View Vacancy – Vice Consul, Grade-EO, Colombo

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 Colombo is a part of a global network providing a full range of consular assistance to British people in Sri Lanka and the Maldives 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. Sri Lanka is a challenging operating environment making service delivery difficult and necessitating strong personal resilience. 

The Vice Consul role is to provide leadership, motivation, strategic direction, and oversight of the day-to-day operations working closely with the Consular Regional Operations Manager and the Country Casework team in HQ. Vice Consuls have the opportunity to make a direct difference to people’s lives in sometimes challenging circumstances however the role includes a high volume of extremely sensitive cases for exceptionally vulnerable people.  

We reserve the right to review, revise or amend the roles and responsibilities from time to time reflecting the changing needs of business.

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

Leadership and Resources

• Manage day-to-day consular operations; ensure updates to consular guidance and policies are understood and implemented; ownership of formal response to public correspondence.
• Represent the Consular Section internally and externally; participate in relevant committees and working groups; help formulate management policies; coordinate with key stakeholders in the British community; promote cross-mission working to achieve objectives; prepare written briefings and reports for seniors, up to and including ministerial level.
• Manage accountable assets such as Emergency Travel Document; oversee the consular appointment system and reconcile consular fee payments promptly and accurately.
• Work with other Consular teams in the region, particularly Nepal and Bangladesh to provide seamless services and to learn from each other and promote best practice.

Consular Assistance 

• Provide consular assistance to British nationals and their families, including providing support in difficult cases such as: arrests/detention, hospitalisations, dealing with bereaved families, mental health, child custody issues, debt and employment issues and other sensitive cases such as forced marriage and surrogacy.
• Identifying areas of potential high-level interest and briefing seniors and others accordingly. Preparing written briefing and updates on cases and issues.
• Ensure assistance provided is best practice and case notes are well written and concise; monitor caseloads to ensure effective service delivery and quality assurance.
• Manage Emergency Travel Document processes and oversee the provision of various notarial and documentary services.
• To be prepared to work out of hours, occasionally anti-social hours, as required.

Prevention and Partnerships

• Working with the Regional Prevention Policy Officer in the delivery of prevention strategy, use the Consular Performance Platform to identify trends and case types for prevention objectives; develop and deliver prevention and outreach projects aimed at local partners or the British community; ensure prevention trackers and methods of evaluation are in place; use a variety of channels and work closely with partners internally and externally to increase impact and reach of prevention materials.
• Build and develop relationships with key strategic and operational partners, including local authorities and other diplomatic missions; work strategically with partners to tackle issues and improve access to services; ensure cross-mission cooperation and sharing of contacts to solve problems.
• Deliver sustained engagement with British community; effective networking and use of contacts in key sectors such as business and education; monitor the local environment and react to any changes which may affect British nationals living in or visiting Iran; contribute to the formulation of Travel Advice and ensure updates are cleared and acted on in a timely manner.
• Build and maintain relationships with key internal partners, including frontline Call Centres, Emergency Travel Document Hub, Consular Directorate, Political/Press, Immigration Enforcement International, Corporate Services teams and Senior Management Team.

Crisis Planning

• Take an active role in Post’s Crisis Committee, participating in drills, tests and exercises related to crisis and contingency planning; ensure Field Deployment Officers are aware of roles and responsibilities in a crisis.
• Regularly maintain and update the consular elements of Post’s Crisis Management Plan.
• Work with lead on the provision of consular skills training to non-consular staff within the Embassy to improve Post’s capability to respond to any crises in Iran.
• Maintain a readiness to respond to a declared crisis, based on named roles within the Crisis Management Plan; provide regional resilience support where required.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure): 
1 x Pro Consul and consular budget of £5,000
Manage the Consular budget allocation for Sri Lanka.

Working patterns:
This is a full-time position with flexibility in the approach to hours worked dictated by operational needs. The job requires flexible working as some out-of-hours working may be necessary.  
Employment offer is subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks.

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):
5-day Delivering Consular Essentials course held in the UK to be completed 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.

Essential on arrival:

• Minimum of bachelors degree required.
• A team player who is 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.
• Sound judgement and an analytical approach in decision making.
• Ability to bring flexible and creative approach to your work.
• Ability to talk to large groups of people as part of our prevention and communication work.
• IT literate and well versed in the use of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams).

Language requirements:

• Language: English, Sinhala and Tamil
• Level of language required: Able to read, write & speak in all 3 languages
  • English – Excellent
  • Sinhala & Tamil – Good