View Vacancy - AUH - Pro Consul A2(L)

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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Consular Roles)
Consular

The British Embassy Abu Dhabi has a vacancy for a Pro Consul in the UAE Consular Team on a fixed-term contract for three (3) years.

Our purpose is to support British people living, travelling and working in our region by: providing high quality, accessible consular services, focused on those most in need; responding rapidly to all crises, leading cross-government action; and reducing preventable incidents affecting British people through collaboration with partners and governments.

Currently, the UAE is the home of choice to over 100,000 British people (pre-COVID) and with 1.4 million British visitors annually. The UAE is a designated consular prevention priority country—this year’s EXPO (running from October 2021 to March 2022), the first in the region, will provide much opportunity to innovate and increase our prevention and outreach work.

Reporting to the Vice Consul, the main purpose of the role is to ensure that British Nationals receive a professional, high-quality service and that advice provided is accurate, timely, and consistent, and offered in a sensitive manner and in line with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) guidance. This will include developing and maintaining contacts with local authorities and in the community, providing notarial and documentary services, and taking part in our communications and prevention work.

In response to local or regional crisis, the jobholder will play a key role in the section’s response and deployment.

The successful candidate will need to be a self-starter, highly motivated, and have excellent interpersonal and office management skills.

Consular work can sometimes be emotionally challenging, distressing, and of a sensitive nature. The jobholder will therefore be expected to demonstrate high levels of personal resilience and maintain absolute consular confidentiality and impartiality. 

 

Duties and responsibilities:

- Provide professional and efficient Consular service

  • Provide accurate advice and assistance in a sensitive manner to British Nationals (BNs) and their families via face to face, telephone or email on a range of issues such as: arrests/ detention, hospitalisations, supporting bereaved families, mental health, child custody issues, debt and employment issues, and other sensitive cases such as sexual assault or forced marriage.
  • Maintain accurate and concise case records of services provided on consular databases.
  • Ensure all customer correspondence are replied to in a timely and efficient way, providing consistent, accurate information in accordance with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) guidelines.
  • Be prepared to work out of hours, occasionally anti-social hours, as required.
  • Take part in the Embassy emergency planning and any response to a crisis affecting UK citizens.
  • Administering the appointment system.
  • Provide a range of counter services including notarial work and Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs), ensuring consistent customer service to BNs.
  • Collecting fees, cashing up, and other financial requirement.
  • Ensure deadlines for Returns and Management Information are met.

- Prevention Communications and Outreach

  • Working to help to deliver high quality local prevention and communications work, working closely with the Embassy’s Press/ Communications Team and other senior stakeholders. Producing materials, using social media and attending events.
  • Monitor changes in local procedures and practices, ensuring that all information and guidance for BNs reflects changes and is up to date, e.g. service providers, lawyers list, travel advice, web pages.

The above list is not exhaustive and the jobholder will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required. 

 

Key competencies required:

  • Delivering at Pace - Focusing on delivering timely performance with energy and taking responsibility and accountability for quality outcomes. Working to agreed goals and activities and dealing with challenges in a responsive and constructive way.
  • Making Effective Decisions - Using sound judgement, evidence, and knowledge to arrive at accurate, expert and professional decisions and advice. Being careful and thoughtful about the use and protection of government and public information to ensure it is handled securely and with care. Reaching evidence-based strategies, evaluating options, impacts, risks and solutions and creating a secure culture around the handling of information.
  • Managing a Quality Service - Valuing and modelling professional excellence and expertise to deliver service objectives and striving to improve the quality of service, taking account of diverse customer needs and requirements. Effectively planning, organising, and managing time and activities to deliver a high-quality, secure, reliable, and efficient service, applying programme and project and risk management approaches to support service delivery.
  • Changing and Improving - Being responsive and innovative, and seeking out opportunities to create effective change. Learning from what has worked well and what has not; being open to change, suggesting ideas for improvements to the way things are done; and working in ’smarter’, more focused ways.
  • Consular work can sometimes be stressful and of a sensitive nature. The successful applicant will therefore be expected to maintain absolute consular confidentiality and impartiality at all times. 
  • Excellent customer care skills and the ability to respond to a range of customers’ needs.
  • Good interpersonal skills.
  • A team player who is capable of working on their initiative and who is adaptable to changing priorities. Must be able to work and act without close supervision.
  • Fluent in English, both written and spoken. Able to express ideas and messages clearly and concisely, both orally and in written communication.
  • IT literate, well versed in Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and with accurate typing skills.
  • Previous Consular or related experience/ training, or experience of working in an operational delivery or customer service role.
  • Arabic language skills, both written and spoken, desirable but not required.
  • Previous experience of creating engaging outreach content, use of social media and other platforms.
6 February 2022
Administrative Officer (AO)
Fixed Term, Full-time
38
36 months
Middle East & North Africa
United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi
British Embassy
1
AED
11,363
1 April 2022

The Embassy aims to offer an attractive working environment and remuneration package for this role, including: 25 days of leave per annum; on-site swimming pool, gym, and sports facilities (subject to COVID-19 restrictions).

Salary is at AED 11,363 per month.

There are no other allowances payable as part of this package. No accommodation and relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position.

Effective 01 January 2022, the Embassy will be open from Monday to Friday, from 07:30 to 18:00. Conditioned working hours are 38 hours per week (including breaks), and specific working hours for this role will be confirmed at a later time.

The successful candidate should be flexible in their approach to hours worked as there may be some work out of hours and occasionally anti-social hours required. The successful candidate must also be available for occasional travel within the Gulf region (and possibly further afield) for training and logistical purposes. This role is a part of the wider UAE Consular team so travel between Abu Dhabi and Dubai might be required.

The role is a fixed-term contract for three (3) years. The successful candidate will be required to transfer their visa under the Embassy's sponsorship.

How to apply:

Interested candidates must attach 1) an updated Curriculum Vitae (CV) and 2) a covering letter stating how you meet the requirements of the role.

Your application must also include examples of when you have demonstrated the required competencies in the Competence-Based Questions section of the online application form.

Applications that do not include these information will not be considered.

Closing date for applications is at 11:55 PM UAE local time on 06 February 2022.

Applications received after the stated deadline will not be considered. 

 

Process:

The recruitment process, including security clearance, is expected to take around two months.

Due to the large number of applications we receive, only those shortlisted for the next step of the recruitment process will be contacted.

The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances. 

 

The British Embassy Abu Dhabi an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to inclusivity, a diverse workforce and valuing difference. 

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.