• Prior experience working in a consular or similar professional frontline customer service delivery environment.
• Prior experience working with vulnerable client groups
• Good understanding of local systems and support organisations

Learning and development opportunities

You will be joining an enthusiastic and supportive team that takes continuous learning and development seriously and that values a diverse range of skills and backgrounds. When you start the role, you’ll be supported to become familiar with consular policy, as well as the structures of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the operations of the UK in New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga Networks.

Mandatory courses:

In your first year, you will be required to complete the following courses:

• Online FCDO learning modules relating to processing Emergency Travel Documents, consular case management and crisis management.
• Consular Fundamentals Course (delivered virtually).
• Developing Consular Expertise (face-to-face in the UK).

When you are settled in the role, you will be supported to seek out further opportunities (both formal and informal) to deepen your expertise of consular work, and to develop wider skills tailored to your personal interests and development needs.

Working patterns:

• Location: This role must be based in the High Commission in Wellington.
• Working hours: Core hours are 8:45am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Part time workers will be required to spread working hours across three or more days.
• Flexible working:  Due to the unplanned nature of some consular work, a flexible approach to working hours and patterns is essential.
• Subject to operational demands, there may be occasional opportunity for adhoc hybrid or flexible working patterns.
• Travel: Some travel may be required for regional activities, such as prison visits, providing resilience to other teams, and for training purposes. This may include domestic and/or overseas travel.
• Leave entitlements: Full-time staff benefit from an annual leave entitlement of 20 days per calendar year plus additional office closures for some UK public holidays.

Other Information:

The British High Commission in Wellington represents the UK government providing consular services to British nationals in New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. In addition to consular work, policy, political and trade and investment activities are undertaken from this location.

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks. Staff who are locally recruited by the British High Commission are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to New Zealand local employment law.

No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit. Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and building a culturally diverse workplace. We actively encourage applications from people from the widest possible diversity of backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Our culture of inclusion is underpinned by our excellent staff networks which cover disability, faith and belief, gender equality, social mobility, age, race, LGBT+, and how to be an ally.

Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline.”

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.

We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.

All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the online application form completely including the employment and educational details, experience, professional skills and behaviour based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the applications and incomplete form in any respect may not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

For inclusivity and diversity, please remove the following personal information when uploading your CV: name, address, email address, age, date of birth, gender, and nationality.

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’.  If during the reserve period of 6 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative 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.