Development Policy Officer (DEU23.012) in Berlin bei Forei & Commonwealth Office

You will be a key part of a friendly and high performing team, whose work lies at the heart of the Embassy’s efforts to maintain and develop a positive relationship with Germany. You will lead the embassy’s work to ensure that the UK and Germany’s approaches to development are closely aligned and mutually reinforcing. This will build on the recent launch of the UK’s International Development Strategy, building on Germany’s successful 2022 G7 Presidency, and our positions as two of the world’s largest development donors.

You will be the primary point of contact with the German ministry for development (BMZ), the German development implementation agency (GIZ), and development-focused elements of the German foreign ministry (AA). You will use these relationships to ensure that UK policy makers are informed of key trends in German development policy, and that the UK is well-placed to partner closely with Germany. You will also build and maintain a network of influential contacts across a range of development-focused NGOs and think tanks, ensuring that UK development objectives are well understood.

You will support colleagues across the British Embassy, and the wide range of British government departments that it represents, to understand the UK’s development priorities, and to integrate those priorities into their work. This will include coordinating between different sections of the Embassy and London departments to ensure we are integrated, and more than the sum of our parts. This could include work in support of the international community’s development support to Ukraine, geographical areas of focus such as Africa and the Indo-Pacific, and thematic issues such as counter-terrorism.

Finally, you will be part of a wider team whose work cover the full range of foreign, security, and development policy. You will have the opportunity to support work across the wider team, from helping to organise senior ministerial and leader-level visits, to UK participation at marquee events such as the Munich Security Conference.

This will include:

• Building and maintaining a strong network of development policy makers across both the German and UK systems, ensuring that the UK is well-placed to understand and influence German development policy. You will also build and maintain a network of contacts among research organisations, NGOs, and think tanks, to ensure UK development policy is well understood and informed by the latest trends;

• Reporting and analysis of trends in German development policy, to ensure that UK policy makers are well-informed of key developments and thinking of one of the world’s most important development donors. This will include contributing to policy advice for senior UK ministers and officials;

• Developing the capability of the British Embassy on development policy, ensuring that a wide range of colleagues understand what development means for their roles, and that the UK is well-placed to harness cross-cutting development opportunities;

• Supporting the wider functioning of the foreign, security, and development team, including by assisting with organisation of major events and high-impact senior official and ministerial visits, in support of the Embassy’s objectives.

Any other duties that may reasonably be required in support of the wider work of the Embassy, including crisis work.