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View Vacancy – JPN (Tokyo) – Personal Assistant to the Head of Economic Diplomacy, AO
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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Residence and Support Staff)
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Economic and Prosperity
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Main Purpose of Job:
The main purpose of the role is to provide excellent administrative support to the head of Economic Diplomacy, to manage cross-EDD events and other administration, and ensure the smooth day-to-day running of his programme. Core duties vary but typically include effective office administration and co-ordination across EDD teams; diary management and forward planning; organising meetings, hospitality and travel arrangements. The jobholder will be expected to work with colleagues to deliver other areas as needed, including cross-Embassy events and visits.
The job holder will also be the point of contact for other private offices for M-C Political diary matters.
This is a fast-paced and challenging role, offering opportunities to work with Embassy staff at all levels. It requires exceptional organisational skills, discretion, good judgement, flexibility, proactivity, excellent communications and the ability to get things done and to work calmly when under pressure.
The British Embassy Tokyo is a busy and diverse post at the heart of the UK government’s work in the Indo-Pacific. Our work on security, digital and technology, trade and economic, and climate and energy partnerships with Japan is at the centre of the Foreign Secretary’s foreign policy agenda and our commitment to the region.
What the Jobholder will be Expected to Achieve:
Diary and Daily Programme Management (35%)
- Accurate and proactive diary management for Head of EDD, including advising on requests for their time.
- Set up and arrange meetings, lunches, dinners for Head of EDD, including by building relationships with key contacts’ private offices.
- Ensure the Head of EDD has sufficient time and resources to be well prepared for meetings and events, including commissioning and review briefings and speeches, ensuring they are received in a timely manner, produced to a high standard, and reflect the Head of EDD’s priorities and style.
- Organise internal and external meetings and videoconferences, collate and distribute briefing and information ahead of meetings.
Budget and Administrative Support (35%)
- Co-ordinate x-EDD events and commissions (e.g. guestlists, priority contact lists), ensuring that all teams are clear on tasking, monitoring delivery and acting as the first point of contact for questions.
- Assist the Head of EDD with oversight of EDD budgets (FCDO and DBT) to help ensure that budget and resources are managed effectively. This includes liaison with teams to ensure accurate budget management and forecasting, and advice to teams about available budget and suitable spend for events etc.
- EDD lead on use of Salesforce/Radius contact management system.
- General administrative support including data management, maintaining contact lists.
Corporate Support (25%)
- Work closely with the other Personal Assistants and the Ambassador/Deputy Head of Mission’s Private Office on a day-to-day basis, providing cover as required.
- Act as point of contact for other private offices on M-C Political’s diary.
- Supporting cross-Network events and visits as appropriate.
- Take on a specific role as part of the Japan Network’s crisis response team.
Travel (5%)
- Make domestic and international travel arrangements, including researching options and working out logistics.
- Pull together and manage programmes by liaising with other sections of the Embassy and external stakeholders.
The jobholder may be expected to take on other tasks suited to their grade and capability. There will be regular team and 1-1 meetings to set both team and individual objectives.
Resources managed (staff and expenditure):
Monitoring responsibility for the EDD budget (approximately 500k GBP)
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- Experience acting as the personal assistant to a department head, ideally in a public organization
- Budget monitoring and basic finance skills
- Strong communication skills in both English and Japanese, dealing with both internal and external stakeholders
Language requirement:
This role requires written and spoken proficiency in both English and Japanese. fluency (minimum of C2 level for CEFR framework*) in one and business level (minimum of C1) in the other.
*Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages sets the following mastery or proficiency levels:
- C2: Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express themself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.
- C1: Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
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Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together
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20 September 2026
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Administrative Officer (AO)
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Full-time, Permanent
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37.5
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Asia Pacific
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Japan
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Tokyo
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British Embassy
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1
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JPY
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JPY 462,200
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monthly
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16 November 2026
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- 1 month salary bonus equivalents payable in June and December
(Note: Salary may be reduced due to tax status) - Commuting allowance of up to JPY35,000 per month (paid on an actual cost basis)
- 25 days paid annual leave (calculated pro rata)
- Health Insurance and Employee pension (kenko hoken/kosei nenkin)
- Employment Insurance (koyou hoken)
Working Patterns:
The British Embassy supports and promotes flexible working as a crucial part of our inclusive offering. This role allows for flexible working e.g. start and end times, working compressed hours, working remotely on one day a week, and the possibility of a job share arrangement, subject to agreement with management.
This role will be offered pending successful reference and security checks and is subject to the appropriate permissions to work. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy Tokyo is subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Japan employment law.
No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in Japan with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit. Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.
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.
The British Embassy is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnic origin, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation.
The FCDO operates an agile approach to delivery. To facilitate an agile workforce, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require.
Learning and Development Opportunities:
The British Embassy offers comprehensive learning and development opportunities that will be fully available to the jobholder. We regularly run both work area specific training, as well as more general skills development in project management, finance, and leadership. Each year the job holder will be encouraged to use 5 development days to pursue job related and personal development goals.
All staff are required to take a role in the embassy’s crisis preparation and response. Full training will be provided for this and regular opportunities will be available to test and develop your skills.
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Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.
Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.
We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application, since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.
Note: All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the online application form completely including the employment and educational details, experience, professional skills and behaviour-based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the applications and incomplete form in any respect may not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.
Only shortlisted candidates for interview will be contacted. Interviewees will be assessed on the core behaviours/qualifications listed above. Unsuccessful candidates will be notified via the system in due time. Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’. If during the reserve period of 6 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.
To ensure a successful application it is important that you explain how you demonstrate these behaviours, including through your experience. You are strongly advised to read the Success Profiles Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which provides detailed guidance on how the behaviours are defined.
Applicants are encouraged to use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) format to prepare specific examples of when they have demonstrated these behaviours in their application. Using the STAR format to provide evidence of your skills and experience in your application and at interview helps to give a structure. You briefly describe the situation in which you showed the behaviour, and then explain your task in addressing the situation, what action you took and the result of this.
Please ensure that your application is authentically written based on your own experiences. If AI tools are used, their usage must only be limited to specific tasks such as ensuring formatting consistency and keyword relevance. The core content, personal narratives, and responses to behaviour and skill-based questions must genuinely reflect your professional journey, experiences, and achievements. We place great importance on originality and individual effort throughout the application process. Any form of plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification.
For inclusivity and diversity, please remove the following personal information when uploading your CV: name, address, email address, age, date of birth, gender and nationality.
The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances.
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To apply please copy and paste this link: https://fco.tal.net/vx/appcentre-ext/candidate/jobboard/vacancy/1/adv/
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