View Vacancy - VNM (HCMC) - Pro Consul, AO

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

Main purpose of job:

 The British Consulate Consular Section in Ho Chi Minh City is part of a global network providing a wide range of consular assistance and services to British people in Vietnam. This is provided  in line with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) published Consular Guidance and Customer Charter, Consular Services Strategy, local procedures, guidance and performance standards. Consular Officers have the opportunity to make a direct difference to people’s lives in challenging circumstances. 
The job includes dealing with  cases and responding to crisis.   The successful candidate will be working in a fast-paced and complex environment where the ability to work under pressure and with difficult subject matter is vital. You will provide a full range of consular services and assistance to British Nationals in HCMC and the rest of Vietnam and will provide resilience, together with support across the Consular Teams in the Vietnam Network.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

Provision of notarial and documentary services in line with Consular Guidance

  • Check, receive and process documents for fee bearing services, ensuring they are conducted in line with policy, and appropriate fees are taken;
  • Record all notarial/legalisation and documentary services on Casebook;
  • Processing Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs).

Consular Assistance

  • Respond to telephone, counter and email inquiries on a wide range of issues and ensure customers are guided to official source of information;
  • Visit detained British nationals in police stations and prisons;
  • Provide welfare support to hospitalised British nationals and victims of crime;
  • Explain procedures and assisting bereaved next of kin in the event of a death;
  • Update local service provider lists
  • Accompany the Vice Consul and CROM on Consular outreach visits and arrange logistics for the trips; and
  • Update outreach contact lists and to produce reports.

Admin Duties 

  • Cashier duties including updating fees, taking payments, preparing daily, weekly and monthly fee certificates, and update the cash till;
  • Compile statistics for various reports, returns and miscellaneous documents;
  • Manage customer bookings on CABS and via email and telephone;
  • Work with FM and security guards on public opening hours, access for customers, and arranging public notices.

Contingency Planning

  • Participation in Network consular crisis team and planning;
  • To test equipment including satellite and emergency phones quarterly;
  • To update tool and travel kit for emergency Grab bags; and
  • Support the organisation of crisis exercises and provide relevant crisis support to CROM, Vice Consul and/or wider mission

Provide cover for the Vice Consul when necessary      

  • Fluency in written and spoken English and Vietnamese;
  • Flexible, resilient, patient and able to deal with difficult situations, including working unsocial hours in an emergency or crisis;
  • Ability to travel within Vietnam;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work collaboratively with colleagues in Vietnam, in the region and the UK as well as the public;
  • Strong IT skills (Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel);
  • Ability to work at pace and prioritise, managing an often heavy workload.

Language requirements: 

Language: Fluency in written and spoken English and Vietnamese

Level of language required: Fluency in both English and Vietnamese 

  • Previous experience in a customer facing role and an ability to respond to a wide range of customer needs;
  • Previous experience  in consular services or welfare/charitable/support organisation would be an advantage
  • Knowledge of the Vietnamese administrative system.
Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Working Together
28 March 2023
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
39.5
Asia Pacific
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City
British Consulate General
1
VND
VND 28,144,748
15 May 2023

This position is being advertised as a 12 months fixed term position with possibility of renewal in Ho Chi Minh City.

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is committed to developing its staff, working hard to provide a comprehensive L&D offer. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources through the Diplomatic Academy and Civil Service Learning. Staff are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all the available opportunities. 

The job-holder will be required to take some specific training courses related to their role. All new staff undertake a workplace induction and there are a number of mandatory e-learning courses covering areas such as diversity, health and safety, and information management. 

  • Mandatory FCDO e-learning 
  • Consular on-line officer training
  • Emergency Travel Document training
  • Consular case management training
  • Data Protection Training
  • Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks. Staff who are locally recruited by the British Embassy are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law.

No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. Visa sponsorship may be possible for non-Vietnamese nationals if meet local requirements.  

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.

Disabled and ethnic minority applicants will be invited to interviews if meeting the minimum requirement of the job.

Working Patterns:

This role will require office based work at the Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City with little scope for remote or flexible working. 

All applications must be received before 23:55 (Local Vietnam Time) on the day of the deadline indicated above.

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen. 

All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the online application form completely including the employment and educational details, experience, professional skills and behaviour-based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the applications and incomplete form in any respect may not be considered while shortlisting for the  next stage.
 
Only shortlisted candidates for interview will be contacted. Interviewees will be assessed on the core behaviours/qualifications listed above. Unsuccessful candidates will be notified via the system in due time. Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’.  If during the reserve period of 6 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate”.

Advertised start date is provisional and subject to completion of reference and security checks.

Please check the application centre regularly for any update on your application.

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.