View Vacancy - Pro Consul, British Embassy - Buenos Aires (TEMPORARY)

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.
Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)
Consular

Main purpose of job:

The British consular network supports British nationals, and their families, facing acute personal difficulties overseas. As Pro Consul, you will deliver a professional, high quality consular assistance service to British nationals visiting or residing in Argentina, act as a key member of the wider Americas consular network and support the smooth running of the Consular Section according to guidance and best practice.

You will act as the first port of call for British nationals who may have been the victim of crime (including those who may have been raped or sexually assaulted); suffered a bereavement; been hospitalised; have been arrested or detained; or require additional support due to mental health needs. 

You will need to provide excellent, empathetic and efficient consular assistance, tailored to the needs and circumstances of those you help; provide notarial and documentary services such as by issuing Emergency Travel Documents; manage stakeholders, websites and other communications channels; and take part in outreach with our partners. 

The role involves direct and frequent (daily) interaction with the public; with local, regional and UK authorities; with colleagues across the consular network in the Americas and London; and with external stakeholders such as airlines and hospitals. 

We invest in the development of our staff. The successful jobholder will benefit from an extensive online and virtual training programme throughout the duration of the temporary position.

We are looking for someone who thrives on working with and helping others. You will need sound judgement; an empathetic disposition; good organisational skills; and strong personal resilience in dealing with setbacks/obstacles and sometimes stressful encounters, with the support of your colleagues. If this sounds like you, we want to hear from you!


Roles and responsibilities:

Assistance

  • Provide tailored consular assistance to vulnerable British nationals and their families in person, by telephone and/or email, in accordance with current guidelines. This includes supporting Britons on a range of issues including bereavement, arrests, hospitalisations, missing persons, victims of crime, welfare, child abduction, rape and sexual assault;
  • Maintain close links with local authorities including, but not limited to police, prisons, hospitals, and other British Government teams and departments who work with us to help British Nationals;
  • Maintain accurate and concise case records using FCDO IT platforms;
  • Facilitate and print Emergency Travel Documents (ETD) through liaison with our ETD centre;
  • Make arrangements for citizenship ceremonies;
  • Exceptionally, participate in call-out arrangements for emergency cases out of hours when our Global Response Centre in London requests additional support.

Counter and Notarial Services

  • Prepare certified copies of British passports.

Partnership/Prevention and Project Work

  • Create, maintain and strengthen relationship with key local authorities –sharing campaigns and concerns with a view to reduce the number of preventable incidents and minimise risks to British Nationals overseas. Maintain and update our consular database;
  • Participate in weekly Buenos Aires video conferences and other wider thematic Americas teleconferences;
  • Contribute to improvements to customer service delivery, including provision of accurate information for public-facing documentation and guidance.

Teamwork and Learning

  • Personal administration and management, completing personal development plans and maintaining skills and knowledge proficiency;
  • Provide support to colleagues dealing with traumatic events, distressed British people and complex cases;
  • Contribute to learning and development initiatives for the whole team, providing and accepting constructive feedback to a professional standard.

Crisis work and Resilience

  • Prepare for crisis handling and implementation of the Consulate Crisis Management Plan, including participation in crisis management exercises and use of the crisis IT systems;
  • Regularly maintain and update the consular elements of Post’s Crisis Management Plan;
  • Maintain a readiness to respond to a declared crisis, based on named roles within the Crisis Management Plan; provide regional resilience support where required;
  • In crisis/emergency situations work as required to support the Consular response (sometimes on a shift pattern working unsociable hours).

Other

  • In times of peak operational demand, be able to work flexibly. 



Essential on arrival:

  • Experience of working in challenging customer facing environments, where you have used your resilience, patience and adaptability in sometimes challenging, difficult and stressful situations;
  • Excellent English written and verbal communication skills with an ability to communicate at all levels;
  • Ability to take responsibility for the quality of own work and keep managers informed of how your work is progressing;
  • Have sound judgement, critical thinking and problem solving skills to manage customer expectations;
  • Ability to work at pace in an environment where priorities change to effectively prioritise, manage and execute multiple tasks within tight deadlines;
  • Exceptional organisational skills and have attention to detail;
  • Proficient IT skills including Microsoft Office applications and the ability to learn FCDO systems;
  • Understanding of and commitment to protection of personal data. 

Language requirements: 

Language: English and Spanish

Level of language required: Excellent English & Spanish (spoken and written) 

Desirable:

  • Previous Consular or related experience/ training, or experience of working in an operational delivery role;
  • Previous experience of creating engaging outreach content, use of social media and other platforms;
  • A good knowledge of multi-cultural Britain, its language and geography;
  • A willingness to travel at short notice within Argentina.
Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
28 May 2023
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Temporary
35
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Argentina
Buenos Aires
British Embassy
1
14 August 2023
22 March 2024

This is a temporary role providing leave coverage at the British Embassy in Buenos Aires.

Must have the legal status to live and work in Argentina.  

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, eg some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

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. Any offer of employment is subject to successful completion of mandatory security and background checks.

Learning and development opportunities:

The British Embassy in Buenos Aires encourages all staff to develop their capabilities, through both formal training (courses) and informal (job-shadowing, coaching, on-the-job training etc). The network offers a wide range of learning and development opportunities, including job-specific training as necessary and broader learning linked to the FCDO Diplomatic Academy. 

The successful candidate will be expected to complete a number of e-learning and virtual courses on consular assistance work and crisis within the first three months of employment. 


Working patterns:

This is a temporary, full-time role - 35 hours/week, Monday to Thursday 8:30 to 16:30 Friday 8:30 to 14:00. You will be expected to spend most time in the office; some time out of the office assisting British nationals and engaging with partners and stakeholders; and will be able to have the flexibility to work from home some of the time. The proportion of time spent in office/home may change.

The successful candidate may be required to participate in training and could exceptionally be called out to deal with emergency cases or crisis work out of hours. 

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’.  If during the reserve period of 6-12 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.
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.