British High Commission Consular Officer Jobs in South Africa
Main purpose of job:
To deliver high quality consular services and assistance to British Nationals in South Africa.
You will manage our Emergency Travel Document (ETD) service and administer other services such as citizenship services and notarial services. You will also support the Vice Consul by managing straightforward and occasionally complex consular cases, with appropriate oversight.
You will be involved in prevention work for South Africa, including writing online guides on bereavement, detention and rape and sexual assault, and will support the organisation with crisis preparedness and response.
Roles and responsibilities:
As Consular Officer, you will be responsible for providing consular services and assistance in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini. You will be regularly issuing Emergency Travel Documents and providing face to face service with customers, some of which may be emotionally challenging.
You will be expected to visit people who have been arrested, are in prison or hospitalised; visit mortuaries; support bereaved families and victims of crime including sexual assault, and dealing with cases involving child abduction.
Consular services
Operating the front desk and monitoring public mailboxes, responding to a range of queries (with empathy) telephonically, in writing, and in person.
Manage our Emergency Travel Document (ETD) service by maintaining our appointment booking system, facilitating interviews for the ETD Centre and printing ETDs in line with our Service Level Agreements.
Assist with the administration of citizenship ceremonies in South Africa.
Ensure that British people can contact us when they need to, and access information as easily as possible including by updating Contact Hub and ensuring security guards are well briefed.
Ensure that the consular office is organised and operating effectively in line with our consular standards checklist and consular guidance.
Maintain an organised filing system in the office and on MS Teams and support other team members with admin tasks when required.
Consular assistance
Lead on straightforward cases (including death, welfare and hospitalisation for example) involving vulnerable British people in difficulty in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini.
Support the Vice Consul to provide consular assistance on a small number of complex cases, with supervision. Please note that vulnerable and complex cases can include: arrests/detentions, hospitalisation, victims of serious crime (including rape and sexual assault) and suspicious deaths.
You will be required to prioritise cases, devise case management strategies, engage directly with the affected person, and promptly update case notes in our case management system.
Prevention
Updating and publishing content on gov.uk to ensure British people can contact us, and can access services online. This includes updating online guidance on bereavement processes, updating websites and ensuring the right services from local professionals are accessible to viewers i.e. lawyers, medical professionals and funeral directors.
Building contacts and working with partners including local authorities, the tourism industry, airlines, NGOs and other diplomatic missions etc. to prevent incidents from happening or getting worse.
Crisis
In conjunction with colleagues, ensuring crisis preparedness by participating in crisis exercises and learning opportunities, ensuring crisis kits are stocked, managing critical information, responding to distressed British people and being willing to deploy to the field in a crisis.
You will be expected to play a role in any crisis response delivered by the British High Commission, for example by training as a Consular Field Team member.
You may also be asked to support crisis responses in other countries through our “regional resilience” arrangements. Crisis work may involve working outside your contracted hours or travelling at short notice.
Other
Meeting consular business targets and continuously improving and testing services are fit for purpose, based on feedback, stats and insights.
Ensuring the consular office is organised and is operating efficiently in line with the Consular checklist and consular guidance.
Maintaining an organised filing system both in the office and on MS Teams and MS Office, including managing personal information and documents responsibly, and supporting on administering Citizenship Ceremonies.
We are a team of seven providing consular assistance to British nationals in South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. You will be expected to work flexibly and collaboratively with other team members, sometimes covering for others on leave, and occasionally working outside your normal remit during crisis and periods of high pressure. If out of hours work is required, you will be entitled to claim Time Off in Lieu or overtime, depending on the nature of the work and subject to prior approval.
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, often within South Africa but sometimes within the Sub-Saharan Africa region and occasionally to the UK.
Essential qualifications, skills and experience
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
Ability to research and follow guidelines and to plan and prioritise effectively
Experience working in a customer facing environment is essential
As a customer-facing role, to a primarily British audience, excellent written and spoken English is essential. This will be tested at the interview stage. Other languages widely spoken in South Africa are an advantage.
This is a rewarding and often challenging role. You will be well supported by your line manager, wider team, and colleagues across UK in South Africa. You will also have access to quarterly well-being sessions with a wellbeing supervisor. However, you must have high levels of personal resilience to succeed.
Desirable qualifications, skills and experience
Experience working in an international organisation
Experience working in with South African authorities and support organisations
How to Apply
For more information and job application details, see; British High Commission Consular Officer Jobs in South Africa
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