View Vacancy - KL - Head of Consular Section and Vice Consul, B3(L)

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 High Commission  Kuala Lumpur is part of a global network providing a full range of consular assistance to British people in Malaysia and Brunei  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. The successful candidate will be working in a fast-paced and complex environment where the ability to work under pressure and provide leadership is vital, as well as having responsibility for driving high standards of service delivery.

The Vice Consul will provide leadership, motivation, strategic direction and oversight of the day to day operations, with management and leadership responsibility for a team of three consular officers.

The Vice Consul has the opportunity to make a direct difference to people’s lives in sometimes challenging circumstances. The job requires dealing with extremely sensitive cases, or responding to crises and stressful events. Visits to prisons, hospitals and morgues will be required.

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

Management: Leadership and day to day running of consular operation in Malaysia, with overall responsibility for ensuring staff deliver the consular strategy, meet  targets (KPIs)  and deliver consistent and high level customer service. Line manage three  staff, providing guidance, support and direction to them, ensuring workload allocated equitably. Motivation and development of the team, ensuring staff are appropriately trained and supported.. Provide support to colleagues working under pressure and in a  challenging environment, creating a positive inclusive work environment, focussing on wellbeing. Ensure all audit requirements are met and understood by all staff. 

Consular Assistance: Lead on high profile/complex assistance cases including:  visiting prisoners, dealing with deaths, hospitalisations, victims of crime, distressed British Nationals. Where necessary travel within Malaysia and Brunei, possibly at short notice, to provide assistance directly to customers. Maintain timely and accurate records using FCDO’s consular casebook system.  Remotely oversee assistance for British Nationals in Brunei 

Communication, Outreach and Prevention: Develop and deliver plans to reduce preventable consular incidents in Malaysia, collaborating with the Asia Pacific Prevention Manager. Manage outreach, both in Malaysia and Brunei, and communications with key external stakeholders, building partnerships with local authorities, British Groups, the travel industry, other government organisations and likeminded missions.  Monitor and update the consular element of the travel advice, including recommendations for social media messaging. Ensure information,  service provider lists and guidance sheets are accurate and up-dated periodically and brought to the attention of British Nationals through interaction with Comms team at post.

Liaison with regional consular management and other consular staff on operational and policy issues, including

involvement in regional working groups. Provide statistical returns and reporting throughout the year.

Crisis: Assisting, as part of the whole of mission approach, in preparing for and responding appropriately to mass casualty incidents or crises. Be a member of the Post crisis management team. Liaison with Regional Crisis Advisor (RCA) on training and exercise timetable.

Corporate: Play an active part in the corporate life of the High Commission (including if necessary as a member of any High Commission committees) to maximise the overall wellbeing of staff.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

Line management of 3 Consular Assistants

Essential on arrival:      

  • Able to lead a multi-skilled team providing motivation, support and development for the team.
  • Ability to resolve conflict and bridge cultural differences in team.
  • Able to display sound judgement and an analytical approach in decision making.
  • Ability to drive high quality service standards and plan and prioritise for a busy team using  sound judgement, critical thinking and problem solving skills, applying procedures and guidance.
  • Output focused – ability to drive delivery through the team, resolving issues fairly and promptly.
  • Considerable experience of working in a customer-facing environment including the ability to support clients and team members in traumatic or difficult circumstances.
  • Good self management and organisational skills with an ability to work under pressure in challenging, stressful situations, demonstrating a high level of resilience.
  • Flexible, resilient, patient and able to deal with difficult situations, including working unsocial hours in an emergency.
  • Proven experience of displaying a high level of discretion and responsibility.
  • Ability to liaise with and manage external stakeholder relationships.
  • Experience in completing timely and accurate written information in English.
  • IT proficiency
  • Ability to travel within Malaysia, Brunei  and Asia as required.

Language: Fluent written and spoken English 

  • An experienced manager with proven skills in managing a team.
  • Experience of living in or understanding of the United Kingdom, British people and culture.
  • Previous experience in consular services or in another support providing organisation would be an advantage.

15 June 2021
Executive Officer (EO)
Full-time, Permanent
37.25
Asia Pacific
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
British High Commission
1
MYR
MYR 6,305
10 August 2021

The British High Commission offers a competitive remuneration package, benefits, leave entitlement of 20 days per annum (calculated on pro rata basis) and works hard to provide L&D opportunities to staff.

The High Commission’s policy is to bring in new entrants at the salary starting level. For B3 this would be MYR 6500.  But we may be willing to negotiate a higher level for this particular role, based on the candidate’s experience and our own standard salary scheme 

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks. Staff who are locally recruited by the British High Commission are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law.

You must have the right to live and work in Malaysia. No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. 

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. 

There are a wide range of options available for personal development including training courses, coaching and mentoring, job-shadowing, presentations and learning sets. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources through the Diplomatic Academy and Civil Service Learning.  

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

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development 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 and are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all the available opportunities. 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.

  • Compulsory online training courses include diversity and inclusion.
  • The British High Commission has an active L&D Committee and offers a wide range of in-house training and funding for external training on policy, programme work and leadership skills

Working patterns:

The British High Commission has a formal flexible working policy and welcomes requests for flexible working arrangements, including non-standard working hours (however staff have to be available during opening hours to take calls from customers) or compressed hours. Team members can work from home however there are times staff must come to the office to deal with customers face to face.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, staff are actively encouraged to work from home to limit movement and exposure to others. This impacts normal team-working configurations and work-related travel, which will be discussed with the hiring manager.

The jobholder must be prepared to undertake work-related national and occasional international travel, including for learning & development purposes.

Please note that your application must be submitted before 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

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

Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. Only shortlisted candidates for interview will be contacted. Interviewees will be assessed on the core competencies listed above. Unsuccessful candidates will be notified via the system in due time. 


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

Kindly check your application centre or email regularly for any update on the status of your application.

To those applicants not short-listed, we extend our appreciation for considering the British Government as a potential employer.

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.