View Vacancy - Vice Consul (08/25 HRE)

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. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Consular Roles)
Consular

Main purpose of job:

Deliver and manage consular services and assistance to British nationals in Zimbabwe in line with our public guide Support for British nationals abroad and the Consular Charter. You will be expected to manage both straight-forward and multiple complex cases with appropriate oversight but largely without direct supervision. 

You will be based at the British Embassy in Harare, but will work collaboratively with colleagues across the Southern Africa Consular Network, providing advice and remote support to neighbouring countries. 

You will lead on specific prevention projects in Zimbabwe, writing preventative online guides, organising engagement and networking events and lobbying stakeholders to help minimise risks to British residents and visitors to Zimbabwe to help prevent them from getting into difficulty. You will also support on crisis preparedness and response and be expected to fulfill the deputy consular manager or consular manager role in a crisis. You will be required to deliver services to British nationals, including issuing travel documents, visiting those detained in Zimbabwe, and leading on officiating Citizenship Ceremonies. 

Roles and responsibilities: 

Consular assistance

  • Leading on complex/high profile cases involving vulnerable British Nationals. This might involve supporting families of people who have been bereaved, including giving welfare assistance to destitute British people; supporting victims of crime (including rape and sexual assault) and people who have been hospitalised; as well as visiting British prisoners and responding to a host of other issues. Please note this could require visiting mortuaries and other challenging environments; and some cases will have media/parliamentary interest.
  • Supporting and advising consular officers in the Southern Africa region on complex assistance cases and where needed.

Prevention

  • Leading on prevention projects and initiatives that support British nationals on the most relevant risks and issues that affect British people. This could include hosting workshops, organising events and generally working on themes such as complex death cases, mental health, addiction and recovery, tourism safety, victims of crime (including Rape & Sexual Assault) and homelessness/destitution.
  • Identify and lobby stakeholders and national/local government authorities on key consular issues, with support from colleagues.
  • Build and maintain productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders through regular engagement and outreach.
  • Prevention fundamentals - research and draft online guides (e.g. bereavement and prisoner guides) for UK government web pages.

Crisis

  • In a crisis, or when supporting on a complex case, you may be expected to travel at short notice or work outside of normal contracted hours.This could include being asked if you can provide regional resilience in the region.
  • Support crisis preparedness and response at post. This includes contributing to the CMP, planning the consular aspects of crisis response, and acting as deputy consular manager or consular manager in a crisis.

Consular services

  • Managing Consular Services, such as issuing Emergency Travel Documents to British nationals.
  • Organising and officiating at Citizenship Ceremonies for new British nationals. 

Managing people, operations and information

  • Meeting consular business targets and ensuring cases are updated promptly on the management system. Delivering in line with agreed KPIs and promoting compliance and high performance against expectations, monitoring monthly statistics on Iris and producing monthly reports.
  • You should be aware that consular work involves difficult conversations with distressed individuals and may require visiting challenging environments, such as prisons and hospitals, so emotional intelligence and personal resilience are essential. 
  • You can expect to travel a few weeks per year, both within Zimbabwe but also sometimes within the SSA region and occasionally to the UK. 

Resources managed:

Day to day management of the Honorary Consul

  • Possess excellent all-round communication skills to manage customer expectations and deliver difficult messages
  • Ability to remain calm and professional under pressure when dealing with emotive subjects and distressed people
  • Skills to research and follow guidelines and to plan and prioritise effectively
  • Experience working in a customer facing environment and working with vulnerable people is essential

This is a rewarding and often challenging role. You will be well supported by your line manager and other colleagues at the British Embassy, as well as the wider consular team in the region and the UK, but you must also have high levels of personal resilience to succeed.

Language requirements: 

Language: English

Level of language required: Proficient

  • Experience of consular and/or crisis work or similar
  • Experience working in an international organisation
  • Experience working in with Zimbabwean authorities and support organisations
  • Experience delivering projects and hosting/organising events and/or workshops
Changing and Improving, Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together
26 June 2025
Executive Officer (EO)
Permanent
Africa
Zimbabwe
Harare
British Embassy
USD 3,588.66 subject to tax and other statutory deductions
monthly
4 August 2025

You’ll be joining an enthusiastic and supportive team that takes continuous learning and development seriously and that values a diverse range of skills and backgrounds. On starting in the role, you’ll be supported in becoming familiar with consular policy, as well as the structures of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the operation of the British Embassy, which includes an induction day.

Mandatory Courses:

In your first year, you will be required to complete an online “Consular Fundamentals Course” and our “Developing Consular Expertise Course”, which is usually delivered in person in the UK. There are several other mandatory training courses which include: processing Emergency Travel Documents; Case management e-learning and Crisis management.
You will also be required to complete several other online training modules, including on safeguarding and data protection and others, on an annual basis.

Further opportunities:

When you are settled in the role, you will be encouraged to seek out further opportunities (both formal and informal) to deepen your expertise of consular work, and to develop wider skills tailored to your personal interests and development needs. Mentoring and coaching opportunities are available to all staff at the British Embassy.

Opportunities can also include attending regional conferences, joining leadership and development courses and applying to volunteer for crisis training and deployment

  • Employees recruited locally by the British Embassy in Harare are subject to the Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in Zimbabwe.
  • All applicants must be legally able to work in the country of application with the correct visa/status or work permit.
  • 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.    
  • Reference and security clearances checks will be conducted.
  • Any questions you may have about this position will be answered during the interview, should you be invited.
  • Successful candidates not resident in Zimbabwe will be personally liable for costs and arrangements to relocate, including accommodation and work permits.
  • Complete the application form in full as the information provided will be used for screening purposes.
  • Check your application and attachments before you submit your application, as you will not be able to make any changes once submitted.
  • The British Embassy will never ask you to pay a fee or money to apply for a position
  • Please log into your profile on the application system on a regular basis to review the status of your application.
  • Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’. If during the reserve period of 6/12 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.
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.