The British Office Taipei promotes the UK’s interests and values in Taiwan. We are a dynamic, purposeful and fun team looking to recruit a highly motivated and organised executive assistant to the UK Representative.

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

This is a key role in the British Office. The Executive Assistant (EA) works closely with the Representative & Deputy Representative to maximise opportunities for them and the wider the British Office team to strengthen UK-Taiwan relations. 

The EA maintains close liaison with all sections of the British Office and is an important interface with our external contacts. The EA needs to be very well-organised, take a highly structured approach to info-management, able to communicate clearly and fluently in both Mandarin and English (spoken and in writing), and to remain calm and solution-focused in the face of challenges. They will need to have a reasonable eye for detail, including in scheduling and organising external engagements, telephone calls and paperwork. They need to be confident and respectful communicators, both as a team-player with colleagues inside the British Office and as a courteous face of the British Office in dealing with outside organisations. They should be able to take a degree of initiative but stay in close consultation with the Representative and the wider team.  They need to be sufficiently skilled in the Microsoft Office suite, particularly Outlook, Teams, and Excel. Knowledge of Taiwan’s politics and / or priority industrial sectors would be an asset.

Responsibilities include:

• Management of HOM’s time & diary. 
• Liaison across the British Office to ensure smooth planning and meetings across teams. 
• Planning the Representative’s external engagements, maintaining effective relationships with counterparts in key organisations, and often being the ‘Meet and greet’ for VIP visitors.
• Dealing effectively with correspondence (email, post and telephone calls), including keeping records where required.
• Logistical support to Representative, e.g. booking travel and tracking travel & hospitality budgets. and budgeting. 
• Managing the Representative’s hospitality, 
• Liaising with building management, catering, security and housekeeper at the official Residence to ensure delivery of high-quality events
• Occasionally writing letters and records of meetings in Mandarin and English.

The British Office is a welcoming and fun place to work. It is located in bright modern offices with fabulous views. Colleagues are able to work flexibly and enjoy a healthy work/life balance. The British Office has a strong commitment to diversity and to learning and development.

Advising Representative on expenditure of approximately £20,000 per annum

There is scope to grow the role beyond core functions set out above, e.g. ensuring effective meeting management & reporting, finance and performance monitoring, or supporting in representational situations, depending on the job holder’s interests & skills. 

• Organisational skills, structured information management and good prioritisation. 
• Confident and respectful interpersonal and communications skills, in Mandarin and English (written and spoken fluency required in both)
• Applies good judgement, taking initiative to resolve problems in collaboration with colleagues, seeking guidance where necessary.
• A team worker, collaborating effectively with colleagues
• Sufficient competency in core IT: Microsoft Office, Outlook, Teams, Excel, web applications and proficient typing skills.

Language requirement: English and Mandarin

Level of language required: Expert