Consular and Passport Officer

AUSTRALIAN CONSULATE-GENERAL CHENGDU

 

Agency	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
Location	Australian Consulate-General Chengdu
Position Number	11255
Position Title	Consular and Passport Officer
Classification	LE4
Section	Corporate
Reports to (title)	Corporate Services Manager
Status	Ongoing – Full time
Annual Salary	CNY140,018

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) section of the Australian Consulate-General Chengdu is seeking applications for the locally engaged staff position of Consular and Passport Officer.

 

About the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

The role of DFAT is to advance the interests of Australia and Australians internationally.  This involves strengthening Australia’s security, enhancing Australia’s prosperity, delivering an effective and high quality overseas aid program and helping Australian travellers and Australians overseas.

DFAT provides foreign, trade and development policy advice to the Australian Government.  DFAT also works with other Australian Government agencies to drive coordination of Australia’s pursuit of global, regional and bilateral interests.

 

About the position

The Consular and Passport Officer delivers consular, passport and notarial services to Australian citizens in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Chongqing.

Under general direction from the Deputy Consul-General (Management), you will manage a range of consular cases, assisting Australians in difficulty in southwest China. The position provides emergency consular assistance outside of office hours along with passport and notarial services. This includes participating in an after-hours on-call duty roster. The role includes regular travel throughout Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Chongqing to conduct consular outreach and prison visits.

This position also acts as the backup Corporate Services Officer and will be required to support the broader corporate team during absences. 

 

The key responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to:

• Manage and undertake the provision of consular, passport and notarial services to Australian citizens in southwest China in accordance with the Australian Consular Services Charter, the Australian Passports Act, and relevant Australian legislation and guidelines.
• Manage complex consular cases and provide practical assistance, including in cases of arrests/detentions, hospitalisations, medical evacuations, deaths, and whereabouts of Australian citizens.
• Manage and participate in consular visits to hospitals, morgues, detention centres, prisons, and other service providers.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with local authorities, including Chinese government authorities (e.g. Foreign Affairs Offices, hospitals, detention centres and prisons).
• Assist the Australian Consulate-General’s crisis management planning and emergency response during crises.
• Provide timely advice and reporting on consular and passport cases, including drafting written correspondence.
• Contribute to the after-hours duty phone roster, respond to consular and passport enquiries from the public in person, by telephone and by email.
• Perform general administration duties, provide backup to the Corporate Services Officer and Property Officer as required.

 

Required Qualifications/Experience

• Strong written and oral communication skills in English and Mandarin, including a sound ability to interpret/translate.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to respond effectively to and manage distressed individuals and/or situations with tact and compassion.
• High-level ability to liaise, negotiate and consult with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including local authorities and service providers to build productive relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritise, think strategically, apply judgement and innovation to achieve results.
• Demonstrated ability to work cooperatively, flexibly and with respect in a small team.

 

Desirable experience

• Previous experience working with Chinese government authorities.
• Previous experience working at a foreign consulate or embassy.
• Experience in customer client services, consular case management, crisis preparedness or crisis management.

 

Additional information

The position is initially for a period of 36 months and a probation period will apply.  The successful applicant may be offered a further contract.  The successful applicant is required to complete relevant pre-employment procedures, such as health and background vetting, before commencement.

Applications are invited from both Chinese and Australian nationals. If the successful candidate is an Australian citizen, they will be responsible for their own transfer and ongoing costs associated with working in China.  If necessary, the Consulate-General will provide a letter to assist in obtaining an appropriate work visa for China. Australian national employees will receive a salary loading in lieu of local benefits they are not eligible to receive.

A merit list, valid for 18 months, will be established for this position.  The merit list may be used for other positions of the same level and similar capabilities.

 

How to Apply

Submit an application via email to [email protected] by 5.00pm, Friday 15 November 2024.  Applications received after the closing date and time may not be considered.  The subject line of your email should include the Position Number and Position Title you are applying for.

Your application, written in English, should include:

• Completed ‘Application for Locally Engaged Staff Employment’.  See Attachment A.
• Your application pitch (maximum 500 words).  See Attachment B.
• Curriculum Vitae (maximum 2 pages).

Applications must be in either Microsoft Word or PDF format, with a maximum email size of 3MB.

For inquiries regarding this position, please contact the Human Resources section at [email protected].

Please note that due to the large volume of applications received, we are unable to respond to each applicant.  We endeavour to respond to applicants of interest within a period of four weeks from the application closing date.  If you are not requested to attend an interview, please consider your application unsuccessful.

 

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Writing an Application Pitch

Your application pitch is a chance to tell us why you are the right person for the job.  We want to know why you are interested in the role, what you can offer us, and how your skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications are applicable to the role.

Your pitch is a marketing document, promoting how you are a strong candidate for the opportunity on offer.  This means you should:

• Research the opportunity: read the position description, key responsibilities, and required qualifications and experience carefully; and research the department and its role.
• Know what you have to offer that is relevant: identify your relevant skills, knowledge, experience, qualities; map your relationships with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders to identify what experience is relevant; select examples that demonstrate relevant experience using your skills and knowledge, ones that are of a level of complexity to match the position you are pitching for.
• Make a persuasive case that what you have to offer will enable you to contribute, add value and deliver results.

You do not need to use a different example to demonstrate each of the skills required in the position overview.  For example, if the position description states we are looking for a confident communicator, the ability to problem solve and work as part of a team, you could use one example that demonstrates all of these skills.  You could then use another example that demonstrates the other skills required.

Try not to duplicate information that can already be found in your curriculum vitae but do highlight any specific examples or achievements that will demonstrate your ability to perform the role.

Try the three-part format as a way to organise your material:

1. General statement about the criterion
2. Specific example/s to support the criterion
3. Link to job on offer

Consider using the STAR method when detailing your examples.  The STAR method enables the selection committee to determine the context of the situation, what the task was and what actions you took to achieve a result.

Situation:  Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to complete.  This should be a description of a specific event or situation, not a generalised description of what you have done in the past and should give enough detail for the panel to understand the context.  This situation can be from a previous job, volunteer experience, university or any relevant event where you can demonstrate your skills against the position overview

Task:          What was your role?  What were you responsible for?

Actions:     Describe the actions you took to address the situation.  Include an appropriate amount of detail and keep the focus on YOU.  What specific steps did you take and what contribution did you make?  Be careful that you don’t describe what the team or group did when talking about a project.  For example, the team may have achieved a good result however what part did you play, what specific things did you do to contribute to the end result?

Results:       Describe the outcome of your actions.  What happened?  How was the issue resolved or how did the event end?  What did you accomplish?  What did you learn and what would you do differently next time?  How did the end result impact on the objective of the organisation or team?