The Consular team in Turkey, consisting of five posts in Ankara, Istanbul, Antalya, Izmir and Fethiye, is part of the wider Europe South region and also part of a world-wide network representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas, is now seeking to recruit a Consular Officer (Pro-Consul) in Istanbul.

Overview:

The British Consulate General in Istanbul is seeking an independent, dynamic and detailed oriented Consular Officer with prior experience in customer service. The jobholder will play a key role in providing modern and efficient consular assistance and services to British nationals. The role will include a regional remit, with occasional remote working to help support the wider Turkish Consular Network of our five other posts and other posts within the Europe South Consular Network.

Your responsibilities will include:

 Assistance

• Providing a high level of consular assistance and support to British nationals in a wide range of circumstances including hospitalisations, death, arrest, rape and sexual assault, missing persons, child custody and financial difficulties;
• Carrying out vulnerability assessments and providing corresponding assistance to vulnerable British nationals;
• Liaison with local contacts such as hospitals, law enforcement authorities; courts, prisons, tour operators as well as other key stakeholders, such as charities and support organisations, in order to provide assistance to British nationals;
• Handling correspondence, telephone enquiries, and counter appointments;
• Managing expectations of British nationals as to what assistance they can expect according to circumstances; signposting of British nationals to the relevant information sources and creating awareness of their own responsibility;
• Some travel may be required within the province of Istanbul; depending on case location;
• Some out-of-hours work may be required to assist extremely vulnerable British nationals.

Administration      

• Managing Consular fees and undertaking basic financial activities;
• Managing the online appointments booking system;
• Printing and issuing Emergency Travel Documents, including stock responsibilities;
• Provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Turkey. Updating and maintaining the consular content on GOV.UK, in regards to service provider lists (lawyers, translators, funeral directors etc.);
• Performing other administrative duties as required.

Outreach and Prevention

• To develop and maintain a network of contacts with relevance for consular assistance and crisis related work, e.g. local authorities, British community groups and other stakeholders where necessary;
• To help organise outreach events and participate at other stakeholder events;
• To assist the consular network with the Prevention and Partnerships plan;
• To help identify and implement network/country specific prevention campaigns to change British behaviour abroad.

Crisis

• Take part in Turkey wide crisis preparedness efforts and activities, e.g. table tops & semi live exercises, crisis hub training and crisis meetings;
• Deploying to support British nationals who have been involved in a large-scale incident or crisis;
• Assisting in preparation and response to large-scale events.

Corporate

• Participate in relevant corporate structures 1) as part of corporate responsibilities and 2) as part of personal development;
• To undertake other duties that may be reasonably required and which are in accordance with the grading and core competencies of the job;
• Having a sound awareness of the Consular Strategy and work in accordance with the principles set out within the strategy;
• Expectation to contribute to working and best practice groups.

The ideal candidate will have:

• High-level of written and spoken proficiency in both English and Turkish at a minimum of C1 level (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages*)
• Previous experience in a customer facing role and the ability to respond to a wide range of customer needs;
• Good communication, interpersonal and team working skills;
• Adaptability and a positive mind-set towards change and working as part of a wider team;
• Self-motivated and able to work effectively and proactively without close supervision;
• Flexibility, resilience, patience and the ability to confidently deal with difficult situations, including out of hours and in an emergency or crisis;
• Ability to display a high level of discretion and responsibility;
• Excellent organisational and time management skills;
• Excellent telephone manner and communication skills;
• Proficient IT skills, particularly in MS Office 365 applications.