British High Commission Vice Consul South Africa and Lesotho and Eswatini Liaison Officer - Jobs in South Africa

British High Commission Vice Consul South Africa and Lesotho and Eswatini Liaison Officer - Jobs in South Africa

Main purpose of job:

Vice Consul: Delivering consular services and assistance to British Nationals in South Africa in line with our public guide "Support for British Nationals Abroad: A Guide”. Run projects, including media campaigns, training events and lobbying activities to help minimise risks to British residents and visitors to South Africa, to help “prevent” them from getting into difficulty.

Lesotho/Eswatini Liaison Officer: Supporting the High Commissions in post crisis management planning, post resilience and as a point of contact/liaison between Eswatini/Lesotho and South Africa.

Roles and responsibilities:
Vice Consul

Providing consular assistance to British Nationals (BNs) who get into difficulty in South Africa and the region by leading on complex consular assistance cases and providing support for team members on other cases.

Leading on complex/high profile cases involving vulnerable British Nationals. This might involve supporting families of people who have been bereaved, including victims of murder; giving welfare assistance to destitute British people; supporting victims of crime and people who have been hospitalised; as well as assisting victims of rape & sexual assault, domestic violence and a host of other issues. Please note this could require visiting mortuaries and other challenging environments); and some cases will have media/parliamentary interest

Engaging with teams across South Africa, Lesotho & Eswatini to resolve complex consular cases and pursue consular objectives

Supporting and advising consular officers in the Southern Africa region on complex assistance cases

You can expect to travel a few weeks per year. In a crisis or when supporting on a complex case, you may be expected to travel at short notice

Meeting consular business targets and ensuring cases are updated promptly on the management system, with a close watch on KPIs and monthly statistical returns

Managing Consular Services such as issuing Emergency Travel Documents to British Nationals and officiating Citizenship Ceremonies for new British Nationals

Effective management of the consular section in Pretoria, in conjunction with Vice-Consul based in Pretoria
Management of Honorary Consuls, including recruitment, ensuring skills kept up to date, and provision of advice and support to them as required


Supporting Consular Directorate’s Prevention objectives by building strong relationships and liaison with local authorities and organisations:

Identify and lobby government and local authorities on key consular issues, with support from High Commission colleagues

Creation and delivery of prevention projects to help reduce the risk to British people in South Africa, with support from Consul, media colleagues and specialist teams

With support of colleagues, publishing information on UK government websites to ensure British visitors can access advice whilst in South Africa, Lesotho or Eswatini


Lesotho/Eswatini Liaison Officer

Regularly review and update Lesotho/Eswatini Crisis Management Plans, including supporting non-resident Deputy High

Commissioners with adhoc projects

Work with colleagues to ensure the South Africa Crisis Management Plan supports Lesotho/Eswatini including consular resilience and the use of South Africa as an evacuation route

Liaise with the Regional Crisis Advisor to ensure crisis training and exercising includes both posts, and increases awareness and capability to respond to a crisis

Assist with recruitment and training to SA based consular volunteers who might deploy to Lesotho/Eswatini

Act as a liaison point for Leostho/Eswatini, helping to resolve and direct queries with colleagues based in Pretoria

Maintain ownership of the Lesotho/Eswatini archive – identifying and forwarding relevant background documents on request of the new misisons

Assist with the co-ordination of any incoming visits (i.e. ministerial) that impact on Lesotho/Eswatini and South Africa – liaising closely with the Protocol team on airport arrangements for visitors transmitting Johannesburg

Support Heads of Mission in any transition activities required, including the organisation of any introductory events and communications activities


Essential qualifications, skills and experience
The successful candidate will need to have excellent all-round communication skills to manage customer expectations and deliver difficult messages Demonstrate an ability to remain calm under pressure; be able to research and follow guidelines, and to plan and prioritise effectively. Experience working in a customer facing environment is essential.

This is a rewarding and often challenging role. You will be well supported by your

line manager, wider team, and colleagues across UK in South Africa, but you must have high levels of personal resilience to succeed.

Language requirements:

As a customer facing role, to a primarily British audience, excellent written and spoken English is essential. This will be tested at the interview stage.

Other languages widely spoken in Lesotho, Eswatini or South Africa are an advantage.

Level of language required: Fluent English

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

Experience working in an international environment, and managing and developing others


Other benefits and conditions of employment
Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

You will join a supportive, diverse team with a culture of continuous improvement and taking responsibility for personal learning and development. We work as a team across Southern Africa, and value a diverse range of skills and backgrounds.

You’ll be encouraged to spend the first year focused on becoming familiar with consular policy and services, and the structures of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office/UK High Commission Pretoria/UK High Commission Cape Town/UK High Commissions in Eswatini and Lesotho in order to deliver in your role.

After the first year, a wider range of learning & development opportunities will open up – both focused on building increased expertise & skills in consular delivery, but also across a range of other subject matter areas subject to the candidate’s interests and career focus including (but not limited to) project & budget management, mental health first aid and line management. Mentoring and coaching opportunities are part of our standard offer to all UK Consulate General staff.


Working patterns:
Both UK High Commission Pretoria and UK Consulate Cape Town, are working in a hybrid format, with a mixture of office and home working, although working at the office is encouraged and you should be prepared to work from the office full time, should the business need change. Typically, staff work 1-2 days at home, however this may be subject to change.

We support flexible working, and the current incumbent typically works 1-2 days from home each week. However, business requirements may change, and you should be prepared to work from our office in Pretoria full-time if called upon to do so.

Please complete the application form in full as the information provided is used during screening.

Please check your application carefully before you submit, as no changes can be made once submitted.

The British High Commission will never request any payment or fees to apply for a position.

Employees recruited locally by the British High Commission in Pretoria are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in South Africa.

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.

The responsibility lies on the successful candidate to;

Obtain the relevant permit

Pay fees for the permit

Make arrangements to relocate

Meet the costs to relocation

The British High Commission do not sponsor visas/work permits except where it may be local practice to do so.

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.

Information about the Civil Service Success Profiles can be found on this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles. Please note: AA=A1, AO=A2, EO=B3, HEO=C4, SEO=C5
Reference checking and security clearances will be conducted on successful candidates.



How to apply
For more information and job application details, see; British High Commission Vice Consul South Africa and Lesotho and Eswatini Liaison Officer Jobs in South Africa


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