View Vacancy - ROK - Protocol Officer, AO

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.
Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)
MOD (Ministry of Defence)

Main purpose of job:

Working as an integral part of the Defence Section of the British Embassy Seoul to enhance the UK-ROK defence relationship, the protocol officer supports the administrative requirements of the section and of the inward UK delegation visits and joint military exercises under general directions, manages Defence Attaché / Deputy Defence Attaché and wider section diaries, provides translation / interpretation, and liaises with local government and military contacts. The role includes responsibility for supporting in the management of the Defence Engagement Budget and associated systems and supporting the Embassy’s corporate and crisis response efforts. The successful candidate will benefit from a supportive and inclusive team environment, with access to a wide range of learning and development opportunities.  

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

Working to the Defence Attaché, the Deputy Defence Attaché and directly to the Senior Defence Protocol Officer, the protocol officer is responsible for:

  • Managing the Defence Attaché, the Deputy Defence Attaché and the wider section diaries.
  • Supporting a range of administrative requirements of the section and of the inward visit programme / events / ceremonies organised by the section such as arranging accommodation and transportation, managing correspondence, keeping records of the section’s hospitality list, responding to phone and email enquiries from externals. 
  • Maintaining relationship and manage contracts with corporate organisations including travel agencies and hotels for the section and for the inward visiting UK delegations.
  • Leading in liaising with the Foreign Liaison Office of each ROK military services.
  • Providing translation of the official documents and interpretation for the Defence Attaché and the Deputy Defence Attaché when required during a meeting or an office call.
  • Assisting the Senior Defence Protocol Officer in supporting the UK-ROK joint military exercises taking place in ROK and the UK military assets visiting ROK. 
  • Supporting the Senior Defence Engagement Officer in the management of the Defence Engagement Budget and associated systems.
  • Contribute to wider British Embassy corporate initiatives and events.  

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

  • Defence Section stationary requirements.
  • DS Seoul Defence Engagement budget. 


  • A team player able to work in a busy open plan environment supporting the whole Defence Section.
  • Innovative self-starter with the ability to initiate work and take responsibility until completion.
  • Ability to communicate with a range of contacts from a diverse range of sectors and ministries in a formal language (written and verbally).
  • Ability to deliver at pace, working to tight deadlines amid ever changing priorities.

Language Requirements: English and Korean

Level of language required: Expert


  • Previous experience of delivering translation and interpretation services.
  • General understanding of the Republic of Korea military and the Indo-Pacific geopolitical environment.
  • Knowledge and experience of using Microsoft Office (MS Outlook and Teams).  

Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together
13 October 2025
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Temporary, Fixed Term
36
12 months
Asia Pacific
South Korea
Seoul
British Embassy
1
KRW
KRW 3,750,759
monthly
1 December 2025

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 based on disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law.   

Learning & development opportunities:

The British Embassy Seoul encourages all staff to develop their capabilities, through both formal training (courses) and informal (job-shadowing, coaching, on-the-job training etc). The majority of our formal L&D opportunities are drawn from FCDO resources. All staff are encouraged to share their skills and experience with colleagues, through informal training (‘lunch & learn’) or coaching/mentoring.

Working Patterns:

Monday – Thursday 09:00 – 17:15, Friday 09:00 – 17:00

Other Information:

Candidates must currently hold the right to live and work in the Republic of Korea.

Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.
Staff who are recruited by the British Embassy Seoul are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law. 

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy Seoul are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Korean employment law.  

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

This is a temporary, fixed term role of 12 months.

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.

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. 

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 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.

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.