View Vacancy – TW – Senior Political Officer, EO

Main purpose of job:

Understanding the political landscape and system underpins much of our work at the British Office and drives policymaking in London. The Political Section is responsible for delivering that understanding and policy advice. You will be the team’s leading expert on Taiwanese politics, key political trends and developments, and on Taiwan’s democratic development. Your analysis and reporting, formed by robust research and engagement, will help to deepen our understanding of Taiwan.

As part of the British Office team, you will support the UK’s strengthening of our unofficial relations with Taiwan. You will play a key role in delivering our goals on shared democratic values and our engagement with local authorities. Your effective use of existing and new networks will help the British Office strengthen our connections, relationships and influence to drive forward UK objectives in Taiwan.

This is an exciting, important and meaningful position that will expose you to a range of colleagues, stakeholders and policy areas. The role is best suited to someone who enjoys acquiring and sharing expertise, able to make sense of complexity, has strong prioritisation skills, communicates effectively in both English and Mandarin, and most importantly, relishes keeping a finger on the pulse of Taiwan’s domestic political developments and conversations.

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

You will play a leading role on identifying, analysing and reporting on Taiwan’s political system, domestic political developments and emerging political trends (70% of your role).  You will be instrumental in helping us recommend and coordinate senior political engagements for our Head of Mission, and support the British Office to build a strong network of contacts, particularly with political parties and legislators. You will also have many opportunities to meet with civil society organisations, academics, relevant departments and agencies, and other foreign missions.

As our expert on Taiwanese politics, key topics where you will demonstrate in-depth understanding will include: the priorities and decision-making processes within the new Administration, political party dynamics and the legislative agenda, and identity politics, social and constitutional issues. This requires proactive horizon scanning; critically assessing a range of sources; the aptitude to carry out in-depth research, and the confidence to speak to a wide range of contacts to gain comprehensive insights. The most successful candidates are able to spot domestic developments that are significant and relevant to UK interests, and are able to convey this in both an effective and timely manner.

You will support the Political Section with coordinating political engagements with local authorities, and travel around Taiwan to meet with local political contacts (15%). This is important for enriching our understanding of Taiwan’s political development. This includes working with other teams to map out key stakeholders, identify when we should engage and on which issues, and provide advice and briefing material to support our interactions.

You will have lead responsibility within the team for maintaining our work on democratic values and supporting the Political Section on team or office-wide priorities (15%). The former includes being aware of Taiwan’s continued human rights reforms and democratic development through engagements, and providing advice and briefing materials that help to meet our values-related goals. The latter may involve providing support with key visits and receptions, or covering key absences.

You will be working very closely with the Head of Political (Taiwan), who will oversee your work and provide direction and guidance. You will also be working closely with all members of the wider Political team, including the Director for Political and Communications who oversees all team activities; the Head of Cross Strait and Regional Security; another Senior Political Analyst focussed on cross strait and security monitoring, and our Political and Chevening Officer. There will also be plenty of opportunities to interact with our Head of Mission, Deputy Head of Mission and colleagues from other teams.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure): 

No staff management; potential for project management; allocation within team budget for travel and business hospitality.

• A shared sense of our values
• Three years’ work experience in policy or government affairs, media, or international relations & law
• Existing contacts in politics, government, media, academia and civil society
• Strong written and oral communication skills

Language requirements: 

Language: Mandarin (essential) 

Level of language required: Fluent, both written and spoken

Language: English (essential) 

Level of language required: Fluent, both written and spoken

Language: Taiwanese (desirable) 

Level of language required: Fluent, both spoken