View Vacancy – Pro Consul, Grade- AO, Islamabad

Note : All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment, educational details, behavioural and technical/ professional skills questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only with all the required details and the shortlisting is not basis CV/ cover letter. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.’’

         
Main purpose of job:

The British High Commission in Islamabad is part of a global network providing a full range of consular assistance to British people in line with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) published Consular Guidance and Customer Charter, Consular Services Strategy, local procedures, guidance and performance standards.  

The Consular team in Pakistan is the 12th busiest globally, covering some of the most challenging assistance cases (ranked at one globally for forced marriages, held against will, family abandonment, murders and ranked at number two for child safeguarding, child custody and domestic abuse cases).

This full-time position offers the opportunity to contribute to case-handling strategies and service delivery skills in one of the FCDO’s foreign policy priority areas. Pro Consuls can make a direct impact on people’s lives in challenging circumstances.  The successful candidate will assist the Vice Consul with complex casework including emergency travel documents. 

Consular work can be emotionally challenging, distressing, and of a sensitive nature. The jobholder will therefore be expected to demonstrate high levels of personal resilience and maintain absolute consular confidentiality and impartiality.  The job holder will provide consular assistance to British nationals and their families as part of a busy team.  

This is an exciting opportunity to join a high performing team that makes a real difference to people’s lives by; providing high quality accessible consular services focused on those most in need; responding rapidly to all crises, leading cross-government action; and reducing preventable incidents affecting British people through collaboration with partners and local government.

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

Consular Assistance 

• Provide day to day assistance to British nationals and their families, telephone and written enquires in line with the consular guidance.
• Assist Vice Consuls working on complex and sensitive consular cases, such as forced marriage, domestic abuse and held against will and arrest/detentions.
• Maintain accurate and concise case records of services provided on consular databases.
• Work effectively with internal and external partners to provide a professional service, which is tailored to each individual’s needs.
• Provide resilience and support for colleagues in the wider MENASA region (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia).

Administrative

• Provide administrative and logistical support to Vice Consuls such as organising visits including prison visits by arranging transport, NOC, Travel Risk Assessments.
• Manage quarterly prisoners’ payments from Prisoners Abroad through close liaison with accounts, prison authorities and Consular Directorate.
• During peak periods and absences, provide cover for other consular officers.  This may require travel to Karachi.

Emergency Travel Documents

• Manage the emergency travel document process, including assisting in conducting online interviews and translation.
• Manage working stocks of emergency travel document (ETD) booklets, making sure records are always up to date, accurate and auditable.
• Build and maintain relationships with key internal partners, especially the ETD Centres, Document Policy Team and Home Office International Operations.
• Assist ETD Centres with first time ETD applications and complex cases involving child welfare and domestic abuse.

Crisis

• Train for and be a part of the High Commission’s consular crisis response team.

The above list is not exhaustive, and the jobholders will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required.

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

• 5-day Developing Consular Expertise course held in the UK to be complete within 6 months of joining.
• Consular Mandatory Learning Pathway e-learning to be completed immediately after joining.
• Travel to the UK and within the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region (and possibly further afield) may be required for additional training and development purposes.

• Bachelor’s degree in any discipline.
• Minimum 2 years of relevant experience.
• A team player who is empathetic, capable of working on their initiative and who is adaptable to changing priorities, must be able to work and act without close supervision.
• Excellent interpersonal and active listening skills, with the ability to cultivate and maintain a range of contacts at all levels.
• Excellent customer care skills and the ability to respond to a range of customer needs.
• Ability to bring a flexible and creative approach to your work.
• IT literate and well versed in the use of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams).

Language requirements: 

Language: English and Urdu

Level of language required: Excellent.