Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Consular Roles)
Consular
Main Purpose of Job:
To provide a high quality and efficient consular and citizenship services to British nationals in South Africa, in line with the standards set out in our publication “Support for British Nationals Abroad: A Guide” and Consular Strategy.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
The jobholder will be primarily responsible for administering and delivering consular services in South Africa. This role mainly includes administering Citizenship Ceremonies to residents of South Africa, who are becoming British. Ceremonies are joyful occasions where applicants swear their oath to the United Kingdom and celebrate their connection to the UK. The jobholder will attend, and occasionally perform ceremonies with the wider team, working closely with internal stakeholders to ensure quality delivery of citizenship ceremonies both virtually and across four locations in South Africa.
The successful jobholder will form an essential part of the South Africa consular team. They will deliver the full range of consular services and play an active office role, such as processing Emergency Travel Documents and offering notarial services. The jobholder will be expected to maintain organised filing systems, provide administrative support to the consular team and on occasion, help British Nationals as required.
The consular team are a busy, friendly and supportive team who assist UK Nationals in line with our public guide, Support for British Nationals Abroad. This role is a great opportunity for an effective, motivated officer who wants to gain more experience with delivering a quality services in a customer-facing environment.
Consular Services: Citizenship (75%)
- Attending, and occasionally performing, ceremonies – potentially across locations in Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban and Gqeberha.
- Responding to email/telephone queries, engaging with customers about their ceremonies; whilst providing information, and managing expectations.
- Issuing invitations, monitoring RSVPs and preparing documentation for ceremonies.
- Receiving, organising and distributing important personal documentation relating to applicants obtaining UK citizenship.
- Managing and accurately recording information and associated activity on consular case management systems and MS Excel.
- Planning and liaising with residence and consular colleagues regarding availability, location and timing of ceremonies.
- Liaising and problem solving with consular colleagues and UK government departments relating to applicants obtaining UK citizenship.
Candidates should note that the High Commission does not take decisions regarding approving UK Nationality.
Consular Services: General (25%)
- Handling online bookings and welcoming customers to High Commission.
- Printing Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs) and assisting the ETD Centre with processing.
- Providing standard informative notes and notarial services at the consular counter.
- Managing, updating and distributing important personal documents (SOPS and REMOS) and information between UK and South African government departments.
- Maintaining an organised consular counter, ensuring customers attending consular appointments receive a prompt and efficient service.
- Providing administrative support to the consular team when responding to a consular crisis, such as inputting and managing information on crisis hub.
- Contributing and maintaining fundamental consular prevention tools such as funeral directors and lawyer’s lists.
- During busy periods, and with support, the jobholder may be required to assist people British Nationals facing challenging personal circumstances.
The successful candidate will also work closely with colleagues across the Sub-Saharan Africa network and in the UK in order to ensure excellent delivery and consistency of services.
For many British nationals, the only contact they will ever have with a British mission will be through our consular services. As a customer-facing member of staff, the jobholder will need to have excellent communication skills and be able to deal with customer needs in a sensitive manner and with empathy. The successful candidate will need to be able to demonstrate the following key skills and attributes:
- Strong IT, literacy and numeracy skills (including Microsoft Excel, Word and Outlook)
- Excellent organisational and office management skills
- Excellent customer service skills; ability to respond to a range of customer needs and develop positive relationships with customers and stakeholders
- Excellent all-round communication skills to manage customer expectations
- Strong problem solving skills using own judgement
- Ability to plan and prioritise effectively
- Calmness under pressure
- Ability to research guidance, seek advice and follow processes;
- Creativity and willingness to find solutions and suggest improvements to ways of working
- A team player, with the ability to support colleagues and work well with others
- Ability to respond quickly to changing priorities and react positively to change
- Experience working in a British or international environment
- An interest or experience in assisting with crisis preparedness or crisis response
Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace
11 November 2021
A2 (L)
Permanent
Africa
South Africa
Pretoria
British High Commission
R18,680.65
3 January 2022
Learning and development opportunities:
The successful jobholder will complete relevant online consular learning such as learning how to use case management systems, printing emergency travel documents, being responsible for information and. They will have ongoing opportunities to improve and widen their skillset.
There will be opportunities to job shadow at other British missions in the region. The candidate may occasionally travel to Cape Town, Gqeberha and Durban when required to perform duties.
The candidate will be supported to learn on-the-job, and will learn from others in the Southern Africa network. The candidate will participate in Southern Africa consular meetings and events, and will be encouraged to spend some time on personal development.
The British High Commission pays in full for the Key Care Plus option on Discovery Health for staff including spouses/partners and dependants.
- Once you have successfully completed your probation the British High Commission will contribute 9% of your monthly salary to a Provident Fund.
- Annual leave entitlement of 25 days
- Working hours per week of 36.5
Please complete the application form in full as the information provided is used during screening.
- Please check your application carefully before you submit, as no changes can be made once submitted.
- The British High Commission will never request any payment or fees to apply for a position.
- Employees recruited locally by the British High Commission in Pretoria are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in South Africa.
- All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit.
- The responsibility lies on the successful candidate to;
- Obtain the relevant permit
- Pay fees for the permit
- Make arrangements to relocate
- Meet the costs to relocation
- The British High Commission do not sponsor visas/work permits except where it may be local practice to do so.
- 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.
- Information about the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Competency Framework can be found on this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-competency-framework Please note: AA=A1, AO=A2, EO=B3, HEO=C4, SEO=C5
- Reference checking and security clearances will be conducted on successful candidates.
- Please log into your profile on the application system on a regular basis to review the status of your application.
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