View Vacancy - Vice Consul
The British Embassy in Amman is seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual for the position of Vice Consul, Grade – EO.
Main Purpose of the job:
As Vice Consul and Head of Consular Section in Amman, you will be oversee the delivery of high quality consular services to British Nationals in Jordan in line with the Consular Strategy. The role encompasses the full range of consular work including providing consular assistance to vulnerable British Nationals and some notarial and documentary services. You will be overseeing the full range of consular policy on prevention, assistance and 24/7 professional services on a day to day basis, including oversight of high profile cases.
Alongside senior management, and as part of the whole of mission approach, you will also lead on the Consular aspects of post’s Crisis Management Plan. You will need to work closely with the communications team both at post, London and regionally to deliver effective and coherent Consular messaging and prevention campaigns and you will lead on networking and outreach to the British community in Jordan.
Main Responsibilities:
- Assistance: Lead on high profile and complex assistance cases, ensuring the appropriate level of assistance is provided to customers. Consular lead on sensitive, complex and special cases, working closely with political colleagues and those in London. Ensure the team provides an accurate and efficient notarial and documentary service in line with FCO guidance.
- Prevention: Through in depth analysis of available data, and by spotting trends, develop and implement high quality and impactful local prevention campaigns to help reduce the number of preventable consular incidents year on year. Monitor changes in local procedures and practices, ensuring that information and guidance reflects changes and is up to date. Build and maintain a strong network of key contacts and stakeholders including Jordanian officials, friendly missions, expatriate groups and NGOs through regular meetings and outreach events. Development and delivery of impactful local consular campaigns and targeted social media, in conjunction with communications team at post and UK and regional digital communications leads.
- Crisis management: Regularly update and test the consular element of Post’s Crisis Management Plan and ensure that consular crisis staff are adequately trained and fully aware of their role during a crisis.
- Resource management: Manage Amman’s consular budget so that it is on track to deliver a year-end spend within 1% of allocation. Provide accurate monthly forecasts for the Consular Regional Director (CRD) and maintain an up-to-date record of actual and planned expenditure.
- Corporate: Play a positive and constructive role in wider corporate activity in the Embassy.
Resources Managed (staff and expenditure):
- Manage Amman’s consular budget so that it is on track to deliver a year-end spend within 1% of allocation.
- Provide accurate monthly forecasts for the Consular Regional Director (CRD) and maintain an up-to-date record of actual and planned expenditure.
- Line Management of 1 x (AO) Pro-Consul Officer.
Key Behaviours:
- Making Effective Decisions - Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. Carefully consider alternative options, implications and risks of decisions.
- Communicating and Influencing - Communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity and enthusiasm. Respect the needs, responses and opinions of others.
- Managing a Quality Service - Deliver service objectives with professional excellence, expertise and efficiency, taking account of diverse customer needs.
- Working together - Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources and support.
- Delivering at Pace - Take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.
Knowledge & Skills:
This is a challenging yet rewarding job that provides an excellent variety of frontline consular work and allows the successful incumbent to develop experience in leadership, crisis, representational and communications work. You will need to be a good manager and effective leader and be able to multi-task under pressure. You will have a great deal of autonomy – you lead your own team and operation. It is therefore important that you are a self-starter and can act on your own initiative to run the consular operation and to keep colleagues at Post, and the wider Consular management chain, informed and engaged. There may be occasions when serious incidents occur outside of office hours that require a response. These will be rare, but when they do happen, overtime will be paid.
It is also essential that you have good networking skills and that you are flexible and resilient. With over 1000 British nationals, visiting Jordan each month and around 6,000 – 8,000 living there permanently there is a steady demand for Consular services. Although the volume of assistance cases is not particularly high, they can be complex and high profile calling for sensitive and considered handling. Building and maintaining good relations with Jordanian officials (in particular the police, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and airport authorities) is essential.
Essential:
- Excellent/Fluent communication skills in English (both spoken and written).
- Excellent customer care skills and the ability to respond to a range of customer’s needs.
- Experience of managing a team.
- Adaptable to changing priorities. Must be able to work and act without close supervision.
- Good interpersonal skills and an ability to cultivate and maintain a range of contacts at all levels.
- Ability to talk to large groups of people as part of our Prevention and Communication work.
- Experience of working strategically and of project development and management.
- IT literacy in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook) and Oracle programmes.
Desirable:
- Previous experience in a related field (e.g. caring professions such as social work, teaching or health).
- Arabic language skills.
Working Hours and Remuneration:
The position is full-time, at 37 hours a week with considerations of flexibility depending on circumstances.
Pay is on the Embassy EO scale, with a salary of JOD 1,613 per month. Please note that your salary will be paid gross and you are expected to comply with your tax obligations through completion of a tax return to the local authorities. If exceptionally you are not liable to pay Jordanian tax, you will receive a net salary which is minus the deduction of an equivalent level of local tax. Further information on this will be given to candidates at interview if necessary.
This position is offered on a Full Time, Permanent contract basis.
The successful candidate will be subject to a 90-days probationary period (as appropriate). The selected candidate will have the right to live and work in Jordan.
The package includes a good level of health insurance and a friendly, English-speaking work environment. We offer opportunities to develop professional skills through our Learning & Development offer. Leave entitlement is 25 days (on pro rata basis) plus 14 public holidays.
The Embassy follows a 70-20-10 model of learning. Your Line Manager will help you develop a personalised L&D plan and will share opportunities, resources and guidance to ensure you continue your learning and achieve your full potential. Full training will be provided through formal virtual/in-person training in London and the regional hub.
The successful candidate will need to engage with others across the network more widely, to manage change, and to keep up with and to contribute to new practices. The Levant and wider-MENA consular regions have an active and highly skilled workforce, so there are also opportunities for wider travel to boost resilience (providing cover within the region) and learn new skills. Learning and Development is key to this role and the MENA consular network actively promotes these opportunities.
Eligibility:
If you are selected for this position, we will be able to employ you as long as:
- Have the right to live and work in Jordan.
- The successful applicant will be required to obtain the necessary security clearance. These clearances can be granted after lengthy background checks. For this reason, preference may be given to candidates of British, American, Australian, Canadian, or New Zealand nationality in order to gain the level of clearance required more quickly.
To Apply:
Interested candidates must attach the following documents when applying online.
- An updated Curriculum Vitae (CV).
- A covering letter/statement of suitability including behaviours and experience required.
** (Applications that do not include the above stated information will be rejected).
All applications must be received before 23:55 (Local Time) on 09 June 2022.
Applications received after the stated deadline will not be considered.
Due to the large amount of applications, we receive only those shortlisted for interview or assessment will be contacted.
The start date mentioned in the advert is an assumed start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security-vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances and reference checks.
Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local labour law.
The British Embassy Amman is an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to inclusivity, a diverse workforce and valuing difference.
This opportunity is closed to applications.
