British High Commission Senior Trade Adviser - Midlands - Jobs in Johannesburg South Africa
British High Commission Senior Trade Adviser - Midlands - Jobs in Johannesburg South Africa
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, 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.
Main Purpose of Job:
This is an exciting time to join the Department for International Trade (DIT).
Our aim is to promote British trade and investment across the world which is vital for the prosperity of the UK.
DIT brings together policy, promotion, and financial expertise to break down barriers to trade and investment in markets across the world to help businesses succeed.
This is a great opportunity to be part of an international team that contributes to the success of the UK's trade and investment goals.
The role is for a new Pan-Africa lead for the Midlands region* with a focus on key priority sectors for the region in Education, Life Sciences, Food & Drink, and infrastructure.
It has been created as part of the UK Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda, which includes increasing trade and investment support for key UK regions outside of London and the greater South East.
Your job will be to work with UK companies from the Midlands Engine region, to help them to develop new business in Africa.
This will include helping them to identify the best opportunities, strategies and markets for them, and working with them to help win new business.
You will draw on the wider resources of DIT Africa, but will need to drive work forward yourself in partnership with these UK businesses.
The Midlands region will help you to connect with relevant UK companies in their region.
To help develop the pipeline of successful trade with the Midlands region, you will liaise with key buyers, and help bring key buyers to the UK.
You will need to be mobile across the region to respond where you see strong business opportunities in priority sectors.
You will work closely with DIT Midlands Trade team, relevant DIT Midlands Specialist International Trade Advisers (ITAs) in several sectors (inc Education, Food & Drink and Healthcare & Life Sciences), local regional trade partners, and the East and West Midlands International ITA Trade Teams to achieve this.
The Midlands has a working population of over 4m, over 500,000 of whom are involved in manufacturing and engineering.
The region provides 20% of the manufacturing output of the UK. It is home to the largest cluster of rail manufacturers in Europe and the world’s second largest jet engine manufacturer (Rolls-Royce), with 400 companies involved in the aerospace supply chain.
Every major car manufacturer is represented in the Midlands, including Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover, with strong component supply capability. Alongside global brands such as JCB, Bombardier and Walgreen Boots, hundreds of companies specialise in sectors ranging from rail, mechanical engineering to battery technology, food & drink, and medical devices. The Midlands region includes cities such as Birmingham, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, Leicester, Coventry and Wolverhampton.
The Midlands is home to major football clubs such Aston Villa, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanders, Nottingham Forest, West Bromwich Albion, and 6 of the 12 clubs who founded The Football League in 1888. As the birthplace of Rugby, the Midlands has a strong affinity with the game, and hosted the Rugby World Cup in 2015
Roles and Responsibilities
The role provides opportunities to work at strategic and delivery levels.
This is a challenging and rewarding job and we are looking for an experienced professional with knowledge of a range of business sectors across the Africa region, and preferably experience of business development in Africa for international or major local companies.
Ideally you will have a well-established range of high-level contacts in a range of sectors which will allow you to rapidly acquire a sophisticated knowledge of the opportunities and challenges for Midlands Engine companies
in the market.
You will need strong business development skills and acumen, and be energetic and creative, with good judgment to prioritise and keep focused on the delivery of your objectives.
Importantly, you must have strong communication and influencing skills to be credible with business at a senior level and to expand your network to support your goals.
The following sets out more detail on the duties and responsibilities of this new role:
Export campaign development and delivery aimed at increasing the demand for Midlands Engine sector specific goods and services in market (65%)
You will use your knowledge, connections, and analysis to develop and deliver targeted campaigns in the sector to increase Midlands Engine exports to the Africa region.
A key feature of the role will be to promote Africa and to develop a campaign for Midlands Engine exporters to present the market as one of the most open, accessible, and easiest regions for business.
An important part of this will be to facilitate Midlands Engine trade missions, webinars, and events, and by connecting visitors with senior stakeholders in market. While the focus will be on key sectors outlined above, the postholder will be required to support other priority sectors or wider Midlands strategic priorities (for example the 2022 Commonwealth Games), as necessary This will include ensuring that Midlands Engine sector propositions are fed into HMTC for Africa trade campaigns.
For incoming missions, you will provide strong on the ground support by working in collaboration with colleagues in the DIT Africa teams and external partners like the British Chambers, Banks etc.
This will include plotting out mission programmes, organising seminars/workshops and securing possible buyers and speakers.
You will work alongside the East and West Midlands ITA International Trade teams to build a credible pipeline of business opportunities and potential suppliers.
You will also support the planning of inward market roadshows to the Midlands Engine region and ‘Meet the Buyer’ events, helping to raise awareness of opportunities and recruiting businesses to join. This will include using your enhanced knowledge of regional sector strengths to target substantial buyers to bring to the UK.
Building awareness of Midlands Engine capability (30%)
You will need to gain a good understanding of Midlands Engine capability in the sector and use this to build capacity and awareness in the Africa DIT teams to support your objectives to win more export business for Midlands Engine companies.
The postholder will also utilise newly developed Midlands Engine Trade Sector propositions to actively market the region to perspective buyers and African business networks.
Reporting (5%)
You can expect to provide a range of reporting and analysis to the DIT Midlands regional team and local partners, including contributing to briefing. In addition, you will need to produce a monthly progress report on your activities for DIT Midlands, as well as input to a quarterly steering group looking at the overseas champions programme as a whole.
The postholder will also input into DataHub for the appropriate activities.
The postholder will support dedicated DIT Africa quarterly review meetings with the DIT Midlands Head of Trade to ensure continued alignment of shared objectives.
Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience
Experience of business development in the private sector, and of developing strategy to win new business in Africa, preferably for international companies, or major local companies. Experience of working very well with companies at CEO level.
Excellent communication skills in English, both verbal and spoken.
Ability to draft succinct reports and provide briefing for generalist and specialist audiences, often to very tight deadlines.
Excellent interpersonal skills and a strong team player who can work on their own initiative and across virtual teams.
Willing to travel.
Desirable Qualifications, Skills and Experience
Experience of working in trade/export promotion and/or in a B2B client-facing role.
Account management experience.
Knowledge of key sector capabilities in the Midlands region.
Required Competencies
Making Effective Decisions, Leading and Communicating, Collaborating and Partnering, Managing a Quality Service
How to Apply
For more information and job application details, see; British High Commission Senior Trade Adviser - Midlands - Jobs in Johannesburg South Africa
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