Food & Agriculture Adviser

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ADVISER

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Reference number: 425018

Location: London or East Kilbride

Total Package: £62,500 (London) £57,500 (East Kilbride) with regular travel to overseas locations

Contract: Permanent and full time. You’ll be required to work in line with FCDO policies on hybrid working, which involves a minimum of 60% in the office.

We lead the UK’s diplomatic, development and consular work around the world. We employ around 17,000 staff in our global network of 281 offices worldwide. Our UK-based staff work in King Charles Street in London, Abercrombie House in East Kilbride and in Milton Keynes.

Your role with us

Join us as a Food and Agriculture Adviser and you’ll provide flexible, evidence-based advice that helps to inform and develop the FCDO and UK Government’s policy positions. Working on the costing and delivery of our programmes, and with a strong focus on food security and sustainable, inclusive growth, you’ll strengthen the breadth and depth of international food and agriculture work, operating at regional and country level in a range of different contexts, including in Fragile and Conflict Affected States (FCAS). Building markets and trading opportunities, reducing humanitarian need, addressing conflict and migration, delivering the climate agenda and protecting natural resources – you’ll focus on all these areas in this challenging and highly rewarding role.

Your exact responsibilities will depend on the specific requirements of the team you join, but typically you’ll provide strong leadership on food, agriculture and livelihood issues, and guide strategic, programmatic and delivery choices designed to maximise our global impact.Using seminars and meetings to champion learning and the use of evidence, we’ll also expect you to foster collaboration on food, agriculture and related areas between policy teams, research teams, regional and country-based teams, and to work on maximising cohesion by taking an inclusive approach to everyone who works in the wider network.

Who we’re looking for

With a track record of delivering expert level outcomes, we’ll expect you to have strong capabilities in the Food and Agriculture Technical Competency Framework across at least 4 of the 5 standard technical competencies, and possess plenty of practical international experience. A proactive self-starter with the skills to manage uncertainty while working at pace, you should also be capable of prioritising multiple demands and producing timely, quality work with focus and enthusiasm.

Ready to communicate your purpose and direction with clarity, integrity and enthusiasm, you’ll be a persuasive influencer and negotiator, and your strong analytical skills will allow you to digest and process information from multiple sources to establish or inform advice and decision making. In addition, your excellent interpersonal skills will see you collaborating and working effectively as a key member of a diverse team, and engaging confidently with other teams and departments in the FCDO, across the UK Government and with our external partners.

You must be a British citizen at the time of your application, and you’ll be required to attain Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance. Please note that obtaining DV clearance can take approximately three months depending on your individual circumstances. For more information about this process, please note that the link is external.

We encourage applications from all communities, so that we reflect the very best of 21st century Britain. Everyone here gets the support to develop their skills and capabilities as well as benefits that help to make the most of life in and out of work, including a Civil Service pension.

Use your talent and experience to shape our nation’s future, and deliver tangible improvements to millions of lives, including your own.

Closing date: Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 3rd November 2025.