FCDO Services work with government-level customers, both in the UK and overseas, to protect people, information and government buildings every day. How? By providing vital services at the very highest level of security: services like logistics, construction, digital solutions, translation, and more. At any given moment, we might be building a new embassy in South America; repairing a high commission damaged by flooding in Asia; delivering diplomatic goods across Africa, or installing secure Wi-Fi in government buildings right here in the UK.
With 1050+ colleagues, supporting 270 diplomatic missions worldwide, we truly operate across continents. If you’re based in the UK, at our London office or at our Hanslope Park office near Milton Keynes, you know every day that your work has global impact. And if you’re in a role that involves travel, it means you’ll visit countries and places most people will never visit: some of our team have personally travelled to over 170 countries.
But how did our organization start? Well, some of our services – like our secure delivery specialists, the Queen’s Messengers – date back as far as 1199, but as an organization, we’ve operated as a trading fund since 2008.
If you don’t know what a trading fund is, it means that we’re civil servants working within government, but we generate our income mainly by providing services for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (our biggest customer), as well as other government departments and friendly foreign governments. We control our own budgets and revenue, and we invest surplus funds back to grow our business and feed into the FCDO as our owner.
That means, when you join us, you’ll find the sense of purpose that comes with public sector work, as part of an organization that’s commercially-minded.
Our people meet exceptionally high standards, carrying out vital projects that support and protect governments worldwide. To help them achieve that, we invest in our team wherever we can, whether that’s in our work-life balance, our benefits, our inclusive work environment, or our wellbeing options.
One thing that might surprise you about us: though we work on critical projects and vast challenges, we aim to maintain a healthy work/life balance – encouraging a culture where colleagues leave work at the office and go home on time. But on top of that, we also offer flexible working options that vary from team to team, depending on what’s possible, and that might include compressed hours, flexible hours, job share, or remote working. As much as we can, we aim to support colleagues, whatever their lifestyle.
When it comes to benefits at FCDO Services, you’ll find that you’re well-supported with us. Whilst we’re commercially minded, we work within government, and we’re Civil Servants – meaning we receive an extremely competitive Civil Service pension, as well as a package of other benefits including generous annual leave, leave trading, high street discounts, financial health and planning advice, interest-free loans for travel and bicycles, and if you’re at our UK offices, access to a range of affordable on-site facilities, from gyms to nurseries.
Speaking of facilities, we also make sure our colleagues are supported with facilities and training to maintain their mental and physical wellbeing. Our dedicated wellbeing rooms, both in our UK offices and in some of our global postings, mean colleagues can find calm and quiet whenever they need it. Plus, with Mental Health First Aid training provided across the organization, we’re always here to look after one another and to recognize and act when colleagues need support and guidance.
We are delighted to be involved with the forthcoming Women in Engineering Society’s virtual work shadowing event in July 2020. It’s a great opportunity to virtually spend the day with our women engineers in the hope of inspiring a future career with us. We are dedicated to being a diverse and inclusive organization that is committed to engaging and developing talent, with our apprenticeship schemes at the forefront, working alongside experienced women from engineering fields.