BMA-Defence Section Office Manager (EO)
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 10, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 9, 2026.
Job Category
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Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)
Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)
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The Defence Section Office Manager (DSOM) is a key member of the UK Ministry of Defence team within the British Embassy Bahrain. Working closely with the Defence Attaché, Defence Section colleagues and wider Embassy teams, the DSOM is responsible for the effective coordination and delivery of Defence Section business, representational activity and high-level engagements. The role plays an important part in supporting UK Defence Engagement in Bahrain, helping to strengthen the UK-Bahrain defence relationship and deliver the Embassy’s wider engagement objectives.
Duties and responsibilities:
Executive Support and Office Management
You will support the effective running of the Defence Section and delivery of UK Defence activity in Bahrain by:
- Supporting the Defence Section in delivering business priorities and Defence Engagement objectives in Bahrain.
- Acting as a key point of contact for routine business, enquiries and engagement with Embassy colleagues, external partners and senior stakeholders.
- Providing executive support to senior Defence Section staff, including diary coordination, meeting preparation, visitor administration, room bookings, correspondence and programme support.
- Supporting handover, leaving, joining and familiarisation programmes, including liaison with relevant internal and external contacts as required.
Defence Section Planning, Coordination and Information Flow
You will ensure Defence Section activity is planned, coordinated and administered effectively by:
- Supporting UK Defence activity by coordinating diplomatic clearances and related administrative approvals for air, maritime, logistics and access requirements, in accordance with agreed Embassy and host-nation procedures.
- Coordinating official correspondence and administrative requests, ensuring they are submitted, tracked and followed up in good time.
- Coordinating administrative and diplomatic clearance processes for Defence activity, ensuring requests are managed in accordance with agreed procedures.
- Managing routine and ad-hoc administrative requests on behalf of the Defence Section and wider UK Defence stakeholders to support timely responses and effective delivery.
- Maintaining Defence Section planning tools, records and information management systems, including correspondence records, contact lists, shared workspace content and key documents.
- Arranging Defence Section travel, accommodation and administrative support, ensuring visits and routine business are coordinated effectively.
- Managing Defence Section vehicles, including servicing, insurance, mandatory administration and inspections, excluding routine driver checks.
- Managing Defence Section assets, representational items and relevant corporate records in line with local procedures.
- Ensure you are aware of, and comply with your responsibilities as set out in the Embassy’s Business Continuity and Crisis Plans.
- Keep up to date with the training and administrative needs of your crisis role.
Event Organisation and Visit Management
You will support high-quality senior visits, Defence Engagement activity and representational events in Bahrain by:
- Planning and coordinating programmes for senior UK Defence visitors to Bahrain and supporting high-profile Defence Engagement activity.
- Liaising with relevant stakeholders to support appropriate protocol and administrative arrangements for senior visits, office calls and official engagements.
- Supporting the development and delivery of transport and accommodation arrangements for visitors as required.
- Supporting the administration of major Defence Engagement and Embassy events, including visitor programmes, staff coordination, invitations, guest management, meeting arrangements and associated logistics.
- Supporting public and representational events, including invitations, guest management, replies and catering arrangements.
Training, Engagement and Defence Relationship Support
You will support the Bahrain-UK defence relationship and wider Defence Engagement activity by:
- Supporting and strengthening the Bahrain-UK defence relationship through effective administration of senior engagement, visit programmes and Defence Section activity.
- Maintaining awareness of relevant organisational and protocol changes to support effective visits and engagement planning.
- Supporting the administration of professional military education and related Defence Engagement opportunities.
- Assisting with the delivery of short-term training and engagement activity, including administrative support, accommodation, transport arrangements and visitor information.
- Administering travel notification and visitor information processes in accordance with Embassy and local procedures.
Communications and Systems
You will provide flexible communications, systems and corporate support to the Defence Section by:
- Assisting with drafting, quality assuring and disseminating correspondence, briefing material and official communications on behalf of the DA and ADA.
- Maintaining access to relevant corporate systems, ensuring accounts remain current and are used appropriately in accordance with local security and information management procedures.
Other:
- The Job Holder, as with all members of staff, will contribute to the life of the Embassy community beyond their formal job description. This could include broader roles such as fire warden or joining a People Committee.
- The Job Holder will form part of crisis preparedness, exercising and any operational response.
- The Job Holder will need to respond flexibly and actively to evolving priorities and needs, including out of standard working hours (many events may take place out of working hours).
The above list is not exhaustive, and the jobholder will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required.
Key behaviours required:
- Managing a Quality Service: Deliver service objectives with professional excellence, expertise, and efficiency, taking account of diverse customer needs.
- Working Together: Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources, and support.
- Delivering at Pace: Take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.
- Making Effective Decisions: Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. Carefully consider alternative options, implications and risks of decisions.
Eligibility
The successful applicant will be required to obtain the necessary security clearance. Higher clearances can be granted only to certain nationalities. For this reason, candidates must be of British, American, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand in order to gain the level of clearance required for this role.
Essential qualifications, skills and experience
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- An ability to multitask under pressure, flexibility and good communication skills are essential
- Knowledge of PowerPoint, Excel, Word and other IT skills essential
- Previous experience providing administrative, executive support, or office management services in a busy office environment.
- Strong organisation and planning skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks, priorities, and deadlines simultaneously.
- Experience coordinating meetings, travel, visits, events, or stakeholder engagements.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to interact professionally with internal and external stakeholders.
- Experience handling sensitive information with discretion and maintaining confidentiality.
- Ability to work independently, show initiative, and solve administrative problems effectively.
Desirable qualifications, skills and experience
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- Personal Assistant (PA) experience of at least 3 years would be beneficial
- Knowledge of UK Military would be an advantage
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Required behaviours
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Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together
Application deadline: 13 October 2026 /*generated inline style */
Grade: Executive Officer (EO) /*generated inline style */
Working hours per week: 35 /*generated inline style */
Location (City): Manama/Bahrain /*generated inline style */
Salary Currency: BHD /*generated inline style */
Salary: 1366.500 /*generated inline style */
Type of Salary: monthly /*generated inline style */
Other benefits and conditions of employment
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Working hours and remuneration:
The Embassy aims to offer an attractive working environment and remuneration package for this role. The salary for this role is at BHD 1366.500 per month based on 35 hours per week.
No accommodation nor relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position.
The package includes private medical insurance and learning and development (L&D) opportunities. Specific training and mentoring for the role will be provided, and your Line Manager will help you develop a personalised L&D plan and will share opportunities, resources and guidance to ensure you continue your learning.
This role is for a full-time employment on a permanent contract. The successful candidate will be subject to a three-month probationary period. The appointment is subject to satisfactory local and UK security clearances.
Normal working hours at the Embassy are from 07:30-14:30 from Sunday to Thursday, with core working hours from 09:00-13:00. The Embassy operates a flexible working policy, which entitles staff to work more flexibly as long as the core hours are worked. This will be considered based on operational requirements and agreement with the line manager, and in line with FCDO and Embassy policies.
Additional information
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How to apply:
Interested candidates must ensure that the online application form is completed in full, including:
- Complete education details and employment history.
- Complete experience, professional skills, and behaviour-based sections.
Please note that it is mandatory for all applicants to complete every section of the online application form, including employment history, education details, technical skills, experience, and behaviour-based questions. Applications that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered during the shortlisting process.
Please ensure that your application is authentically written based on your own experiences. If AI tools are used, their usage must only be limited to specific tasks such as ensuring formatting consistency and keyword relevance. The core content, personal narratives, and responses to behaviour and skill-based questions must genuinely reflect your professional journey, experiences, and achievements. We place great importance on originality and individual effort throughout the application process. Any form of plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification.
Applications that do not include this information will not be considered.
Applications must be submitted before 23:55 Bahrain local time on 13 October 2026
Applications submitted after the stated deadline will not be considered.
Process:
Due to the large number of applications we receive, only those shortlisted for the next step in the recruitment process will be contacted.
Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful at interview may be placed on a ‘reserve list’. If during the reserve period of twelve (12) months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.
The start date mentioned in the advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security-vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances and reference checks.
The recruitment process, including security clearance, is expected to take around 2-3 months. The security clearance process includes checks available in country and in the UK, dependant on the security level required for the role and the candidates profile and UK footprint. You may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign, and we are working hard to minimise any disruption.
The British Embassy Bahrain is an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to inclusivity, a diverse workforce and valuing difference. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local labour law.
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Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.
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