View Vacancy - Consular Assistant (FRA20.027)
The British Embassy in Paris is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas. It is also part of the UK’s France Network (including offices in Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille and representation to international organisations in Paris (OECD and UNESCO) and Strasbourg (CoE).
The British Embassy is currently looking for a Consular Assistant to work in the consular team in Paris, part of the France Consular Network which provides a high quality, professional and efficient service to British nationals living, working or visiting France.
As a member of the Consular Section, you will be part of a large and busy team that is responsible for ensuring delivery of high quality consular services to British nationals in the Paris Consular District (covering Paris area- North West-North East and Northern France). You will work closely with the 2 Vice Consuls, and team members, assisting them in delivering Paris’ objectives under the Consular Strategy and France-wide business plans.
The successful candidate will be a real team player working in a fast paced environment, where the ability to work under pressure and a high resilience to trauma are vital. S/he will often have the chance to make a direct difference to someone’s life in very challenging circumstances, and to sometimes deal with extremely sensitive cases or respond to crises.
The main responsibilities will include:
Printing Emergency Travel Documents and issuing certificates of Customs, handling documentary services and dealing with a variety of customer needs. This work involves direct contact with the customer in person, handling several customers at a time and managing the busy consular reception.
Dealing with incoming correspondence from British nationals, local French authorities and some UK authorities on a wide range of consular issues.
Ad hoc support to colleagues on casework which will involve hospitalisations, deaths, rape and sexual assault, mental health, victims of crime, welfare and detainee cases. The majority of this work is handled over the telephone. In this role it is possible that you will have to deal with distressed customers on the telephone, or in person in the reception, particularly during staff absences and when supporting the wider team.
Ensuring that our public information is up to date, including notices, handouts and online content.
Supporting outreach events with the British community.
Preparing for and responding to mass casualty incidents and other FCO crisis responses. This can involve out of hours work, deploying at short notice to the incident and supporting victims and their families.
Excellent communication and customer service skills, including an ability to support customers in traumatic or difficult circumstances.
Fluency in English and Good French, both written and spoken. Language skills will be tested during interview process.
Able to work at pace, in a busy team but also alone and ability to prioritise, managing an often heavy workload.
Flexible, resilient, patient and able to deal with difficult situations, including working unsocial hours in an emergency.
Ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
Capable of adapting to changing priorities and able to work under pressure.
Able to display a high level of discretion and responsibility.
Excellent attention to detail.
Computer literacy in all Microsoft packages and accurate typing skills.
Ability to travel in France and within Europe.
Previous experience in consular services, customer facing services or in another support-providing organisation would be an advantage;
The ideal candidate would have general knowledge of the local French administrative system.
This is a full-time fixed-term position of 6 months.
All appointments are subject to professional background check satisfactory security clearance. The successful applicant will be required to provide a copy of his/her passport or national identity card for all nationalities held, an up-to-date criminal record (casier judiciaire) for recent countries of residence (which can be obtained online at https://www.cjn.justice.gouv.fr/cjn/b3/eje20 ), two written proofs of address (utility invoices and/or bank statements) and two references.
Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy in France are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local French employment law and FCO guidance for Local Staff. The posts we offer are not an entry point into the UK’s Diplomatic Service.
Your application will only be considered if you follow the guidance below:
- Your application must be sent in English only.
- Your application must clearly indicate all nationalities you hold.
Visa / Passport requirements: Candidates must currently hold the independent right to live and work in --- and be prepared to ensure that right remains throughout the scope of the contract. Additional requirements may become necessary pending EU Exit. If requirements change additional eligibility information will be shared during the recruitment process.
All appointments are subject to professional background check satisfactory security clearance. The successful applicant will be required to provide a copy of his/her passport or national identity card for all nationalities held, an up-to-date criminal record (casier judiciaire) for recent countries of residence (which can be obtained online at https://www.cjn.justice.gouv.fr/cjn/b3/eje20 ), two written proofs of address (utility invoices and/or bank statements) and two references.
Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy in France are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local French employment law and FCO guidance for Local Staff. The posts we offer are not an entry point into the UK’s Diplomatic Service.
Your application will only be considered if you follow the guidance below:
- Your application must be sent in English only.
- Your application must clearly indicate all nationalities you hold.
Must currently hold the independent right to live and work in France and be prepared to ensure that right remains throughout the scope of the contract.
* Please note Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment indicates Level C2 as Mastery or proficiency Level which comprehends that a person can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read; can summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation; can express themselves spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations. For more information please click on the following link CEFR. Please bear in mind in case you are invited for an interview your languages skills are going to be assessed.
This opportunity is closed to applications.
