Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Consular Roles)
Consular
Due to COVID-19, you may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign and we are working hard to minimise any disruption.
The British Embassy in Lisbon is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas and is now looking to recruit a Consular Officer to cover for a sabbatical leave, and to provide high quality, professional and efficient consular services to visiting and resident British Nationals in Portugal and Cape Verde. To be a fully engaged and proactive member of both the consular and wider Embassy teams.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
- Casework: to provide consular support and assistance to British nationals in cases of hospitalisations, mental health, deaths, victims of crime, financial assistance, welfare, and to handle detainee and prisoner casework, including reporting new detentions and visiting detainees and prisoners. To act as back up for counter work when necessary. To deal with ETDs. To take part in the National Duty Officer roster;
- Stakeholder management: to build and maintain relationships at appropriate levels with local authorities, such as Police, Prison, Court, Social Services, Hospitals, etc. To liaise and collaborate with such local authorities, as and when necessary in order to assist British nationals;
- Post Support: to undertake administrative tasks whenever required;
- Crisis: to help prepare for crisis handling and implement Crisis Management Plan, as and when activated to liaise with authorities over high profile events such as concerts/sporting events that attract high numbers of BNs;
- Change projects: To help implement change projects at post and take part in regional projects as and when necessary.
- Full professional proficiency in English, including excellent writing skills (written and spoken, minimum of C1 level for CEFR framework*);
- intermediate or higher in Portuguese, including writing skills (written and spoken, minimum of B1/B2 level for CEFR framework*);
- Minimum of 3 years of previous experience in front line (face to face) customer service role;
- Ability to respond to a wide range of customer needs;
- Experience of working with distressed customers in difficult situations;
- Full clean driving licence;
- Knowledge of the way local authorities work in Portugal;
- Excellent communication and customer service skills;
- Excellent interpersonal and team working skills;
- Attention to detail and problem solving skills;
- Ability to work at pace and prioritise, managing a heavy workload;
- Excellent IT skills (Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel);
- Adept user of social media, such as Facebook and twitter.
- Flexibility to travel occasionally;
- Ability to display a high level of discretion and responsibility;
- Flexibility, empathy and a high level of resilience.
- Previous consular work experience;
- An understanding of the issues that British nationals, tourists and residents in Portugal, may face;
- Knowledge of Casebook.
Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Collaborating and Partnering, Managing a Quality Service
7 April 2021
A2 (L)
Fixed Term, Full-time
35 net
12 months
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Portugal
Lisbon, Portimao
British Embassy
1
21,379.68 (gross)
17 May 2021
This is a fixed full-time contract for approximately 12 months until 30 June 2022 (35 hours net per week) subject to a 30 days probation period to cover for a sabbatical leave.
The British Embassy in Lisbon aims to offer an attractive working environment and remuneration package for this role of € 21,379.68 gross annual salary paid in fourteen instalments; plus a monthly meal allowance of €134.00. This salary is payable if the successful candidate is subject to individual income tax (IRS) in Portugal on the employment income in question. If the successful candidate is not subject to individual income tax (IRS) on their employment income in Portugal, and/or is not taxable elsewhere on such income, he / she will receive the above salary minus a reference amount approximate to the level of Portuguese tax that would be applicable if the income were subject to tax locally. Further information on this will be given to candidates during the recruitment process.
All staff recruited locally by the British Embassy in Portugal are subject to local Portuguese employment law as well as internal regulations in force at any given time.
The successful candidate will be subject to a professional background and security clearance and must have pre-existing work authorisation for Portugal in order to apply.
All applicants should have the right to live and work in Portugal. The British Embassy does not sponsor work permits.
The Embassy will not consider applications from existing staff who have not successfully completed their probation period or, in the case of staff on temporary contract who have not yet completed two thirds of their contract.
Visa / Passport requirements:
Candidates must currently hold the independent right to live and work in Portugal and be prepared to ensure that right remains throughout the scope of the contract. Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure you meet the legal requirements to live and work in this country.
It is important to note that the consular caseworker role is very demanding and will entail dealing with casework in situations that may involve death, detention, rape and sexual assault and prison visits. You will be required to deal face to face with highly distressed customers who may be in shock, grieving and in a crisis situation. Candidates should therefore have a high level of resilience to trauma.
Please note, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment indicates Level C1 as Mastery or proficiency Level which comprehends that a person can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read; can summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation; can express themselves spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations. For more information please click on the following link CEFR. Please bear in mind in case you are invited for an interview your languages skills are going to be assessed.
Please be advised that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.
We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application, since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.
Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.
Information due to COVID-19:
- You may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign and we are working hard to minimise any disruption;
- Interviews will be done remotely if the existing situation determines this to be the right course of action;
- Starting date may be delayed depending on circumstances at the time and it will be agreed with the selected candidate.
To help us with our recruitment effort, please indicate on the application form /in your cover letter where (ngotenders.net) you saw this job posting.