Life at FCDO Services
Our colleagues meet incredibly high standards here, to do work that protects people globally. We believe the best way to support them in that is by investing in the best and most inclusive working environment we can, with strong benefits, training, wellbeing options and support networks.
Extremely competitive pension, with employer contributions between 26.6-30.3% of your salary (figures accurate for April 2021; subject to change – for more on employer contributions, see here)
We do our best work when we’re well-rested, happy and able to balance our workload with our personal lives. Here’s how we support colleagues to do that:
At the end of a day of rewarding challenges, we encourage a culture where colleagues go home on time, a good work, life balance is important to us.
Flexible working is common and comes in many forms: compressed hours, flexible hours, job shares, and remote working are just a few. It makes our staff happier and nurtures colleagues with different needs and lifestyles.
We offer 25 days of annual leave, with an additional five days when you reach five years of service. You can also buy and sell up to ten days of leave per year – and carry up to ten days over into next year.
We offer paid maternity leave and adoption leave, and we support partners of all gender identities, with paid leave for husbands, wives, and partners whose other half is pregnant.
If the unexpected happens and you need to look after your family or your household, we’ll explore how we can support or help you, with discretionary special paid leave to help you cope with whatever comes.
Whether you need an extended period to care for your family, or to take a career break, we offer the opportunity to apply for special unpaid leave allowing you to return within two years.
Our colleagues are encouraged to support their community. Everyone is entitled to apply for paid special leave for volunteering activities, helping support those who need it.
You and your line manager might agree that you’d like to enrol in relevant further learning, at anything from GCSE to degree level. We can help with study leave and any resources you might need.
If you’re dedicated to helping others, we’ll support you. Special paid leave is offered for voluntary public service training, e.g. training as a Special Constable or a Retained Firefighter, as well as for youth leadership courses.
It’s family friendly here. It’s supportive. Flexible. All in all, it’s a very positive place to be.
We’re a trading fund – you’ll find out more about what that means here – and our employees are civil servants. That’s why we work within the pay policy set for all civil servants in teams across government.
So what does that mean to you? Well, when you see a job advertised, we’ll usually list the salary band next to it, e.g. £25,000-£35,000. Typically the starting salary for the role will be the smaller figure. In exceptional cases, offers may be made within the range, subject to knowledge and skills. Movement through the pay range for your grade is achieved through annual pay awards, in line with annually published Civil Service pay guidance and dependent on satisfactory performance.
If you apply for and successfully get a promotion or a new higher-paid role with us, you’ll then move to a higher grade and begin climbing through that new salary band.
Want to join FCDO Services but can’t see a live role to suit you? Great news: you can sign up for job alerts or add your CV to our talent pool and we’ll be in touch when something comes up.