View Vacancy - SIN - 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 Embassy in Singapore is part of a global network providing a full range of consular assistance to British people in Singapore 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 with difficult subject matter is vital, as well as having responsibility for driving high standards of service delivery.

The Pro Consul will work as part of a Consular Team of 2 staff in the delivery of the day to day operations and assistance to British Nationals.  

The Pro Consul has the opportunity to make a direct difference to the lives of British Nationals, often in difficult and challenging circumstances. The job requires dealing with a wide variety of assistance casework, including following deaths, hospitalisation and in helping people to return to the UK.  You will also be involved in responding to crises and other stressful events.  Visits to prisons, hospitals and mortuaries, will be required.

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

The following are the basic day to day  duties the incumbent will be required to perform. Please note though they may change due to increasing/decreasing workloads.

  1. Consular Assistance
    • Provide support to British Nationals in Singapore, under guidance from the Vice-Consul, including: visiting prisoners, dealing with deaths, hospitalisations, victims of crime and victims of rape or sexual assault and the issuing Emergency Travel Documents
    • Maintain timely and accurate records using FCDO’s consular case management system.  
  2. Communication, Outreach and Prevention
    • Support in the delivery of plans to reduce preventable consular incidents in Singapore, carrying out prevention work with the Vice Consul and the Regional Prevention Advisor
    • Contribute to pro-active outreach in Singapore and communication with key external stakeholders, including building partnerships with local authorities, British Groups, the travel industry, other government organisations and likeminded Embassies
    • Contribute ideas and suggestions for the High Commission social media messaging, engaging proactively  and regularly with the COMMs team
    • Ensure publicly available information on gov.uk, including service provider lists and guidance sheets are accurate and up-dated regularly.
  3. Crisis
    • As part of the whole of mission approach, you will be expected to play an active role in the High Commission’s crisis preparedness, including contributing the High Commission’s Crisis Management Plan  and being a member of the Consular Crisis Team in the event of a major incident, leading on field deployment and any required training for non-consular  staff.
    • Liaison with Corporate Services and post security officer with regards to crisis equipment. 
  4. Corporate
    • Play an active part in the corporate life of the High Commission, including joining High Commission Committees where appropriate, to maximise the overall wellbeing of staff
    • To provide cover for the Vice Consul when necessary

Language:

  • Must be fluent in written and spoken English

Essential on Arrival:

  • Strong team working skills, providing motivation and support for colleagues within 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 using sound judgement, critical thinking and problem solving skills, applying procedures and guidance
  • Experience of working in a customer-facing environment including the ability to support people 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 personal resilience
  • Flexible, resilient, patient and able to deal with difficult and stressful situations
  • 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 the wider Asia Pacific region as required.

Desirable:

  • Experience of living in or understanding of the United Kingdom, British people and culture
  • Previous experience in another support providing organisation would be an advantage.
Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
4 July 2022
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Permanent
37.5
Asia Pacific
Singapore
Singapore
British High Commission
1
SGD
3744
30 July 2022

We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary of SGD 3,744 per month and a generous annual wage supplement (as part of total guaranteed remuneration) of an additional 2 months’ salary paid out in December each year, Central Provident Fund (CPF) payment in lieu for non-Permanent Resident foreign nationals, 23-days annual leave entitlement and a health insurance plan. The basic salary is non-negotiable.

We have a generous leave offer including: 23 days annual leave, increasing to 25 after 5 years' service, with the option to carry over up to 10 days into the subsequent leave year; 13 public holidays; generous maternity and paternity leave; and childcare leave. We encourage volunteerism and offer up to 3 days paid volunteer leave.

We offer medical insurance to support staff with the high costs of healthcare in Singapore and periodic reimbursement for the cost of eye tests and replacement eye wear.

Learning and development opportunities:

We offer time and financial support for the successful candidate to take advantage of professional learning and development opportunities inside and outside of the organisation.

The BHC has an active Learning & Development Committee which works hard to provide a comprehensive L&D offer. There is 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 International Academy and Civil Service Learning. Staff are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all available opportunities.

All new hires undertake a workplace induction and there are a number of mandatory e-learning courses that must be completed in order to pass probation.

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.  

BHC Singapore supports and promotes flexible working as a crucial part of our inclusive offering.

Other information:

In addition to the duties which this job normally entails, you may from time to time be required to undertake additional or other duties as necessary to meet the needs of the High Commission, including playing a part in the corporate life of the mission and supporting any crisis response.

No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. You must have or be able to obtain a local work permit which we will sponsor.

Staff recruited locally by the British High Commission are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local Singapore employment law. 

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. Only short-listed applications will be called for personal interviews.

The British High Commission is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnic origin, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation. Our values of Collaboration, Opportunity, Respect and Excellence (CORE) are our guiding principles. We aspire to live our values consistently in order to make the British High Commission a great place to work where staff feel valued, supported and inspired to be their best. 

We welcome applications from candidates in countries from which travel to Singapore is feasible under the prevailing Covid-related border restrictions.  Singapore will only allow entry for those fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved under the WHO EUL. Successful overseas applicants are responsible for all costs associated with relocating to Singapore.

Staff recruited locally by the British High Commission are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local Singapore employment law. 

Please note that all successful candidates will be expected to serve a minimum of 6 months in their new role before being eligible to apply for further positions within the British High Commission.

Please note that the deadline for applications is 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.

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.

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.

For inclusivity and diversity, please remove the following personal information when uploading your CV: name, address, email address, age, date of birth, gender, and nationality.

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.

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.