Meet Iona Thomas Political Counsellor Designate for Islamabad, Foreign

POLITICAL COUNSELLOR DESIGNATE FOR ISLAMABAD, FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

Iona Thomas

"If we let go of those concerns and trust our instincts, we usually find that we do have the ability and the answers."

Tell me about your childhood?

I had a very happy childhood, growing up abroad in Germany, Belgium and the States. I think that’s why I have always had an interest in living and working internationally, and is what led to me joining the Foreign Office. I have very fond memories of my childhood on the East Coast of the US – hot, sunny summers by the beach, pumpkins and trick or treating at Halloween, cold winters when school would be closed for the day and we’d go sledging or bake cookies instead.

In a nutshell, how would you describe your job?

As a diplomat, I divide my career between being posted to our Embassies overseas and spending time in London at the Foreign Office. Overseas, our job is to build relationships with other governments so we can work with them on shared challenges. In the UK, we work on developing UK foreign policy, providing advice to the Foreign Secretary and Ministers on different options for responding to international issues. In July, I will be moving to Pakistan to head up the Political Team at the High Commission there. I will be responsible for a broad range of issues including human rights, Afghanistan, counter-terrorism and migration. It will be a big portfolio but I’m excited about the challenge!

Run us through your typical working day?

At the moment, because I’m preparing for my overseas posting, I spend most of my time trying to learn as much about Pakistan and our policy towards Pakistan as possible. I’m doing a lot of reading and having meetings with different parts of government who all have an interest in our relationship with Pakistan. I’m trying to learn a bit of Urdu as well to help make meetings in Pakistan a bit easier. I’m also currently mentoring a few women in the office and so I often have phone calls with them to talk through issues they are facing at work. Because we are all spread throughout the world, it sometimes means having to juggle time differences and fit calls in when we can.

Tell me about your career highs and low?

One of my career highs was being awarded an OBE for my work on Libya. I was Deputy Ambassador to Libya from 2015-2017 and part of my role was to lead on re-establishing an office there after we had to evacuate in 2014 due to violence and conflict. It was an enormous challenge having to first set up a security team who could protect us there and then set up an office and accommodation – a real challenge against the backdrop of an economic, political and security crisis. Being given my OBE by the Queen (for which I wore a lovely Libby outfit!) was a very proud moment. One of my career lows was when I chose a job doing corporate change management in a government department. I took the job because I felt I needed to tick a box to show that I could do corporate projects. But I ended up with a boss I didn’t get on with and subject matter I found very dry. It was such a mistake and taught me the importance of choosing a job because it excites and interests you, not to tick a box!

What is your biggest weakness?

I’m naturally a problem-solver. I like to jump in and try to fix things. I’m learning that sometimes it’s more important to take a step back and think about the bigger picture before you try to fix the thing right in front of you as you don’t always understand the full context if you do that.

What piece of career advice would you give your 20 year old self?

I would reassure my twenty year old self that there is plenty of time to develop a career and not to rush into anything. We’re all going to be working for a large part of our lives and it’s so important to do something that interests and motivates you every day so take the time to work out what that is and go for it.