AUS (Sydney) - Consular Services Officer, AO

at  Foreign Commonwealth Office

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

CRISIS

• As part of our whole-of-mission approach to crisis, participate in crisis preparation and response duties in the event of a crisis affecting a significant number of British nationals, including crisis events outside of Australia. Although rare, crisis work may involve working beyond your normal remit and outside your contracted hours
  The formal job description may be subject to amendment in the future. The consular team in Australia is spread across four locations and 13 people. You may be expected to work flexibly and collaboratively with other team members, sometimes covering for periods of absence or other business needs.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Strong customer service delivery, including sound problem solving skills and the ability to manage customer expectations
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including communicating with empathy when working with distressed people
• Strong teamwork skills, including working collaboratively and supporting others in a small team environment
• Strong self-awareness with a high degree of emotional intelligence and personal resilience
• Confident user of Microsoft Office software

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:

Language: English
Level of language required: Fluent written and spoken English

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Prior experience working in a consular or similar professional frontline customer service delivery environment
• Prior experience working with vulnerable client groups
• Good understanding of local systems and support organisations in NSW/ACT and/or the UK

Required behaviours
Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Working Together
Application deadline
9 June 2024
Grade
Administrative Officer (AO)
Type of Position
Full-time, Permanent
Working hours per week
38
Region
Asia Pacific
Country/Territory
Australia
Location (City)
Sydney
Type of Post
British Consulate General
Number of vacancies
1
Salary Currency

MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB:

As a member of the Consular Team in Sydney, you will provide high quality consular services to British nationals visiting or residing throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in line with our public guide: Support for British nationals abroad.
You will work in an immediate team of 3 caseworkers to independently manage a range of consular assistance cases. You will report directly to the Consular Manager NSW/ACT located at the British Consulate-General in Sydney who will support you to deliver consular work and lead on more complex matters requiring escalation. You may also be expected to support consular service delivery in other parts of Australia and/or the Oceania region, where consular work can be complex due to differences in local contexts.
Consular officers could make a direct difference to people’s lives in challenging circumstances. The job includes dealing with sensitive issues and may involve responding to crises and stressful events. The successful candidate will be working in a fast-paced and complex environment where the ability to work under pressure and with difficult subject matter is vital.
Those shortlisted can expect to be interviewed on 24 or 25 June.

SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONSULAR ROLES:

You should be aware that consular work can involve difficult conversations with distressed individuals. Emotional intelligence and personal resilience are essential. You will be well supported by your line manager, your team and colleagues across the UK in Australia network. You will have access to quarterly wellbeing sessions with a wellbeing supervisor and other wellbeing support resources.
The successful applicant will be expected maintain absolute consular confidentiality and impartiality, keeping in line with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Consular Strategy, consular guidance and Customer Charter, business targets and local procedures.