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 Bucharest is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas and is now looking to recruit a temporary Pro Consul (6 months) to provide summer relief cover from May 2021.
The successful jobholder will deliver effective and efficient consular assistance and services to British Nationals in Romania and contribute to the delivery of regional consular business plan and the country business plan.
As a Pro Consul, you will be based at the British Embassy Bucharest, working in a team of two with the Vice Consul.. You may occasionally need to travel to visit British nationals in, for example, prisons and hospitals, across the country (sometimes at short notice) or organise calls remotely, but with likley limitations due to COVID-19 restrictions or staff safety policies.
Bucharest is a post which has a fair share of notarial work, some complex mental health, child welfare and death cases and a steady stream of Emergency Travel Document applications (ETDs). The number of UK visitors in Romania has been increasing in the last few years, mainly city tourism in Bucharest and Cluj Napoca and there are a number of British residents in Bucharest, Cluj Napoca, Costanta, Brasov.
The candidate will be a resilient, quick-thinking individual and a self-starter, who can demonstrate empathy towards our most vulnerable customers, with good prioritisation skills and a strong sense of team work.
Main responsibilities will include:
- Deliver consular assistance to distressed British Nationals including visiting detainees and cases of hospitalisations, dealing with bereaved families, child custody issues, mental health, emergency travel documents, victims of crime and sexual violence, financial assistance and welfare in accordance with Consular guidance and with the advice of Vice Consul in Bucharest and the Consular network;
- Alerting the Vice Consul to any cases which may attract high level or media attention;
- Handle enquiries and correspondence from consular customers and referring to Vice Consul as necessary;
- Follow up enquiries and cases by phone, email or in person (including travelling to various locations in Romania, including out of hours/overnight in rare but necessary cases) and ensuring all engagement is properly recorded in line with the Data Protection Act, including unofficial translation work when required;
- Assist in the monitoring and updating of digital customer information such as travel advice, social media and websites;
- Monitoring changes in local procedures and practices and ensuring that our information and guidance for British nationals reflects any changes and is up to date;
- Provide resilience and support with case handling to colleagues in the Balkans and Eastern Adriatic Consular region; cover remotely for other posts on a daily basis to cover absences, and possibly deploying to provide physical services if agreed with the Vice Consul;
- Prepare self and post for any possible large scale event affecting British Nationals;
- Take part in Embassy crisis preparedness activity and local liaison.
- Fluency in Romanian and English (both oral and written, minimum C1 level*);
- 1- 2 years of relevant work experience in a customer facing role or Experience in Customer Service;
- Proven experience in dealing with the general public and working in a team in a fast moving target-driven environment;
- Excellent customer focus using problem solving and judgement skills to deliver results within set deadlines;
- Self starter with strong time management skills – able to work to deadlines and targets, manage a sometimes heavy workload and prioritise accordingly;
- Excellent attention to detail;
- Positive, proactive attitude, ability to multitask and work in a team;
- Good communication skills;
- Excellent organisational and administrative skills;
- Excellent IT skills (MS Office – Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel);
- Occasional travel and flexibility in working hours will be expected as on occasions out-of-hours assistance to British nationals may be required (overtime or time off in lieu is provided);
- Availability, on occasion, to travel at short notice to provide consular assistance in Romania.
Making Effective Decisions, Collaborating and Partnering, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace
9 May 2021
A2 (L)
Full-time, Temporary
35
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Romania
Bucharest
British Embassy
1
5,140 gross (salary is not negotiable)
1 June 2021
This is a full-time ficed-term contract for 6 months (35 hours net per week). Working hours are flexible and staff are entitled to time-off-in-lieu for agreed extra hours worked.
The annual leave entitlement is 25 days per year pro rata and the Embassy also enjoys a maximum of 14 Romanian / UK public holidays per year.
Monthly salary is RON 5,140 gross. The successful candidate will be subject to confirmation of a background check and security clearance, and satisfactory completion of a probationary period of 30 working days.
For your information whilst the Emergency Ordinance 79/2017 is in place the job holder will receive a gross monthly compensation bonus of RON 1,028.
All applicants should have a pre-existing legal status to live and work in Romania. The British Embassy does not facilitate/sponsor visa applications and work permits. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy are subject to terms and conditions service according to Romanian employment law.
Visa/work permit requirements: Candidates must currently hold the independent right to live and work in Romania 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.
Please be advised that Consular positions at the FCDO entail dealing with casework in situations that may involve death, detention, rape, assault, post-mortems, prison visits and highly distressed customers.
Please note 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.
Please be advised that the British Embassy will not be able to meet the travel costs incurred when travelling to the interview, nor the costs connected with relocation if offered a position.
* Please note Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment indicates Level C2 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.
Additional 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;
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Interviews will be done remotely if the existing situation determines this to be the right course of action;
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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.