Main Purpose of Job:

To support the planning and delivery of a major estates modernisation programme within the British Embassy, Tokyo, Japan. 

The British Embassy Tokyo will undergo an estates transformation within the coming three-to-five years. The renovation and reshaping of our estate will create an enhanced platform for diplomacy in Japan, supporting delivery of the UK Government’s Indo-Pacific tilt and a closer and more ambitious partnership between the UK and Japan.

Project work will have a major impact on Embassy operations over the medium-term. This role will provide crucial support to minimise disruption, enhance communication with staff and stakeholders through the Embassy Transformation team, maximising the benefits of the project through the provision of effective and wide-ranging project support.

The role will report to the Senior Project Coordinator, although will also liaise with the Head of Corporate Services and the Estate Manager as required by the Senior Project Coordinator. The jobholder will also take direction from the London-based Project Director and Project Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) as necessary. The jobholder will provide on-site project support and coordination for staff, project professionals and contractors in both English and Japanese, for the duration of the project works.

What the Jobholder will be Expected to Achieve:

General Project Delivery (30%):

• Work with the Senior Project Coordinator and the wider client team to support planning and delivery of the estates project and associated phasing activity. Liaise with our contractors and their partners to support their work. Coordinate construction plans with stakeholders and maintain regular communication updates to minimise disruption to our business during construction work. Play a supporting role in liaising directly with Japanese ministries and other relevant Local Authorities to ensure all relevant works have appropriate approvals and that all relevant matters are communicated accordingly.
• Maintain flexibility to take on evolving tasks and challenges, including administrative support at key moments, facilitating visiting overseas staff attendance, delivery, development and communication of visit programmes and supporting the planning of Embassy events around the construction requirements.

Management of Construction & Embassy Operations (20%):

• Provide assistance in developing the project plans in preparation for, and transition between construction phases, collating requirements, assisting the development of solutions and supporting Embassy communications to suit the project and its timescales. More specifically, this will require liaison with the Facilities Management Team (JLL) and Transformation team on matters such as move preparation, decants, IT & Telephony, security management and staff enquiries, all in line with the contractor’s delivery programme(s).

Communications (20%):

• Play a supporting role in contractor management for the delivery of construction, working closely with the appointed designers, constructors, suppliers and local stakeholders. They will facilitate logistical coordination to ensure smooth delivery of the operational aspects of the construction, including close communication with our internal teams and the Facilities Management team.
• Support the Senior Project Coordinator with escalation of project challenges to mitigate risk and reduce the potential for conflict (in either the construction itself, or with cross-HMG stakeholders).
• Periodically access and contribute to the externally hosted project SharePoint site, the contract management software (CEMAR) and the FCDO Embassy and project SharePoint sites to support ongoing administrative requirements.

Compliance (15%):

• Support the ongoing requirements of the client, Professional Services & Project Management team, taking direction from the site-based Senior Project Coordinator and London-based Project Director, whilst working closely with the Head of Corporate Services, to ensure that all project activity aligns with Embassy and general FCDO requirements. This will include working with the Corporate Services team to ensure that all Government of Japan communications follow the appropriate protocol.

Meetings (15%):

• Support the Senior Project Coordinator and external Project Manager with bookings, attendance and general input on the project meeting schedules, which will deliver internal and external coordination, project reporting and development, information sharing of wider programme, whilst maintaining overall knowledge of the project status.
• Occasionally and as required by the project meeting schedule, support with the production of meeting summary notes.

Resources Managed (staff and expenditure): Processing of project expenditure related to the role’s remit (approximately 5 million JPY per year)

• At least 2 years of Corporate Services or estates experience (or a related field of expertise)
• Stakeholder management experience
• Resilience to work through project deliverables over a significant project period
• Good interpersonal and organisational skills to conduct duties effectively
• Experience of working in English and Japanese speaking environments
• Flexible, dependable, enthusiastic, customer focused and enjoy taking on challenging responsibilities

Language requirement:

• fluency in all aspects of Japanese (native level, at least equivalent to JLPT N1)
• Good business level English (equivalent to at least CEFR C1 / TOEIC 945+, with experience of working in an English business environment)

*Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages sets the following mastery or proficiency levels.