View Vacancy - Vice Consul and Deputy Head of Post (ESP21.520)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Consular Roles)
Consular

The British Consulate in Malaga is part of a worldwide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas. Currently, we are looking for a Vice Consul and Deputy Head of Post to deliver the consular strategy in Spain.

With over 300,000 British residents and 15 million British tourists annually, Spain is the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s busiest consular operation globally.

Main purpose of the job

  • To lead and motivate the Malaga consular team in delivering first class customer service, consular assistance and support to resident and visiting British nationals in the Malaga consular district (Andalucía). 
  • To manage the efficient running of the consulate in Malaga.
  • To build and maintain good working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. 
  • To support the Consul/CROM and colleagues in Spain South to deliver against our strategic objectives. 

Main roles and responsibilities

Team Management/Leadership

  • Provide clear leadership and professional management to the consular team in Malaga and remotely manage the Honorary Consuls in Almeria and Seville.
  • Set challenging objectives, encourage and promote training and learning & development opportunities, monitor progress, conduct regular 1-2-1 sessions, and conduct quality appraisals. 
  • Provide coaching and mentoring as required, and maintain high levels of team motivation. 
  • Ensure excellent customer service delivery; and efficiently manage resources, processes and systems.
  • Collaborate with, and provide cover for, vice-consuls in Tenerife and Las Palmas as necessary.

Policy and Projects

  • Keep abreast of evolving consular policy, ensure consular team is aware of key changes, promote its implementation, and ensure consistency. 
  • Ensure team contribution to delivering on Europe South, Spain, Consular Directorate and FCDO priorities.
  • Remain aware of changes to local laws, and how these might affect resident and visiting British nationals.
  • Lead on the implementation of service improvements in Malaga.
  • Actively contribute to the Spain South management team.
  • Contribute to regional work streams, projects and sharing of best practice. 

Assistance

  • Ensure consular officers are equipped to manage assistance cases in accordance with guidance.
  • Maintain an overview of live cases, and provide support and advice where necessary.
  • Lead on high profile and complex cases, briefing and advising the Consul/CROM and other senior stakeholders as appropriate.
  • Carry out notarial and documentary services, and respond to letters from members of the public.

Stakeholder Management

  • Represent the Consulate/Embassy at external high profile/public events.
  • Develop and nurture a strong network of mutually beneficial relationships with internal colleagues, local authorities, travel and tourist industry, local media, British community groups, and NGO sector, as appropriate.
  • Lobby host authorities as necessary.

 Influencing/Prevention

  • Lead on delivering the Malaga prevention priorities.

Crisis

  • Lead crisis response for Post, maintaining and testing local crisis plans as part of a mission-wide effort.
  • Work with emergency service agencies to ensure efficient communication in the event of a crisis. 
  • Support Consul/CROM in responding to crises.
  • Support and feed into contingency plans for large-scale events likely to attract significant numbers of British visitors.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills enabling effective communication in English and Spanish (minimum C1 level *);
  • Experience managing a team (min 2 years);
  • Clean, full driving licence.
  • Proven experience in customer service handling and excellent customer service skills;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and stakeholders in Spain, Europe and the UK.
  • Good IT skills (proficiency in Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and Teams) and ability to adapt to new programmes/systems;
  • Ability to work at pace and prioritise, managing an often heavy workload, excellent organisational skills.
  • Resilience.
  • An understanding of the issues that British nationals in Spain may face - both tourists and residents.
  • Knowledge of Spanish government structures and processes.
7 December 2021
Executive Officer (EO)
Full-time, Permanent
37.5
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Spain
Malaga
British Consulate
1
EUR
44,076.38€ (gross)
3 January 2021

This is a full-time, permanent contract, B3(L) ES. The working hours are 37.5 hours per week. 

The successful candidate is subject to a confirmation of a background check, security clearance and the successful completion of a probationary period.

The successful candidate will be enrolled in the Spanish Social Security Scheme and will therefore not be entitled to any gratuity from the British Consulate based on gross annual salary.

The British Consulate is a Diplomatic Mission with tax exempt status and does not collect taxes for other States. Employees are fully responsible for payment of Spanish income tax at the legally required rate. Staff recruited locally by the British Consulate are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local Spanish employment law.

All applicants should have the right to live and work in Spain. The British Consulate does not sponsor for work permits.

Visa/work permit requirements: Candidates must currently hold the independent right to live and work in Spain 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. Candidates should therefore have a high level of resilience to trauma.

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.

FCDO does not pay for travel related expense incurred in interviews (including Security Check) or accept any financial risk, including cancelation or reschedule costs. The FCDO will not meet the costs connected with relocation if offered a position.

*Please note for more information on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment  levels  please click on the following link CEFR. Please bear in mind in case you are invited for an interview your language skill is going to be assessed.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.