Foreign & Commonwealth Office Hiring for AUS (Sydney) – Pro Consul, AO Job at Sydney Full Time

Main purpose of job:

The British Consulate-General in Sydney is part of a global network providing a wide range of consular assistance and services to British people in Australia, in line with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) published Consular Guidance and Customer Charter, Consular Services Strategy, local procedures, guidance and performance standards.

Consular officers have the opportunity to make a direct difference to people’s lives in challenging circumstances. The job includes dealing with sensitive cases and 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.

As a member of the Consular Team in Sydney, you will provide excellent consular services to British nationals visiting or residing throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. 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.

This role reports directly to the Consular Manager NSW/ACT located at the British Consulate-General in Sydney.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

Consular service delivery

• Sensitively deliver accurate advice, information and case management to British nationals and their families (mostly remotely via telephone or email) on a range of issues such as imprisonment and detention; financial hardship and destitution; hospitalisations; supporting bereaved families; missing persons; mental health needs; child custody and other sensitive issues
• Provide occasional face-to-face support, including visiting British nationals in prison, immigration detention facilities, hospitals etc.
• Liaise productively with internal teams, including colleagues and senior leaders in Australia, Oceania and the FCDO overseas network, including London-based consular casework teams
• Participate in mission-wide crisis preparation and response duties in the event of a crisis affecting a significant number of British nationals, including crisis events outside of Australia
• Respond to customer correspondence in a timely and efficient manner
• Maintain accurate and concise case records on consular databases
• Organise and deliver citizenship ceremonies and other consular stakeholder or public-facing events
• General cash handling/receipt for paid services
• Other administrative and transactional duties as required, including printing and arranging for the collection of Emergency Travel Documents and the conversion of civil partnerships

Prevention and partnerships

• Participate in team planning and execution of consular prevention campaigns, aimed at reducing preventable incidents and reducing case complexity
• Assist the team to maintain and develop relationships with local authorities, including state and federal government agencies (in particular the Australian Border Force and Corrective Services NSW) and non-government organisations to support case management
• Monitor changes in local procedures and practices, ensuring that all information and guidance given to British nationals reflects changes and is up to date, e.g. service provider lists, travel advice, web content

The formal job description may be subject to amendment in the future.

• Strong customer service delivery, including sound expectation management skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organisational skills, including taking responsibility for work and working with energy and pace
• Ability to work collaboratively in small teams, and as part of a larger virtual network
• Strong self-awareness with a high degree of personal resilience
• Confident user of Microsoft Office software

• 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

Specific considerations for consular roles:

Consular work can sometimes be stressful, distressing and of a sensitive nature. The successful applicant will therefore be expected to demonstrate high levels of personal resilience and 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.

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

The British Consulate General, Sydney encourages all staff to develop their skills and capabilities through formal training (courses) and informal (job shadowing, coaching, on the job training). The majority of our formal opportunities are delivered through FCDO resources.

Mandatory core consular training that must be completed successfully:

• Consular mandatory training courses (e-learning)
• Essential Consular Work (ECW) course
• Mandatory crisis training

There are additional opportunities to expand/maintain professional skills/knowledge base through informal sessions (coaching, mentoring and workshops).

This role advertised is a Full-Time, Permanent role.

Salary is at AU$ 66,921 per annum (paid out monthly), plus 11% superannuation.

Appointment is subject to an AFP records check and UK security clearance.

The British Consulate General, Sydney encourages all staff to develop their skills and capabilities through formal training (courses) and informal (job shadowing, coaching, on the job training). The majority of our formal opportunities are delivered through FCDO resources.

Mandatory core consular training that must be completed successfully:

• Consular mandatory training courses (e-learning)
• Essential Consular Work (ECW) course
• Mandatory crisis training

There are additional opportunities to expand/maintain professional skills/knowledge base through informal sessions (coaching, mentoring and workshops).

Working patterns:

This role is suitable for some flexible working patterns, subject to operational demands. Although we have a full-time permanent vacancy available, applications are also invited from people interested in part-time or temporary contract roles with working patterns to be discussed with applicants during the recruitment process.

This role must be based in the Consulate-General in Sydney. Our core office hours are 09:00-17:00 Monday-Friday.

Some travel may be required for regional activities, such as prison visits, providing resilience to other teams, and for training purposes. This may include interstate and/or overseas travel.

Due to the unplanned nature of some consular work, a flexible approach to working hours and patterns is essential.

Any other information (or specific local Post requirements):

This role provides an excellent variety of consular work, allowing the successful candidate to gain experience in assistance, crisis, outreach and consular service delivery. With over 250,000 British nationals living in NSW/ACT, and many visiting from overseas, there is a steady demand for a wide range of consular services.

Working at the British Consulate-General in Sydney

The British Consulate-General in Sydney represents the UK government providing consular services to British nationals in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. In addition to consular work, policy, political and trade and investment activities are undertaken from this location.

Your application must be submitted before 23:55 AEST-Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC/ GMT +10) on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”

Applications must include a current CV. Kindly remove any personal details such as name, contact #, and pictures in your CV.

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.

Advertised start date is provisional and subject to completion of reference and security checks.

Kindly check your application centre or email regularly for any update on the status of your application.

Reminder: Notifications about interviews and the conduct of interview may be subject to change. Please note that given the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 candidates must be prepared to be interviewed via VTC.