View Vacancy - Pro Consul (AO) (BGR22.453)

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

The British Embassy in Sofia is part of a worldwide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas. The Consular team at the British Embassy in Sofia is looking to recruit a maternity cover AO Pro Consul to join from October 2022. The successful candidate will help the Consular team to provide and deliver efficient consular assistance and services to British Nationals in Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

As a Pro Consul, you will be working for the British Embassy Sofia reporting to the Vice Consul. You will manage and deliver consular support, in a team of four, to distressed British nationals throughout Bulgaria and North Macedonia. This means you will need to travel to visit British nationals in prison and in hospital across the two countries (occasionally at short notice).

Sofia is a busy assistance post which has a fair share of high-profile and complex cases and steady stream of Emergency Travel Document applications (ETDs). Bulgaria attracts a high number of UK visitors and has the highest number of British residents in the Balkans.

The Pro Consul, in close partnership with the team, is required to build relationships with key external stakeholders in local authorities and the British community across the region to ensure we are in the best position to help British National visitors/residents in need of assistance when required.

The candidate will be a resilient, quick-thinking individual, who can demonstrate empathy towards our most vulnerable customers, with good prioritisation skills and a strong sense of team work.

 

Main Responsibilities will include:

Assistance

  • Lead on consular assistance to British Nationals in cases of hospitalisations, mental health, emergency travel documents, deaths, victims of crime, financial assistance, welfare and detainee cases in accordance with Consular guidance and with the advice of Vice Consul and the Consular network;
  • Handle enquiries and correspondence from consular customers and referring to Vice Consul as necessary;
  • Follow up enquiries and cases by phone, email or in person (including travelling to various locations in Bulgaria, including out of hours/overnight in rare but necessary cases) and ensuring all engagement is properly recorded in line with the Data Protection Act, including unofficial translation work when required;
  • Assist in the monitoring and updating of digital customer information such as travel advice, social media and websites;
  • Provide resilience and support with case handling to colleagues in the Balkans and Eastern Adriatic region.

Partnering & Lobbying

  • Support Vice Consul in preparing and delivering projects;
  • Assist with building relationships with local partners and helping in prevention campaigns to give advice to British Nationals travelling to and living in Bulgaria;
  • Make recommendations to Vice Consul for innovative ways to deliver professional and targeted consular service to residents and visitors in Bulgaria.

Notarial work

  • Prepare paperwork for fee-bearing services.

Crisis

  • Prepare self and post for any possible large scale event affecting British Nationals;
  • Take part in Embassy crisis preparedness activity and local liaison;
  • Proactively work as part of the Bulgaria consular team in any crisis situation and update the consular elements of the Crisis Management Plan.

Management

  • Submission of accurate Management Information data;
  • Contribute to Europe South Network regional work;
  • Budget monitoring and cashier duties;
  • A broad range of section administration, including filing/weeding, submission of returns to London responding to London requests for information and control of working stocks
  • 2-3 years of relevant work experience for the position;
  • Full professional proficiency in English and Bulgarian (written and spoken, minimum of C1 level for CEFR framework* or equivalent);      
  • Experience in Customer Service;
  • Proven experience in dealing with the general public and working in a team in a fast moving target-driven environment;
  • Excellent customer focus using problem solving and judgement skills to deliver results within set deadlines;
  • Superb attention to detail;
  • Ability to develop and maintain contacts with internal and external stakeholders;
  • Positive, proactive attitude and ability to work in a team;
  • Strong service delivery awareness, adaptability, flexibility, patience and empathy;
  • Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work accurately under pressure;
  • Good communication and influencing skills;
  • Self-starter with strong time management skills - able to work to deadlines and targets, manage a sometimes heavy workload and prioritise accordingly;
  • Excellent IT skills (MS Office - Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel);
  • Occasional travel and flexibility in working hours will be expected as on occasions out-of-hours assistance to British nationals may be required (overtime or time off in lieu is provided);
  • Availability, on occasion, to travel at short notice to provide consular assistance in Bulgaria or Macedonia;
  • Managing both external and internal customer expectations.
  • Ability and willingness to drive.
Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing
30 September 2022
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Temporary
36
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Bulgaria
Sofia
British Embassy
1
BGN
1828.77 GROSS
24 October 2022

The successful candidate will be offered a full-time, temporary contract (36 hours per week) to cover for a maternity leave with a monthly salary of 1828.77 gross. In addition, staff are entitled to a 13th month salary pro rata.

Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy are subject to terms and conditions service according to Bulgarian employment law.

The successful candidate will be subject to confirmation of a background and security clearance.

Anyone with right of residence and employment in Bulgaria may apply, including all EU/EEA citizens and the family members of EU/EEA nationals exercising a treaty right in Bulgaria.

Visa/work permit requirements: Candidates must currently hold the independent right to live and work in Bulgaria 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.

Please be advised that the FCDO will not be able to meet the travel costs incurred when travelling to the interview, nor the costs connected with relocation if offered a job.

*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.

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.