View Vacancy - CPK - Political and Visits Officer (Internal Vacancy)

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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
Political

The successful candidate will split their time equally and flexibly between: North East Asia issues in the Foreign and Security Policy team in the Embassy’s Political Section; and the China Network Visits Task Force.

 

The China Network experiences a high number of visits throughout the year from UK Ministers and Government Officials, as well as the Royal Family. Alongside a range of ministerial and official level dialogues, we will continue to organise stand alone visits from a wide range of Cabinet Ministers, Junior Ministers, members of the Royal Family and Parliamentarians –some of them repeatedly.  At the same time we expect continuing high levels of senior Chinese visitors to the UK, including from provincial and municipal leaders, as our outreach network builds stronger relations in support of UK interests. 

 

The China Network Visits Task Force, based primarily in Beijing primarily is responsible for visits across the China Network. The Visits Task Force will design and deliver high-impact programmes for FCO ministers, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on China and other high-level visits including dialogues (EFD, P2P) and summits. 

 

The Foreign and Security Policy team in the Political Section of the Embassy is responsible for a wide range of work related to understanding China’s foreign policy and increasing UK-China cooperation in related areas. The North East Asia aspect of the work includes Chinese thinking on Korean Peninsula affairs and relations with Japan.

 

The role will be overseen by the Director of Corporate Services, with line management from the Foreign and Security Policy team.

 

Political Officer

 

The jobholder will work with the Second Secretary Political External on North East Asia foreign policy issues, with a particular focus on the Korean Peninsula. They will be responsible for open source research and analysis, media monitoring, interpreting and translating, contact building, and related visits. They will need to demonstrate excellent ability to deliver at pace and demonstrate resilience, as well as strong judgment. They will also need to be able to write reports unaided to a fluent standard of English and provide well informed and relevant analysis of Chinese language material which adds significantly to London’s understanding of Chinese viewpoints on relevant issues. They should be able to hit the ground running; pre-existing knowledge of Korean Peninsula issues is essential, as are outstanding interpreting skills.

 

Visits Officer

 

The jobholder will work on logistics preparations for all visits, and will take the lead on some visits, especially in the political area.  Excellent problem solving and judgement skills are essential as the jobholder will frequently need to respond to unforeseen obstacles, including last minute changes to visit programmes.  The jobholder will need to demonstrate a keen attention to detail to ensure consistently high-standards for visits.

 

Visits Management (50%)

 

  • Work on the organisation and implementation of ministerial and senior-official visits, and support logistics lead for VIP visits, and coordination of ministerial programmes.
  • Either lead on or support the preparation and implementation of all logistics and protocol arrangements, including visa invitations; car plans; flight bookings; VIP airport arrangements; hotel and venue bookings; interpreters; liaison with venue/Residence staff; budgets and charging instructions.
  • Supporting liaisons with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government departments to secure host invitation letters; set up meetings; and agreeing protocol and security arrangements.

 

Political Officer (50%)

 

  • Provide excellent open source advice and analysis on Chinese academic thinking on Korean Peninsula and wider North East Asia issues.
  • Report and translate Chinese official statements and communications related to the Korean Peninsula and wider North East Asia issues, including, where urgent, outside of office hours.
  • Identify related Embassy academic contacts and set up calls.
  • Interpret to a high level for related meetings with Ministers, senior academics and other diplomatic and official contacts.
  • Organise incoming and outgoing visits related to North East Asia visits, and be available to participate in some of these visits.
  • Support crisis work, especially where relevant to the above brief.
  • Proven previous experience working on Korean Peninsula issues
  • Strong IT and organisational skills, including Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and database management
  • A university degree
  • Project management skills
  • Experience of working on high profile visits, ideally related directly to foreign policy
27 September 2017
Executive Officer (EO)
Full-time, Permanent
35
Asia Pacific
China
Beijing
British Embassy
1
CNY
17,670
9 October 2017
This vacancy is open to Chinese nationals only.

All applications must be received before 27 September 2017 at 23:55 China Standard Time.

 

Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. We regret to advise that we will only be contacting short-listed candidates. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core competencies listed above.

 

Due to the urgency of this position, shortlisted candidates will be notified on 28 September and interviews will be held on 29 September.

 

The successful candidate should be able to start as soon as possible.

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This opportunity is closed to applications.