General and Consular Affairs Officer

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

The General/Consular affairs officer’s duties at the mission are in the field of general affairs as well as any consular affairs that are still dealt with by the mission (largely front office matters).

General affairs largely relate to protocol matters, personnel matters, organisation, finances and accommodation (PIOFAH). The officer submits invoices to the FSO for processing after these have been initialled (to confirm contract performance) by the Deputy Operational Manager. The General/Consular affairs officer will support the Deputy Operational Manager in these fields and will take over during absence of the Deputy Operational Manager.

In the field of general consular affairs/visas the officer’s duties mainly consist of performing front office activities related to consular services. The officer is accountable to the Deputy Operational Manager for the accuracy of the information provided and the correct application and implementation of the legislation, procedures and instructions in force. Relevant legislation, instructions and guidelines are important to performing duties properly. The officer receives and checks consular applications and submits them to the CSO’s back office.

B.1.2  TASKS

1. General support in the field of personnel, accommodation and financial administration

• Point of contact for an external engineering / facility management firm related to periodic planned maintenance (PLANON), monitoring that work gets done timely and completely as well as ensuring that DHF has been informed;
• Point of contact for SAU MOFA and other relevant Saudi Arabian Ministries/departments and/or companies concerning expats and local staff’s administrative matters and the required follow-up for, amongst others, such as tax exemption applications and visa/work permit for expats’ spouse/partner as well as local staff, iqama, driving licences, exit/re-entry permits, sponsorships, import/export of cars and personal effects, airport passes, flight clearance requests.
• Point of contact point for FSO on financial matters as well as sending in financial documentation to FSO, such as approved invoices for payment, bank, cash and credit card statements, cheque register, etc.;
• Registering local staff’s annual/sick leave and yearly holidays in People Inc.;
• Management of inventory, office supplies and keys (technical equipment, office equipment, official cars and government-owned works of art) for the chancery and official and staff residences by checking and updating lists of contents, etc.;
• Managing sharepoint, archiving and supporting embassy staff on these matters;
• Answering phone calls from the switch board related to general affairs;
• Maintaining the contract register;
• Maintaining the RIY-AZ mailbox;
• Answering AZ related calls from the switchboard;
• Any other relevant activity.

2. Consular services

• Support to the consular section when required, such as:
• Carrying out an initial assessment of applications for travel documents, visas and authorisations for temporary stay for compliance with statutory requirements, and checking whether the accompanying documents are complete and accurate;
• checking the documentation accompanying applications, entering applications in various computerised systems and submitting complete applications to the CSO;
• Printing visa stickers, sticking them in passports and preparing for VFS processing
• keeping consular records by creating, organising, storing, weeding and maintaining files and documents.
• Any other relevant activity.

3         Replacement

• Replace the Deputy Operational Manager during absence.

B.2 FRAMEWORK

• The General/consular affairs officer is accountable to the Deputy Operational Manager for the work performed.
• Ministerial administrative and procedural implementing regulations relating to internal management apply.

B.3 CONTACTS

• With staff posted abroad, to inform them about housing matters;
• with management staff, on the planning and completion of work;
• with local government and other bodies and firms, concerning customs clearance of goods, obtaining documents, arranging medical examinations, etc.;
• with third parties, to obtain and provide information on the nature and progress of the administrative handling of cases;