one of two Regional Crisis Advisers covering the Sub-Saharan Africa region (the other is based in Cape Town). Role:

  • Crisis Preparedness and risk: Develop a coherent approach to crisis management at British diplomatic posts across the Sub-Saharan Africa Region by supporting crisis preparedness and tracking risk, providing high quality guidance and training so that posts are well prepared to effectively respond to a crisis, in line with FCDO Crisis Management Department (CMD) policy and guidance.
  • Crisis Response: To provide support and advice to posts experiencing or approaching a crisis to ensure the most effective response.
  • Crisis Improvement: To maintain a good understanding of the crisis risks within your region, providing input to and quality assurance of post crisis management plans, highlighting key risks to CMD and the Consular Regional Director (CRD) and applying lessons from crises and exercises. Maintain good relationships with both internal and external crisis management stakeholders to enhance regional risk assessment and horizon scanning.

Responsibilities:

  • Network and Post Support: To prioritise crisis preparedness work in your region based on an understanding of risk and horizon scanning. To act as expert adviser to the Embassy or High Commission Crisis Management Committee making recommendations to ensure policy and guidance is followed by Posts. To encourage and help embed a ‘whole of mission approach’ to planning and crisis preparedness.
  • Quality Assurance: To advise our overseas Embassies and High Commissions on development of their crisis management plans (CMPs), and crisis preparedness, working to achieve a consistent quality across the region, merging local knowledge with central crisis management guidance. You will provide support and guidance on approval of all the CMPs in your region. Work with CMD’s Preparedness and Risk Team to identify risks, capability and capacity gaps and to help posts take steps to improve their preparedness.
  • Training & Exercising: Deliver engaging crisis training in your region liaising closely with the CMD Training & Exercising Team and using the latest training approaches and materials. Identify any potential learning/skills gaps in crisis management techniques and work with CMD to address them. Help CMD to coordinate and prioritise regional exercises and assist in the delivery of overseas training events. Support crisis managers to encourage colleagues to complete the crisis content of the International Academy’s foundation level. Champion the various learning methods to help promote and develop crisis management learning in region.   
  • Stakeholder Engagement: To ensure good understanding of host country and regional crisis structures and maintain up-to-date liaison contacts. Engagement with senior leadership will be critical, delivering constructive feedback to those seniors will be a core skill. 
  • Lessons Learned: participate in and facilitate where appropriate (e.g. for locally managed crises), the crisis lessons learned process.  To identify, record and share best practice regionally. Working with CMD to ensure lessons learned are taken forward and incorporated back into CMPs across the region.
  • Crisis Management Portal: act as a champion for our Crisis IT system ‘CM Portal’. Ensure relevant staff across the region keep their skills and access up to date to reflect latest developments of the Crisis IT system.
  • Crisis Response: working with CMD and the CRD provide advice and support to Embassies or High Commissions in crisis.
  • Corporate:  Up to 10% of your time will be spent on Kenya platform contributions (corporate and policy), including support for crisis preparedness in Kenya as well as support for tone or more of the various people-centred committees that enable the BHC Nairobi platform to thrive.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure): 

  • Responsible for managing a regional travel budget

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

  • Excellent English language skills (written and oral)
  • Understanding of and an ability to work in an international or governmental organization.
  • Excellent inter-personal, communication and team working skills.
  • Excellent presentational, organisational skills and a proactive approach.
  • Resilience, with ability to work unsupervised and innovate
  • Self-starter with strong time management skills – able to work to deadlines and targets and manage a sometimes-heavy workload while safeguarding your own personal resilience.
  • Excellent IT skills (Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, MS Teams)

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

  • Familiarity with FCDO’s crisis management policy and procedures would be helpful. The successful candidate will benefit from training and development through the FCDO’s International Academy’s Consular and Crisis faculty.
  • Experience of providing training in a professional environment, ideally with an externally validated professional accreditation, such as CIPD.  
  • Familiarity with crisis management issues and techniques and an ability to understand risks across a range issues. 
  • Familiarity with UK consular procedures 

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Personal Assistant to the High Commissioner EO (22/25 NR)

Main purpose of job:

To provide professional administrative and organisational support to the High Commissioner ensuring smooth management of their office. This includes managing their diary, handling correspondence and serving as the key liaison between the High Commissioner and staff across the British High Commission.

We are seeking a dynamic individual who can manage a broad range of responsibilities in a fast-paced, high-profile environment with excellent organisation, problem solving, information management and communication skills. The role requires good judgement, the ability to anticipate needs and strong interpersonal and organisational skills.

He/she will be required to ensure the most effective use of HC’s time, work with enthusiasm, empathy and a willingness to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances. It also requires proactivity and good collaboration skills.

The Job Holder will form part of the Private Office Team and will be required to work closely with other members of the team including the Chief of Staff to the High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioners’, the Personal Assistants to the Deputy High Commissioners’ and the Events and Residence Manager.

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Personal Assistant to the Deputy High Commissioner/ Development Director, Private Office(AO) (23/25 NR)

Main purpose of job:

To provide high-level administrative and organisational support to the Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) ensuring smooth management of their office. This includes managing their diary, handling correspondence and serving as the key liaison between the Deputy High Commissioner and stakeholders.

The Job Holder will arrange internal and external engagements including official events, and plan through changes in response to daily and weekly priorities. This position requires attention to detail, ability to prioritize and deconflict requests. The job holder should also have good organisation skills, enthusiasm and a willingness to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances. It also requires proactivity, excellent communication and good collaboration skills.

He/she will form part of the Private Office team and will be required to work closely with the Chief of Staff to the High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioners’ and the Personal Assistant to the High Commissioner

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Aviation Security Coordinator EO – (21/25 NR)

Main purpose of job:

The Aviation Security Coordinator (ASCO) for Kenya and Ethiopia, who will be based at our High Commission in Nairobi, will directly support the Aviation Security Project Delivery Manager (based in London) in building and sustaining relationships with the Kenyan and Ethiopian governments and other key stakeholders on a wide range of aviation security issues in order to help deliver the Department for Transport’s core objectives of improving aviation security standards, building effective relationships with stakeholders at all levels to facilitate this. The Aviation Security Project Delivery Manager for Kenya and Ethiopia will travel regularly to Kenya and Ethiopia. The ASCO will be responsible for engaging with stakeholders to arrange meetings for these visits.  

The successful candidate will need excellent administration skills, and to be able to prioritise and cope well under pressure.  On any given day, they will be working to a variety of workstreams and across various projects, with changing circumstances and priorities. They will need to be proactive (for example, resolving issues by a telephone call or visit where more appropriate), have good judgement (including knowing when to escalate issues) and be highly organised, keeping track of deadlines and requests. An ability to work independently, seeking guidance where required is essential.

This is a varied and interesting position – the jobholder can expect to get a good background on Aviation Security in both the UK and in our host countries. As well as the core duties set out in the job description, there will be scope to liaise with other CT colleagues within the diplomatic mission.

Travel will be required to Ethiopia for meetings and to support capability development and aviation security assessment activity. Travel to the UK may be possible to support inward visits and attend internal meeting

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Electrician & Generator Technician at British High Commission Nairobi

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)  

Main purpose of job:

They will be expected to conduct themselves professionally and uphold the highest standards of electrical and mechanical safety in all aspects of their work. This role is critical in maintaining the operational reliability and safety of electrical and generator systems throughout the estate.

The post holder will ensure the safe and effective execution of:

  • Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM)
  • Reactive maintenance
  • Fault finding and diagnostics
  • Design, construction, inspection, and testing of Low Voltage (LV) electrical & generator equipment and installations

They will be expected to conduct themselves professionally and uphold the highest standards of electrical and mechanical safety in all aspects of their work. This role is critical in maintaining the operational reliability and safety of electrical and generator systems throughout the estate.

Roles and responsibilities

Electrician Duties (70%)

  • Carry out planned maintenance activities, projects, refurbishments and react to electrical breakdowns or faults in a timely, professional & customer focused manner.
  • Execute repairs and works safely and in accordance with the quality standards of the FCDO, industry best practice, British standards and Kenyan electrical regulations & requirements where applicable to LV domestic / housing electrical works and light industrial / commercial plant and equipment.
  • Safely perform electrical testing and produce electrical installation condition reports or electrical installation certificates as required and on completion of works. 
  • Actively contribute to safe working practices and ensure all work is undertaken safely by self and others
  • Identify materials required and create work package(s) for refurbishment, improvement, renewal and re-wire to ensure the electrical installation meets the electrical compliance standards of the FCO, the current edition of BS7671, Kenyan electrical regulations & requirements where applicable and any other relevant standard(s).
  • Produce comprehensive bills of materials and estimates of costs for high quality electrical components, labor and materials.
  • Demonstrate continuous improvement in all areas of work to achieve best value for money, safety compliance and standards of building

Generator (Electrical & Mechanical) Technician Duties – 30%

  • Duties around Generator (Electrical & Mechanical) will predominately be required during periods of leave by the lead Generator Technician and during periods of peak work demand by the generator technician.
  • Typically, duties may include Routine electrical maintenance low voltage (LV), electrical design for small projects, electrical construction, test & inspection, undertaking full building re-wires, fault finding, Consumer Board & Distribution Board replacement, repairs to installations, installation of circuit accessories, Industrial Control panel repairs / modification, repairs and replacement to wiring in commercial buildings and special locations (swimming pools etc.) Working at height and outside work may be required on occasion including on high-risk plant (e.g. Sewerage Plant), Run load bank tests on diesel generators, change filters and perform standard service on units.
  • Support electrical projects, repairs and renewals / Re-wire, adjust and install control panels and voltage regulators, producing technical reports, accurate time frames for completion of works, outlining all resources required, start date, end date, project milestones and dependencies.
  • Diagnose and repair any issues found during initial testing, perform voltage changes on generators based on requirements adjusting speed controls and various settings as deemed necessary
  • Share knowledge with colleagues in electrical methods including design, installation, inspection & test.
  • Demonstrate thorough knowledge on Automation of generators and control systems, including ATS and other electrical control systems.
  • Liaise with technical & non-technical colleagues to provide updates on works progress in a suitable language that is understood by all parties.

Resources managed:

  • On occasion the job holder may be required to supervise contractors

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

  • Certificate in electrical installation from a recognized government institution
  • Knowledge and experience in low voltage electrical installation inspection and testing.
  • Can demonstrate at least 4 years of hands-on Generator and LV Electrical work experience with ability to diagnose and repair mechanical issues on diesel gensets
  • Can Demonstrate In-depth understanding of diesel engine and/or generator technology
  • Proficient with estimating time required to complete tasks
  • IT / Computer literate; familiar with Microsoft word, spread sheet and Outlook
  • Holder of valid driver’s license with at least 3 years clean driving record and be a safe competent driver (accident free for three years. A driver’s test will be conducted before offer of employment.
  • Exceptional communication skills, attention to detail and initiative, as well as good customer service skills
  • A flexible approach and good team working skill
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Must have knowledge of hand and power tools.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

  • Be familiar with the required Health & Safety standards governing the electrician role
  • Knowledge to read and understand blueprints
  • Apprentice trained Electrician and Generator electrical mechanic
  • HV experience
  • LV Inspection & Test
  • Able to multi-Skill. The applicant should list any other technical skills and experience they have in Mechanical, Welding etc.

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