View Vacancy - JPN (Tokyo) - Communications Manager (Media, Communications and Marketing), EO
Main purpose of job:
The Media, Communications and Marketing department is a busy and creative team working across all sections of the Japan Network to raise the profile of the UK in Japan. Priorities can change quickly in this fast-paced and exciting division, with the opportunity to work across a range of innovative campaigns, events and high-level engagements.
Through excellent project management skills and knowledge of marketing and communications, this role will ensure that the Japan Network’s marketing and communications plans, activities and campaigns are delivered and evaluated. The intended audience for these initiatives will range from Japanese businesses, government and academia to influencers and the general public. The majority of these communications actions will be in Japanese, but there will also be UK-facing moments to deliver or advise on.
Ensure that any comms products or services provided by the Communications Officers are created and delivered in line with clear objectives, aligned with the UK’s GREAT brand and to the required standard.
Provide expertise and guidance to others in the communications department and the wider Japan Network in the creation of communications products, from digital marketing to events.
Work with a diverse range of stakeholders, including collaboration with external agencies/organisations, liaising with teams in the UK, across the APAC region and within the Japan Network itself.
Roles and responsibilities/ what will the job holder be expected to achieve?
Excellent people management (20%)
- Line management of three communications staff; encourage and support staff development and upskilling.
- Capable of selling marketing activities to Japan Network colleagues, confidently representing the British Embassy and negotiating with external partners and sponsors.
- Creative and flexible approach; confident engagement with senior management; effective reporting and recommendations; supporting Head of Brand and Marketing in finding solutions when resources are under pressure.
Excellent project management of campaigns and communications activity (45%)
- Project manage the implementation of effective communications activities to support a range of Japan Network objectives, making full use of resources and materials available.
- Evaluate and report on outcomes from campaigns and marketing activities.
- Monitor local trends and marketing best practices towards a Japanese audience to ensure plans and outputs are cutting edge, innovative and highly engaging.
- Provide editorial guidance and sign-off on our Japanese language communications products such as regular business-audience newsletters.
- Coordinate with Head of Brand and Marketing and other department colleagues on marketing campaigns, providing expert recommendations and agreeing an overall plan with lead teams.
- Ensure social media and other relevant digital delivery mechanisms are embedded in communications plans.
Support for event delivery (10%)
- Support Visits and Events staff with content, digital tools and evaluation options.
- Work closely with Japan Network sector teams and encourage innovative ways to deliver hybrid and digital events, learning from past projects and customer feedback.
- Manage design requests, disseminating work through the team. Outsource work to external agencies and suppliers where appropriate.
Stakeholder engagement and relationship building (15%)
- Regularly talk with internal teams from across the Japan Network to build a solid understanding of their objectives, how they operate and increase their understanding of how to help them achieve their targeted outcomes.
- Engage regularly with London HQ, Hong Kong Marketing Hub and regional colleagues to understand the latest information on campaigns, content and emerging projects. Manage expectations of London/regional-led initiatives, ensuring localisation of campaigns is planned and executed with a Japanese audience in mind.
- Develop close relationships with our existing network of agencies and suppliers to continue to gain value for money outputs and increase our efforts on sustainable production methods for physical materials.
- Build new relationships with relevant stakeholders/agencies that can further advance our marketing work or wider Japan Network Country Plan objectives.
Wider team support and other responsibilities (10%)
- Deputise for the Head of Brand and Marketing during periods of absence.
- Leadership and support of Japan Network initiatives/corporate projects which require marketing input and steer.
Resources managed (staff and expenditure):
- Line management x3; (Two Communication Officers AO and Communications Assistant AA).
- Budgets: Access to yearly marketing spend within MCM and DIT project-based budget.
- 4 years’ experience in trade/public relations, marketing or digital communications with a public or private sector organisation.
- Experience managing diverse staff.
- Proven skills in project management and campaign execution. Experience in Japanese language content creation.
- Country knowledge and proven ability to engage Japanese, UK and international audiences.
- Well-developed skills in IT, communications, branding, social media, and familiarity with latest digital tools.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills to develop good relationships with key stakeholders and clients.
- Experience of working in an English-speaking environment.
- Budget management skills and experience.
Language requirements:
- Language: Japanese and English
- Level of language required:
- Native-level in either language
- Business-level in English (TOEIC 900+) or Japanese (JLPT N1)
- Holds relevant industry qualification or certification in communications, marketing and/or project management.
- Expertise in relevant digital platforms, production and techniques.
- Familiarity with government communications, policy and priorities.
- 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)
- 24 days paid annual leave (calculated pro rata)
- Health Insurance and Employee pension (kenko hoken/kosei nenkin)
- Employment Insurance (koyou hoken)
Learning and development opportunities:
- FCO on-line learning courses
- Embassy learning and development fund available for bids for non-job specific training
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.
Working patterns:
Full time and office based. 37.5 hours per week. Due to the nature of this role the job holder will be expected to support a number of events in the evening and occasionally at the weekend, with duties shared among the whole team. Occasional working at home days possible with manager’s agreement.
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.
This opportunity is closed to applications.
