View Vacancy - JPN - Corporate Services Officer (Protocol) A2(L)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Operations and Corporate Services)
Protocol, Visits and Events, Corporate Services Support

Main purpose of job:

Corporate Services is the “engine room” of the Embassy, providing a broad range of essential services to support delivery of key HMG objectives. We provide platform services to around 170 staff from 7 government departments and devolved administrations situated in either British Embassy Tokyo or British Consulate-General Osaka.

The protocol officer is a unique role that requires you to communicate with our diplomats and MOFA counterparts on a daily basis to administrate paperwork. We seek a generalist who can deliver a quality service at pace with attention to detail. The jobholder will work within defined rules, guidelines, regulations and policies provided. Previous experience in diplomatic protocol is not required, though it would be an advantage. Issues that are novel or outside a clear framework should be referred to the deputy corporate services manager who will be assigned as your line manager.

As a corporate services officer, the jobholder will also have a chance to experience a variety of corporate work areas – either by covering the role in someone’s absence or by taking project type of work that you can use your skill/competence/experience. The team reprioritises each year, and we are expecting a variety of Olympic related work in 2021.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

UK based staff (UKBS) Arrival & Departure Assistance (0.4 Full time equivalent)

  • Engage with UKBS who will arrive in Japan over the next 6 months to provide administrative assistance. Specifically, you will handle items such as visa, accreditation, unaccompanied airfreight, heavy baggage, driving licence, vehicle registration, and bank account creation. Support their departure after the end-of-tour as well.
  • Negotiate with MoFA officials to ensure that we can comply with rules around accreditation and diplomatic immunity.

Other Protocol Assistance (0.3 Full time equivalent)

  • Engage with UKBS to answer to their questions and provide guidance/support as needed. Due to COVID-19, you will need to provide additional support for them to re-enter Japan smoothly after any travel to another country under the stricter border controls set by the government of Japan.
  • Administrate customs exemption process (kangi) for UKBS.
  • Provide protocol advice and problem resolution for senior visitors from the UK to Japan.

Wider Corporate Services (0.3 Full time equivalent)

  • Act as a secretariat to the One HMG (Her Majesty’s Government) group with a membership that represents government departments and devolved administrations within the embassy, ensuring they are content with the platform and ensuring any issues they raise are resolved smoothly.
  • Act as cover for other corporate services officers in their absence ensuring  business continuity as one team. This is a mutual arrangement and others will cover your role to take weeks’ of holidays as you wish.
  • Participate in embassy-wide activities where corporate services’ involvement is required such as the Olympics.

Working patterns:

Office hours are generally 0900-1730, Monday to Friday, but can be adjusted in discussion with your line manager.


This position is fixed-term for 12 months with possibility of renewal.

  • Language: Japanese and English

  • Level of language required: Fluent Japanese and business level English or vice-versa.

  • Over 1 year working experiences
  • Over 3 years working experience in the corporate services field.
30 November 2020
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
37.5
Asia Pacific
Japan
Tokyo
British Embassy
1
JPY
361,591
4 January 2021
  • 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)
  • Alongside a number of Embassy-specific courses that will need to be completed on arrival, the Embassy is supportive of learning and development. We offer five development days per year, and regular opportunities for learning and development delivered both within the mission and regionally in Asia. We also focus on using coaching and a buddying system to support new arrivals.

Office hours are 0900-1730, Monday to Friday. Occasional out of hours work may be required for larger visits. Any additional time worked will be compensated by time off in lieu 

The British Embassy, Tokyo supports and promotes flexible working as a crucial part of our inclusive offering. This particular role allows for flexibility in start and end times, working remotely for one day a week, and the possibility of a job share arrangement, subject to agreement with management.

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

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 five 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.

The applicant must have work authorisation for Japan however if a foreign national, the British Embassy/Consulate General will support a visa application if required.

Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

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.

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.

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.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.