View Vacancy - TW - British Assistance & Services Officer, A2 (L)
The British Office Taipei which promotes the UK’s interests and values in Taiwan is looking to recruit a highly motivated and pro-active British Assistance and Services Officer. The main purpose of the job is to provide a full range of consular services to British nationals and eligible persons in Taiwan and to support Head of Section with complex casework, outreach activities and crisis preparations.
The job holder will be responsible for the following core areas:
Providing consular assistance to distressed British nationals (BNs) in Taiwan:
- Visiting detained British nationals in police stations and prisons, explaining procedures, writing welfare reports and taking follow-up action with London and the Taiwanese authorities as required;
- Providing welfare support to hospitalised British nationals and victims of crime;
- Explaining procedures and assisting bereaved next of kin in the event of a death;
- Leading on a range of assistance cases and supporting Head of Section on more complex casework. Assistance work includes issues such as parental child abduction, mental illness, rape/sexual assault, missing persons, victims of serious crime; arrests of potentially vulnerable individuals; media sensitive cases;
- Meeting all consular business targets and promptly recording casework on consular casework database.
Liaison with local authorities and outreach to partner organisations:
- Liaison with central Ministries and local authorities; maintain and build a network of contacts with the Taiwanese authorities (e.g. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, police stations, detention centres, prisons, hospitals, airports, immigration);
- Active outreach to partner organisations (Representing Offices, NGOs, charities, churches and other civil society groups) to establish further sources of assistance for BNs;
- Help Head of Section organise visits, seminars and events to engage stakeholders on key areas of policy;
- Lead on outreach for one area of assistance work.
Provision of fee-bearing documentary services in line with Consular Guidance:
- Processing Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs);
- Providing other documentary services if implemented at the British Office.
Assistance with Taiwan crisis preparations/corporate contribution
- Participation in Post consular crisis team; support organisation of crisis exercises; use and support non-consular colleagues on the Crisis Hub platform (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s consular database for use in crisis);
- Undertake responsibilities of a Crisis Hub Champion.
- Lead on one area of the consular crisis response.
- Contribute to the British Office working environment by taking responsibility for an area of corporate delivery or change.
- Fluency in both written and spoken English and Mandarin
- Previous experience working in an English language environment
- Previous experience in a challenging customer facing role
- Local knowledge such as some understanding of how local authorities in Taiwan operate
- Previous problem solving experience in a customer services role including working under pressure with highly distressed people
The British Office offers a competitive remuneration package with a gross salary of NT$57, 341 per month x 13.5, benefits, leave entitlement and training package. The British Office Taipei has a strong commitment to developing staff and supports staff who wish to pro-actively develop their talents and abilities. With a dedicated Learning and Development Committee and opportunities to undertake training including self-study, in-house online training programmes as well as classroom-based training; the British Office is a great place to work for those committed to self-development.
The jobholder will be required to travel throughout Taiwan, sometimes at short notice to provide consular assistance to British nationals. Opportunities to support the wider consular network in the region as part of the regional resilience network may also be available. Mandatory training in the UK will be required shortly after starting in this position.
Occasionally, the job holder may be required to work outside normal working hours.
Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. Staff recruited locally by the British Office are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Taiwan employment law.
No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. You must have or be able to obtain correct permit to work or work authorisation in Taiwan in order to apply. Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.
All applications must be received before 23:55 on 17 August 2017.
Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. We regret to advise that we will only be contacting short-listed candidates. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core competencies listed above.
Interviews for this position will commence during the week of 4 September 2017.
The successful candidate should be able to start as soon as possible.
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This opportunity is closed to applications.
