View Vacancy - Consular Officer (ESP24.117)
The British Embassy in Spain is part of a global network representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas and is now recruiting for a Consular Officer position in Gran Canaria.
With around 400,000 British residents and 18 million British tourists (pre-pandemic) annually, Spain is the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s busiest consular operation globally. The selected candidate will be based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and will support consular service delivery to vulnerable British nationals primarily for Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Graciosa.
As part of the Spain consular team, which operates over eight consulates, the successful candidate will work at a national level providing input into national plans and providing remote support and resilience to other consulates in Spain. Full induction and training will be provided to the successful candidate.
Deliver first class consular assistance to vulnerable British nationals, with a high volume of often complex casework including hospitalisations, deaths, detentions and cases of rape or sexual assault. Examples of the support required may include:
- Visiting patients and providing support to emotional families in cases of serious hospitalisation.
- Providing empathetic advice and support to bereaved families, including in cases of murder, suicide or violent/accidental deaths, accompanying to the funeral director/mortuary as required.
- Providing advice to detainees and visiting prisoners.
- Accompanying victims of sexual assault to court, hospital or in their contact with the police.
- Liaise with local Spanish stakeholders, such as funeral directors, police, courts and social services, as well as local authorities and charities providing support and assistance to British nationals.
- Support the delivery of the Spain prevention strategy. Activities may include engaging with a variety of local stakeholders and assisting in the evaluation of prevention activity at post.
- Support delivery of projects/change programme’s. Activities may include collation and analysis of information, deadlines, reporting on progress and working with team members across Spain.
- Assist in the preparation/response to possible crisis situations involving large numbers of UK nationals, such as forest fires, flooding, large scale accidents, security incidents etc.
- Provide office support, including isuing of Emergency Travel Documents for UK nationals, dealing with customer enquiries, general adminstration and organising events/meetings as needed.
- Excellent communication and customer service skills, including a proven ability to support customers in traumatic or difficult circumstances.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work collaboratively and flexibly with colleagues in Spain, Wider Europe Network and the UK
- Ability to liaise with external stakeholders and manage a range of external relationships.
- Attention to detail, strong analytical perspective and problem solving skills.
- Ability to work at pace and prioritise, managing an often heavy workload; excellent organisational skills.
- Fluency in both English and Spanish (a minimum of C2 level).
- Good IT skills (use of Outlook, Microsoft suite, Word and Excel essential).
- Based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
- University degree.
- Experience in a social work or welfare support setting.
- Knowledge of the tourist industry in the Canary Islands.
- An understanding of the issues that British nationals in Spain may face, both visitors and residents.
- Full Spanish driving licence.
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.
This is a full-time for a permanent contract at AO grade level. Normal working hours are 37.5 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 Embassy based on gross annual salary.
The Embassy is a Diplomatic Mission with tax exempt status and does not collect taxes for other States. Employees are fully responsible for payment of income tax at the legally required rate. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy in Spain are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local Spanish employment law.
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 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.
The Embassy is committed to employee development and wellbeing and has several initiatives in both areas that benefit staff.
This opportunity is closed to applications.
