Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Consular Roles)
Consular
The British Embassy Manila is a large diplomatic mission delivering a dynamic and rapidly expanding programme of activity in support of the UK’s objectives on prosperity, security and consular matters. The Embassy is a modern, diverse and inclusive employer where everyone contributes to the Embassy’s CORE Values of Collaboration, Opportunity, Respect and Excellence.
Main purpose of the job:
The British Embassy in Manila is part of a global network providing a full range of consular assistance to British people in the Philippines in line with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) published Consular Guidance and Customer Charter, Consular Services Strategy, local procedures, guidance and performance standards. The successful candidate will be working in a fast-paced and complex environment where the ability to work under pressure and provide leadership is vital, as well as having responsibility for driving high standards of service delivery.
The Pro Consul will work as part of a Consular Team of 8 staff (and as one of four Pro-Consuls) in the delivery of the day to day operations and assistance to British Nationals.
The Pro Consul has the opportunity to make a direct difference to the lives of British Nationals, often in difficult and challenging circumstances. The job requires dealing with a wide variety of assistance casework, including following deaths, hospitalisation and in helping people to return to the UK. You may also be involved in responding to crises and other stressful events. Visits to prisons, hospitals and mortuaries, including travel to different parts of the Philippines, will required when COVID restrictions are lifted.
Roles and responsibilities:
Consular Assistance: Provide support to British Nationals in the Philippines, under guidance from the Vice-Consuls and Consul, including: visiting prisoners, dealing with deaths, hospitalisations, victims of crime and victims of rape or sexual assault. Where necessary, and subject to current COVID restrictions, travel within the Philippines, possibly at short notice, to provide assistance directly to customers. Maintain timely and accurate records using FCDO’s consular casebook system.
Notarial Services: Provide routine notarial services to British Nationals, including issuing Emergency Travel Documents.
Communication, Outreach and Prevention: Support in the delivery of plans to reduce preventable consular incidents in the Philippines, collaborating with the Prevention lead and colleagues within the Manila Consular Team. Contribute to pro-active outreach in the Philippines and communication with key external stakeholders, including building partnerships with local authorities, British Groups, the travel industry, other government organisations and likeminded Embassies. Contribute ideas and suggestions for Embassy social media messaging. Ensure publicly available information on gov.uk, including service provider lists and guidance sheets are accurate and up-dated regularly.
Crisis: As part of the whole of mission approach, you will be expected to play an active role in the Embassy’s crisis preparedness, including contributing the Embassy Crisis Management Plan and being a member of the Consular Crisis Team in the event of a major incident.
Corporate: Play an active part in the corporate life of the Embassy, including joining Embassy Committees where appropriate, to maximise the overall wellbeing of staff.
- Strong team working skills, providing motivation and support for colleagues within the team.
- Ability to resolve conflict and bridge cultural differences in team.
- Able to display sound judgement and an analytical approach in decision making.
- Ability to drive high quality service standards using sound judgement, critical thinking and problem solving skills, applying procedures and guidance.
- Experience of working in a customer-facing environment including the ability to support people and team members in traumatic or difficult circumstances.
- Good self-management and organisational skills with an ability to work under pressure in challenging, stressful situations, demonstrating a high level of personal resilience.
- Flexible, resilient, patient and able to deal with difficult and stressful situations, including working unsocial hours in an emergency.
- Proven experience of displaying a high level of discretion and responsibility.
- Ability to liaise with and manage external stakeholder relationships.
- Experience in completing timely and accurate written information in English.
- IT proficiency
- Ability to travel within the Philippines/the wider Asia Pacific region as required.
- Experience of living in or understanding of the United Kingdom, British people and culture.
- Previous experience in another support providing organisation would be an advantage.
Leading and Communicating, Collaborating and Partnering, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace
22 November 2021
A2 (L)
Full-time, Permanent
36
Asia Pacific
Philippines
Manila
British Embassy
1
PHP
PHP 37,907
20 December 2021
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is committed to developing its staff, working hard to provide a comprehensive L&D offer. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources and are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all the available opportunities. All new staff undertake a workplace induction and there are a number of mandatory e-learning courses covering areas such as diversity, health and safety, and information management.
The British Embassy has a formal flexible working policy and welcomes requests for flexible working arrangements, including non-standard working hours (however staff have to be available during opening hours to take calls from customers) or compressed hours. Team members can work from home however there are times staff must come to the office to deal with customers face to face.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, staff are actively encouraged to work from home to limit movement and exposure to others. This impacts normal team-working configurations and work-related travel, which can be discussed with the hiring manager.
The jobholder must be prepared to undertake work-related national and occasional international travel, including for learning & development purposes.
Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy Manila is subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Philippine employment law.
No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. 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. Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.
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.
Candidates are expected to have a valid NBI Clearance.
All applications must be received before 23:55 Standard Philippine Time on the day of the deadline indicated above. Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.
Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. Only shortlisted candidates for interview will be contacted. Interviewees will be assessed on the core competencies listed above. Unsuccessful candidates will be notified via the system in due time.
Indicated start date is provisional and subject to successful completion of reference and security checks.
To those applicants not shortlisted, we extend our appreciation for considering the British Government as a potential employer.
To help us track our recruitment effort, please indicate on the application form /in your cover letter where (ngotenders.net) you saw this job posting.