Who are we? 

The British Consulate Santa Cruz de Tenerife is part of a global network representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas and is now recruiting for a Consular Officer. 

With around 400,000 British residents and 18 million British visitors (pre-pandemic) annually, Spain is the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s busiest consular operation globally. The selected candidate will form part of the Spain consular team, which operates over eight consulates. They will work at a national level, contributing to national plans and providing remote support across the network, as well as occasionally travelling to other consulates across Spain (including overnight stays and out-of-hours travel) to provide in-person resilience when required.

Roles and responsibilities:    

• Deliver first class consular assistance to vulnerable British nationals, managing a high volume of often complex casework including hospitalisations, deaths, detentions and cases of rape or sexual assault. Examples of the support required may include:
  • Visiting patients and providing support to families in distress in cases of serious hospitalisation;
  • Providing empathetic advice and support to bereaved families, including in cases of murder, suicide or violent/accidental deaths, accompanying to the funeral director/mortuary as required;
  • Providing advice to detainees and visiting prisoners;
  • Accompanying victims of sexual assault to court, hospital or in their contact with the police.
• As part of providing resilience to consulates across Spain, you will be required to provide remote consular assistance to British nationals. You may also, on occasions, be asked to travel to provide physical resilience (this will likely include out of hours travel and overnight stays);
• Liaise with local Spanish stakeholders, such as funeral directors, police, courts and social services, as well as local authorities and charities providing support and assistance to British nationals;
• Support the delivery of the Spain prevention strategy. Activities may include engaging with a variety of local stakeholders and assisting in the evaluation of prevention activity at post;
• Support the delivery of projects/change programmes. Activities may include collation and analysis of information, deadlines, reporting on progress and working with team members across Spain;
• Work with colleagues across Spain, to support the updating and publication of digital resources;
• Assist in the preparation/response to possible crisis situations involving large numbers of UK nationals, such as forest fires, flooding, large scale accidents, security incidents, etc.;
• Provide office support, including issuing of Emergency Travel Documents for UK nationals and organising events internal/external events or meetings as needed.

Our Ideal Candidate demonstrates: 

• Full professional proficiency in English and Spanish  (written and spoken, minimum of C2 level for CEFR framework*);
• A minimum of three years’ experience in a customer-facing role, with a strong commitment to delivering high-quality customer service;
• Excellent communication and customer service skills, including a proven ability to support customers in traumatic or emotionally demanding circumstances;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively and flexibly with colleagues across Spain, the Wider Europe Network and the UK;
• Proven ability to liaise with external stakeholders and manage a range of relationships effectively;
• Demonstrated resilience, with the ability to work effectively in emotionally challenging situations;
• Strong attention to detail, with sound analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to work at pace, prioritise effectively and manage a high and demanding workload, with strong organisational skills;
• Good IT skills, including the use of Outlook, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) and other standard tools;
• Willingness to occasionally work out of hours and travel across Spain (including overnight stays), when required.