Management Assistant Consulate General Vancouver

Summary

The management assistant supports the Consulate General in secretarial and administrative tasks. As such, you will support the Head of Mission and interact with all members of the team. You will be in frequent contact with our Embassy in Ottawa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands. You will communicate and represent our diplomatic mission to them and to external parties.
The Consulate General in Vancouver currently consists of ten members. The organization is active in the field of economic cooperation, consular affairs and public diplomacy.

Specific information

The management assistant is a team player that provides the mission with support in administrative, secretarial and logistical tasks. You are responsible for managing the appointments calendar of the Head of Mission (HoM) and the deputy HoM, and general email inboxes of the mission. Often you are the first point of contact for external parties, and therefore are representational in style. You can quickly switch between tasks and can realistically rank priority. You play a key role in handling appointments, receiving visitors and hospitality (including managing related materials), and meetings; both internal and external. You are responsible for creating accessible files, collecting data, coordinating complex information flows and checking that information is correct, usable, timely and complete. Finally, you are familiar with data processing and ensure that records are kept in good order. Those include the digital archiving system, the client relations management systems and other.

Results

Reporting duties are performed effectively.
•    General support is provided in a timely manner in accordance with manager’s requirements.
•    You are an effective communicator within and outside our diplomatic mission, with coworkers at the Embassy in Ottawa, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague and with external parties.
•    The management assistant creates and updates work files.
•    Correspondence such as letters and e-mails are drafted effectively.
•    You will effectively take minutes of meetings.
•    Appointment calendars for Head of Mission and deputy HoM and email inboxes are kept in good order, in accordance with the manager’s requirements.
•    You can effectively identify interests/consequences between requests/questions.
•    You keep work files usable, timely and complete.
•    External parties are dealt with in an appropriate and proper fashion, and their enquiries or requests are properly attended to by you or others in the mission.
•    The management assistant looks after the inventory within the office and keeps an administration thereof.
•    The management assistant handles confidential information and is aware of the integrity rules as laid out by the Ministry

Knowledge and skill requirements

•    Knowledge of management assistance working methods, secretarial work and general secretarial/administrative procedures and regulations.
•    Fully skilled in English and preferably Dutch.
•    Knowledge of standard documentation and digital archiving techniques .
•    Skilled in administrating processing financial refunds.
•    Skilled in receiving and dealing with other staff and third parties.
•    Skilled in collecting and presenting data clearly, and in generating management information.
•    Knowledge of and a quick learner of new ICT systems relevant to the position.
•    Skilled in serving as a link between management and third parties.
•    Some understanding of political and civil-service interests and sensitivities, of primary processes and of administrative, organizational and functional relationships.

Competences

•    Customer-oriented.
•    Plan and organize.
•    Sensitive to the needs of the organization.
•    Team player.
•    Creative and always looks for solutions.
•    Communicator who understands cultural differences and knows how to effectively work with these.
•    Works proactive and independent and is sensitive to the need to involve others at the right time (both in terms of hierarchy and collegial).

Level of education / additional training and knowledge

•    Secondary vocational level (MBO);
•    Considerable relevant experience is required.

Work environment

The Consulate General in Vancouver represents the interests of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and its citizens in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan and the Yukon and North West Territories. The primary focus lies on consular and economical services. The office has 10 employees and is headed by the Consul General. The Consulate General has three honorary consuls within its jurisdiction, i.e. in Edmonton, Calgary and Saskatoon. The Consulate General in Vancouver is part of the network of diplomatic missions in Canada, also consisting of the Embassy in Ottawa and the Consulate General in Toronto.
The General Affairs department consists of a management support officer and a general affairs officer (this position + half a position) and is headed by the Deputy Consul General. Support is offered by the Operational Manager at the Embassy in Ottawa. Other departments include the Consular Department (1.5 positions) and the Policy Department (3 positions filled by 4 colleagues - mainly geared towards economic relations, and to a lesser extent cultural and political relations). Of the latter, one position is co-led by the Agriculture Councilor for North America (based in Washington, DC, US).

Staff member profile

The employee is an excellent team player that combines organizational skills with a high degree of precision, care, flexibility and independence. The employee has outstanding organization and communication skills.
The employee must be able to work in a diverse environment and needs to have a feeling for the Canadian (and preferably also Dutch) business culture. A bit of humor and pragmatism will also be valued.

Diversity and inclusion

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has an active diversity policy and is committed to being an inclusive organization. We do this by creating a work culture where everyone can be themselves and feel valued. Differences between team members are regarded as strengths.  We care for the person you bring to the team, and we support each other to be effective in our work. In the composition of teams and when recruiting new talent, we strive for diversity in age, gender (identity), culture, religion, background, sexual orientation, (work) disability, knowledge and competences.
Renumeration
Indicative gross salary: Dutch civil service pay scale 6, presently ranging between CAD 4,378 and 6,567. Our salary offer will be based on the number of years of relevant work experience. The Consulate-General also offers attractive secondary labor conditions, such as collective medical insurance with Canada Life and 13 official public holidays plus 18 vacation days per calendar year.
Probationary period: 2 months.

How to apply

Application letters with resume (in English) should be sent to the Consulate General of the Netherlands Vancouver to the attention of Mr. Adriaan van Velthoven, Deputy Consul General via e-mail. Please send also a copy to this email address.
Only applications received by September 15, 2024 at close of business will be considered.
Please note: a fully valid Canadian residence and work permit is a requirement to apply for this job vacancy.
For further information regarding this vacancy, please contact Mr. Adriaan van Velthoven, Deputy Consul General via e-mail.