View Vacancy – JPN (Tokyo) – Market Access Senior Policy Advisor, HEO
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Department for Business and Trade roles (DBT)
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Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
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Main Purpose of Job:
This is a regional role within the UK Government’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) in Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific sits at the heart of the Indo-Pacific, which will be responsible for 54% of global growth and around half of the world’s middle-class consumers by 2050.
Currently, our trade relationship with Asia Pacific is worth over £152 billion. The region is a key partner for investment, remaining the largest source of investment into the UK outside of North America and Europe. This strong economic relationship is supported by an extensive network of trade arrangements, including six bilateral free trade agreements, the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the UK–Singapore Digital Economy Agreement.
The jobholder will lead the region’s Market Access work, working to the APAC Market Access Counsellor, based in Tokyo. This role is part of the DBT APAC Regional Team, led by the Chief Operating Officer in Singapore.
The jobholder serves as the regional focal point for market access, working closely with DBT country teams, sector specialists, regional leadership and DBT HQ to build a high-performing community of market access practitioners across Asia Pacific. The role combines strategic coordination, stakeholder engagement, programme management and policy delivery to enhance the region’s ability to identify, prioritise and resolve market access barriers and shape strategic markets that support UK trade and investment objectives.
The role will work in close partnership with the APAC Market Access Counsellor, and with colleagues in the DBT APAC Regional Team, to:
- Provide strategic leadership across the regional Market Access network.
- Drive excellence and high performance in addressing Market Access issues and delivering Market Shaping campaigns.
- Manage and deliver regional projects and initiatives.
- Build a cohesive culture across a multi-time-zone team.
Working across multiple markets and sectors, the jobholder will drive collaboration, capability-building and knowledge-sharing across the network while supporting the delivery of tangible market access outcomes for UK businesses. The role also involves deputising for the Director, representing APAC Market Access at senior forums, and making strategic decisions where required.
What the Jobholder will be Expected to Achieve:
Regional Market Access Network Leadership and Capability Building (40%)
- Act as APAC Market Access Lead, leading key elements of strategy, planning, and operations.
- Coordinate and manage the APAC Market Access network, building strong working relationships with market access practitioners, sector teams and country teams across the region.
- Provide practical support and expert advice to country teams on the development and delivery of market access strategies and campaigns – and provide direct, in-person support on specific campaigns where needed.
- Where appropriate, undertake regional travel to provide in-country support for strategic market access priorities and capability development initiatives.
- Develop and maintain a suite of market access training materials for different audiences, tools and resources, e.g. induction programmes, training products and regional forums.
- Promote awareness and adoption of new market access initiatives, tools and approaches developed by DBT HQ and ensure APAC teams are equipped to maximise their impact.
- Represent APAC interests in the development of new market access initiatives, contributing regional perspectives, sharing best practice and supporting successful adoption of new approaches across the network.
Market Access Performance & Reporting (20%)
- Manage performance for Market Access, monitoring KPIs and driving improvements.
- Oversee and advise on prioritisation among different market access workstreams across APAC.
- Provide analysis, reporting and strategic insights to APAC senior leadership.
- Support implementation of market access reporting, tracking and evaluation systems, e.g. through Dashboards, Digital Market Access Service (DMAS) and AI utilisation.
Market Shaping and Campaign Delivery (20%)
- Lead regional implementation of HMG’s market-shaping approach across all priority sectors, and support the development and delivery of market-shaping campaigns across DBT, FCDO and other teams.
- Identify opportunities for alignment with other regional activity, e.g. Export Campaigns, or broader Growth objectives across Country and Strategic Economic Growth Plans, coordinate regional interventions and maximise economies of scale across markets.
- Engage regularly with DBT HQ, FCDO and other stakeholders to align regional activity with wider UK Government objectives and ensure effective delivery of priority campaigns.
Programme Funding and Delivery (20%)
- Manage the effective allocation and monitoring of Market Access Programme Funding (Ricardo Fund), and other funds relevant to the role, supporting successful bids and helping posts maximise impact from funded activity.
- Support management of the regional Programme budget, overseeing an effective forecasting process.
- Contribute to business planning and resource prioritisation.
- Ensure efficient, value-for-money delivery across operations.
- Align regional delivery with global standards and guidance.
Resources managed (staff and expenditure): Budget oversight for Ricardo Fund facilitative route + supporting APAC fund (reporting into Market Access Counsellor)
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- Experience leading a remote network across multiple locations
- Experience working in international government-to-government contexts
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, and proven ability to lead high-impact communication initiatives
- Strong organisation and attention to detail, including under pressure
- Ability to manage multiple competing priorities
- Collaborative working style, including across different markets
- Proactive and solution-focused mindset
- Digital proficiency (especially Microsoft Office)
Language requirement:
This role requires written and spoken proficiency in English and would benefit from Japanese language skills. fluency (minimum of C2 level for CEFR framework*) in English is required and basic business level (B1) in Japanese is preferred.
*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.
- B1: Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
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- Experience of working directly with businesses
- Experience working with regulation, standards or policy
- Experience working in, or knowledge of, Asia-Pacific markets
- Japanese language skill and cultural understanding
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Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Leadership, Working Together
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2 August 2026
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Higher Executive Officer (HEO)
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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 862,900
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monthly
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1 October 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.
The role holder will be expected to contribute to the broader business and corporate activities of the British Embassy Tokyo, for example supporting events, visits, or contributing to other initiatives to make the British Embassy Tokyo a great place to work. Japanese language and cultural knowledge would therefore be helpful in these scenarios.
Regular (usually quarterly) travel across Asia-Pacific is expected.
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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