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Specialize in Management and Consular Affairs
The Department of Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade will not be recruiting Management and consular affairs officers in winter 2007.
Management and consular affairs officers (MCOs) at Canadian diplomatic missions overseas manage four of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (FAIT) business lines: assistance to Canadians abroad; passport services; corporate services such as finance, personnel, security, informatics, communication, property and materiel services; services to other government departments. Those business lines provide a management and consular officer at a Canadian diplomatic mission with an extremely demanding, diversified and stimulating job package.
Overseas, an MCO is required to manage, plan and balance priorities. The services provided are in support of all programs represented within the Embassy in addition to a direct responsibility to provide overseas service to Canadians, which is one of the pillars of Canadian foreign policy. The consular officer provides assistance to Canadians abroad in cases such as incarceration, theft, death, medical evacuation, natural disaster, loss of passport, child abduction, civil unrest, airline crash, etc. Overseas, the MCOs take on the service roles of entire government departments and become central agencies for all Government of Canada operations in that territory. For example, in terms of contracting/procurement (Public Works), property management (Public Works), finance/banking/cheque issuing (Department of Finance, Public Works), hiring and firing/employee benefits (Treasury Board and Public Service Commission). Whereas departments have recourse to central services, embassies are the “central services” with the unique situation of managing their own piece of the consolidated revenue fund (valued from $1 million to several hundreds of millions of dollars).
At headquarters, the MCOs manage the area management offices (AMAs), which directly exercise budgetary and human resources authority. They brief and keep senior management informed on issues including budget transfers between corporate units and departments. They interpret and implement departmental priorities. For example, if one embassy needs to reallocate personnel or financial resources to another location, the area management offices are involved in every aspect of this decision. There are few positions in the public service that enjoy the degree of latitude and responsibility that a management and consular officer does.
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