Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

The British High Commission in Accra, Ghana is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas and is now looking to recruit a full-time Liaison Officer Assistant for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Fiscal Crime Liaison Officer.

HMRC is the UK’s tax and customs administration. HMRC is responsible for collecting tax revenue on behalf of the UK government, making sure that money is available to fund the UK’s public services and for helping families and individuals with targeted financial support. HMRC is also charged with closing the tax gap and reducing avoidance and evasion.

This role involves providing essential office support functions to enable the Fiscal Crime Liaison Officer to operate lawfully and effectively. This is an exciting and challenging role, and the successful candidate will be working in a fast-moving team environment where time critical actions are crucial to success. The Liaison Office is fully committed to the professional development and training of its staff.

The successful candidate will join a dynamic team working at the forefront of the fight against organised crime, tax fraud and international money laundering. Reporting to the HM Revenue & Customs Fiscal Crime Liaison Officer, the jobholder will play a pivotal role in facilitating the flow of data between UK-based investigators and key partners within the West African law-enforcement community. The post is based in Accra, and may involve travel throughout Ghana and sometimes abroad.

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate excellent organisational skills, and a practical approach to multi-tasking and problem solving, as well as the ability to quickly grasp complex issues. They will develop an understanding of HMRC strategic priorities on fiscal crime and how we are working to promote them within country.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Assist the Liaison Officer in gathering relevant information from a wide range of sources; disseminating this information in an accurate and timely manner via clear and concise reports to UK colleagues or via official letters to West African Law Enforcement Agencies. Prioritising their workload against case priorities and being mindful of the requirements of UK & West African legislation.
• Dealing with senior officials from all levels of government in a professional manner and travel in Ghana and sometimes abroad if required for official meetings.
• Conduct office administration duties under the supervision of the Fiscal Crime Liaison Officer. Duties include record management, vehicle management, maintaining office accounts, planning travel, visits and organising events. Must be able to follow standard operating procedures and written processes with minimal supervision.
• Searching open source material and media reporting to identify anything relevant to the FCLO.
• Maintain oversight of regional projects as required including monitoring and evaluating their impact, monitoring budgets to ensure value for money and producing narrative reports to deadlines.
• Line management of staff.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• One member of staff.
• Office accounts and physical resources, including vehicle and IT.
• Regional projects.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Excellent IT skills – advanced skills in MS products & interrogation / maintenance of databases are desirable
• Fluent oral and written English;Strong interpersonal and communication skills and confidence in dealing with senior level people
• Ability to process and understand large amounts of data and information; turning this it into concise and accurate reports
• Constructive, positive and service orientated attitude
• Experience of working in an area with a high level of personal responsibility and has a track record of being accountable for own actions / decisions
• Excellent organisational skills for document and record management
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and to prioritise workloads where required
• Ability to respect the confidentiality of work issues and understands the personal and professional consequences of lapses in security
• Flexible approach to work and travel; this may include travel at short notice, working weekends and on public holidays
• Fluent oral and written

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Working in similar position or previous relevant experience would be an advantage.
• Experience of managing staff.
• Project management skills.
• Fluent oral and written French to provide both spoken and written translation services for the Liaison Officer when communicating with officials from Francophone government agencies and ministries.