JOB DESCRIPTION

View Vacancy – JPN (Tokyo) – Team Assistant, AA

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. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.

Job Category

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

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main Purpose of Job:

To provide procurement and logistics support to British Embassy Tokyo’s Communications and Visits and Events sections.

What the Jobholder will be Expected to Achieve:

This is a rare opportunity to work at the heart of British Embassy Tokyo’s Communications and Visit & Events teams, supporting teams who are delivering the closest UK-Japan relationship in decades.

As an Administrative Assistant, you will support delivery of the British Embassy’s work in Japan. The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Provide procurement support to the communications and visits & events team. Specifically, support with project documents and process for major multi-year contract tenders which are required. This will involve liaising closely with the policy/content leads and the procurement hub, to ensure the correct procurement processes are followed and the business requirements are met.
• Provide communications and visits & events team with logistics support which may include:
  • Ensuring suitable systems for booking in and out and creating self-service packs for e.g. Christmas or Hanami events.
  • Managing comms assets such as banners, including storage and shipping to the Consulate General in Osaka when required.
  • Logistical support for media or other events (e.g. press conferences, off site filming etc), including invitations and coordinating with other Embassy sections and external service providers.
  • Provide logistics support during senior official or Ministerial visits to Visits & Events team e.g. support with transport arrangements, programmes, internal coordination and arranging meetings or liaising with External meeting locations or organisers.
  • New staff admin induction and support.
  • Other administrative tasks as may be required e.g. monitor and action shared inboxes, update contact lists, manage media subscriptions.
• Budget monitoring for communications section including forecasting and monitoring whether spend is within budget.
• Other office management tasks where required. This may extend to other departments within PCCD on a task basis.
• Other Duties:
  • Take on tasks and roles that contribute to wider embassy objectives, proactively working with members of other teams.
  • Contribute to the Embassy’s crisis preparedness and response.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Ability to grasp new concepts quickly and to retain new information
• Strong relationship management and collaboration skills
• Organised approach to work with good attention to detail
• Proficient computer skills

Language Requirements:

This role requires written and spoken proficiency in both English and Japanese. Fluency (minimum of C2 level for CEFR framework*) in Japanese and business level (minimum of high B2) in English.

* 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.
• B2: Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

For more information please click on the following link CEFR. Please bear in mind in case you are invited for an interview your languages skills are going to be assessed.

Required behaviours

Delivering at Pace, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together

Application deadline

2 November 2025

Grade

Administrative Assistant (AA)

Type of Position

Full-time, Permanent

Working hours per week

37.5 hours

Region

Asia Pacific

Country/Territory

Japan

Location (City)

Tokyo

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

JPY

Salary

JPY 369,600

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

29 December 2025

Other benefits and conditions of employment

• 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.

Occasional out-of-hours working is required to support Embassy events.

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 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 (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 5 development days to pursue job related and personal development goals.

Additional information

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.

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.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements