View Vacancy - MNL - Pro Consul, AO
The British Embassy Manila is a large diplomatic mission delivering a dynamic and rapidly expanding programme of activity in support of the UK’s objectives on prosperity, security and consular matters. The Embassy is a modern, diverse and inclusive employer where everyone contributes to the Embassy’s WORC Values of Wellbeing, Opportunity, Respect and Collaboration.
Main purpose of job:
The British Embassy in Manila is part of a global network providing a full range of consular assistance to British people in the Philippines in line with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) published Consular Charter, 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 Pro Consul will work as part of a Consular Team of 8 staff (and as one of four Pro-Consuls) 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 may also be involved in responding to crises and other stressful events. Visits to prisons, hospitals and mortuaries, including travel to different parts of the Philippines, will also be required.
Roles and responsibilities/what will the jobholder be expected to achieve:
1. Consular Assistance: Provide support to British Nationals in the Philippines, under guidance from the Vice-Consuls and Consul, including: visiting prisoners, dealing with deaths, hospitalisations, victims of crime and victims of rape or sexual assault. Where necessary travel within the Philippines, possibly at short notice, to provide assistance directly to customers. Maintain timely and accurate records using FCDO’s consular casebook system.
2. Notarial Services: Provide routine notarial services to British Nationals, including issuing Emergency Travel Documents and setting up same sex marriage ceremonies.
3. Communication, Outreach and Prevention: Support in the delivery of plans to reduce preventable consular incidents in the Philippines, collaborating with the Prevention lead and colleagues within the Manila Consular Team. Contribute to pro-active outreach in the Philippines 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 Embassy social media messaging. Ensure publicly available information on gov.uk, including service provider lists and guidance sheets are accurate and up-dated regularly.
4. Crisis: As part of the whole of mission approach, you will be expected to play an active role in the Embassy’s crisis preparedness, including contributing the Embassy Crisis Management Plan and being a member of the Consular Crisis Team in the event of a major incident.
5. Corporate: Play an active part in the corporate life of the Embassy, including as the Consular Section budget manager, and joining Embassy Committees where appropriate, to maximise the overall wellbeing of staff.
Language Requirements:
- Fluent (written and spoken) in English and Tagalog
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, 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 the Philippines/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.
Benefits:
The British Embassy Manila offers the following:
- A competitive compensation package
- 36-hour work week
- Guaranteed 13th and 14th month pay
- 20 days paid annual leave (calculated on Pro-rata basis if joined after 1 January)
- Extensive medical insurance
- Life insurance
- Access to a guaranteed 5 days of learning opportunities a year.
Learning and Development Opportunities:
The British Embassy is committed to being a learning and development organisation and encourages all staff to pursue continued learning and development in the workplace. We offer a supportive and friendly working environment where staff work to the values of: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. Everyone is encouraged to take responsibility, be innovative and work together.
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.
Working Patterns:
Total of 36 work hours per work week.
The British Embassy 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. While team members can work from home the expectation is that you will work in the office at least 3 working days each week. Consular work does require in-person attendance in the office, e.g. when issuing Emergency Travel Documents, and you will be part of a roster system to ensure we have full staff coverage in the office.
Other Information:
Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy Manila is subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Philippine employment law.
No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit. Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.
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.
Candidates are expected to have a valid NBI Clearance.
The jobholder must be prepared to undertake work-related national and occasional international travel, including for learning & development purposes.
You must have the right to live and work in the Philippines.
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.
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. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core behaviours listed above.
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.
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.
This opportunity is closed to applications.
