Skills

• Culinary Excellence: Ability to plan and prepare high-quality meals (British and international cuisine) to a professional standard.
• Menu Planning: Skilled in creating diverse, seasonal menus including formal dinners, receptions, and casual family meals.
• Presentation: Strong plating and food styling skills for formal functions and VIP guests.
• Time Management: Ability to manage time and kitchen operations efficiently, particularly during events.
• Adaptability: Willing to accommodate dietary restrictions, preferences, and cultural sensitivities.
• Hygiene & Safety: Meticulous attention to food hygiene, storage, and safety standards (often following UK’s guidelines).
• Procurement & Budgeting: Experience in sourcing quality ingredients and managing kitchen budgets.

Experiences

• Hotel or Diplomatic Residence Experience (preferred): Understanding of formality, discretion, and service standards in such environments.
• Catering for Events: Experience catering for official events, receptions, and high-level guests.
• Team Collaboration: Experience working with other, Residence Manager, or security personnel in a coordinated setting.
• Experience with Local and Imported Ingredients: Especially important when sourcing British/western ingredients.

Qualifications

• Professional Culinary Training: Diploma or certificate from a recognized culinary school or equivalent

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

We encourage all staff to develop their capabilities, through both formal training courses and informal opportunities such as job-shadowing, coaching and on-the-job training. All staff are encouraged to share their skills and experience with colleagues, through informal training sessions or coaching/mentoring. We have an active L&D committee who organise a varied programme of learning for all staff. 

All staff are eligible for 5 Learning and Development days a year.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is committed to developing its staff. There will be opportunities for formal training alongside collaborating with a wide range of colleagues delivering on-the-job learning.

• Working in a diplomatic mission
• International policy skills course
• UK Diplomatic Academy foundation learning
• Regional and London-based formal learning opportunities

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks. Staff who are locally recruited by the British Embassy are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law.

No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. Visa sponsorship may be possible for non-Vietnamese nationals if meet local requirements.  

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.

Disabled and ethnic minority applicants will be invited to interviews if meeting the minimum requirement of the job.

Working patterns:

Full time – 39.5 hours per week with one hour lunch. Mon-Thursday 08:30–16:45, Friday 08:30–15:00. The Embassy has a smarter working policy and is committed to offering flexible working patterns balanced with the operational requirements of the role. In crisis/emergency situations you may need to work as required to support the Embassy response, sometimes on a shift pattern working which may result in unsociable hours and/or weekend working.

The Embassy is committed to supporting flexible working wherever possible. For security reasons, routine working outside of the office is not possible.

The FCDO also operates an agile workforce. To facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require.

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.

All applications must be received before 23:55 (Local Vietnam Time) on the day of the deadline indicated above.