Political Counsellor - Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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, 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.

Job Category  : Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Policy & Political roles)

Job Subcategory  : Chancery

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)  

Main purpose of job:

Working autonomously within the Political Team to deliver an ambitious set of bilateral and foreign policy objectives, including on regional affairs, the Commonwealth and multilateral issues.

This new role is part of our expanded ambition for Ghana’s role on the African Continent, across HMG’s political, security and prosperity goals. You will be part of a cross-government team that is delivering a genuinely integrated approach on governance, anti-corruption and transparency. You will be shaping HMG policy thinking – providing advice to the highest levels – in a country which sees the UK as its natural partner as it moves ‘beyond aid’, and delivering high-profile political work where you will be representing UK interests.

Roles and responsibilities:

• We are looking for a passionate and experienced political analyst to join an expanding mission
• This is a busy and varied role in which you will conduct research and evidence-driven insight on government of Ghana policies, political trends and burning issues that hit the news cycle and the longer-term trends where the implications are often felt but rarely reported on in depth
• You will already have a strong understanding of the political system and how it works in practice, and excellent political relationships across political parties
• You will need to engage consistently at senior levels with ministers (and their advisers), Parliamentarians, political commentators, academics, analysts etc. to inform and influence our cross-mission understanding of political, social and economic trends
• You will also use your broad network of contacts to understand, report, and seek opportunities to further UK interests
• It is a particularly exciting time to be working on political affairs, particularly as we work ever more closely with Ghana bilaterally and in the region. This means that you will be working directly to the senior team and collaboratively with other members of political team to inform our policies and programmes. What is the risk to domestic political and economic stability from regional crises? As Ghana looks to change its relationship with development partners to enable it to move ‘beyond aid’, what does this mean for the relationship with China and others who are becoming more influential in Ghana? What are the major political commitments, and how do they align with the UK’s interests
• You will play a more significant part in leading, managing and shaping discrete strategy and, policy delivery, and providing expert analysis to inform the senior leadership. You will support Ministerial visits, including by briefing senior UK Ministers directly
• You will apply judgement and creativity to identify the best approach or solution to complex, long-term and seemingly intractable political issues; taking innovative approaches that reconcile a range of competing priorities, managing complex risks, and assessing impact on cross-departmental business areas (security, prosperity, and our transitioning development agenda)
• You will be pro-active in anticipating issues and understanding underlying causes before providing solutions, often through your written reports, which will be of the highest standard

• This work is high-profile and will involve significant exposure to senior external Ghanaian contacts (e.g. including leading Parliamentarians, traditional Chiefs, the Council for Foreign Relations etc) with whom you will apply high levels of negotiating, consulting and interpersonal skills. Your highly developed political awareness will enable you to develop options for new policy proposals and anticipate the impact of your work especially when drawing up proposals for change. Your policy recommendations are likely to have a critical impact on organisational effectiveness or the external reputation of the UK in Ghana
• You will be working closely alongside HMG colleagues – at the political and operational level – on our anti-corruption, governance and transparency agenda. This will give you a unique perspective on the totality of our governance work and position you at the head of the table when engaging with international partners, government and civil society. Through your leadership, we will have a strong coherence to the work of different HMG departments
• You will also contribute towards wider HMG political priorities, including high-profile inward visits, engaging across teams to add value to our priority pillars (security, the economy, political reform) that attract high-level interest from London. You will work closely with the High Commissioner, the Deputy High Commissioner, the Head of Political Affairs and the wider Political Section to identify and lead political reporting priorities
• At all times you are expected to be accessible, discreet, and able to put aside your personal political bias to brief neutrally on all issues

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Minimum of 8 years relevant experience in political / foreign policy work
• Excellent interpersonal and Communication Skills
• Ability to network confidently with ministerial and senior-level contacts, as well as with different genders, or different religions or beliefs
• Language: English (any Ghanaian Dialects are useful but not essential)
• Level of language required: Highest standard of written & verbal English

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Postgraduate qualification in a relevant degree (e.g. political science, law, governance, economics)