View Vacancy - BK - Head of Business Sectors and Exports, SEO

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.
Department for Business and Trade roles (DBT)
Department for Business and Trade (DBT)

Main purpose of job:

The British Embassy Bangkok is a large diplomatic mission of around 150 staff delivering a dynamic and rapidly expanding programme of activity in support of the UK’s objectives including on economic and sustainable development, trade, security, open societies, consular services and law enforcement. This is an exciting opportunity to join our diverse team. 

You will join the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) Thailand team which promotes exports to Thailand of British goods and services, investment from Thailand to the UK and mutually improved market access to help grow our bilateral trade. 

As Head of Business Sectors and Exports, you will lead a team of approx. 5 sector specialists responsible for supporting UK businesses to undertake trade in Thailand across key sectors including digital & technology, energy, healthcare and education. Your role will be to lead the team in promoting the opportunities of Thailand to UK companies, delivery of trade events to progress pipeline and proactive support in securing high value deals. Your mission is to ensure that the DBT sector leads are energetically promoting the UK’s commercial capability and proactively driving trade promotion activity. Your primary measure of success will be the value of contracts you and your team assist British companies to secure. 

Reporting to the Deputy Country Director of the Department for Business and Trade, you will be responsible for setting strategic priorities, leveraging and directing resources, improving team capability and driving performance. You will support our trade policy and investment work. This is an exciting and high-profile leadership role in the Embassy with a wide scope of responsibility.

Day-to-day you will engage and influence a wider range of senior stakeholders internal and external to the Embassy. You will utilise strong interpersonal skills to build deep and trusting relationships with senior executives. You will be required to balance competing priorities, collaborate with teams across the Embassy and in the UK, utilise data and analysis to develop strategy and carry out promotional activities including support to deliver high level Ministerial and Senior Official visits.  

The role is suited to a commercially minded self-starter who will relish the opportunity to engage businesses both SME and multinationals in supporting their export ambitions. We are looking for somebody able to confidently converse with C-Suite business leaders, entrepreneurs and small start-ups in seeking new and innovative routes to problems and always seeking to drive forward the agenda through their team. 

DBT Thailand works closely with our Headquarters team in London, regional and local colleges, representatives of the three Devolved Administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, with a key objective of driving trade and inwards investment. This is a great opportunity to be part of an international team that contributes to the UK Governments number one priority : Growth.   

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

  • Leadership: Working through your team you will design and deliver export campaigns across key sectors; leading your team to assist UK companies in securing contracts in Thailand. Alongside your team you will design and implement new and existing UK exporters to secure export wins in the Thai market through delivery of market intelligence to UK companies; promotional activities such as trade missions, events and promotions; specific business support to secure deals and proactive communication. You will also be required to proactively support cross Government Ministerial and Trade Envoy visits in securing business deals
  • Co-working: You will need to rapidly develop a close relationship with your colleagues in DBT and across the Embassy to ensure a joined-up approach to our work. You will also need to develop a close relationship with the British Chamber of Commerce and British Council in supporting UK companies to be successful in Thailand.
  • Business expertise: You will use your experience of the supporting businesses to secure commercial contracts and will lead, coach and mentor your team to be highly effective, confident and competent in dealing with a wide range of UK and Thai stakeholders in delivering the desired commercial outcomes.
  • Stakeholder management: You will directly manage the team’s most important company accounts, and oversee the team’s wider accounts, with the goal of ensuring the effective delivery of export campaigns utilising the whole of UK Governments assets to achieve success. You will need to build trusted relationships; understand corporate strategies and challenges; identify opportunities to support companies and influence others to support your proposals. You will need to be confident and competent in engaging business leaders at the most senior levels and be able to represent the British Government and Embassy at the highest levels of business and government.   
  • Team Management: You will be directly responsible for the line-management of your team currently comprising five trade officers and support officers. You will be responsible for agreeing objectives, performance management and employee development. You will monitor your own and your team’s performance against agreed targets and act to keep performance and work on track. 
  • Data management: You will ensure your team is documenting engagements and key information in an appropriate, timely and confidential manner to ensure corporate memory; while also being able to share with appropriate colleagues on a need-to-know basis.
  • Excellent, Connected, Confident, Collaborative: You will model DBT’s values in continuing to strive to continually improve the performance of DBT Thailand. You will seek out and adopt best practice
  • Corporate: A portion of your time will involve contributing to the broader goals of the British Embassy or regional DBT network. This will involve a senior role in crisis response, as well as other roles such as leading a committee or cross-network events.    

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

The role will manage a minimum of 5 direct reports specialising the business sectors and exports.  Depending on available budgets, there is likely to be opportunity to manage or oversee limited programme funding to support market opening and trade promotion activity in Thailand.


  • Strong written and oral English communication skills.
  • Proven ability to lead and manage a team
  • At least five years professional experience
  • Commercial skills, well versed in how businesses function
  • Proven ability to take the initiative pursuing the objectives in the job description
  • Proven competence in leading strategy development and business planning
  • Proven advisory and negotiation skills at senior levels – able to express ideas and messages clearly and concisely, both in oral and written communication.
  • Confident public speaker and networker
  • Recognition of the importance of developing a strong business network
  • Strong administration and organisation skills
  • Flexible and reactive to new issues and priorities
  • Ability to work at pace and prioritise, managing a busy and high profile workload
  • Able to fulfil the travel requirements of the role and work outside normal office hours as required (e.g. for evening events)
  • Experience working in a cross-cultural environment
  • Experience or knowledge of business in the UK or Thailand
  • Thai language
Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Leadership, Making Effective Decisions
17 November 2025
Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
Full-time, Permanent
36
Asia Pacific
Thailand
Bangkok
British Embassy
1
THB
172,444
monthly
5 January 2026

The British Embassy offers a competitive remuneration package, including salary (will be abated for those not liable to tax), benefits, a leave entitlement, health insurance and comprehensive development programme based upon business need and individual staff requirements.

Learning and development opportunities:

The British Embassy Bangkok 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. All staff are eligible for 5 L&D days a year.

Working patterns:

This is a full time role - 36 hours/week, Monday to Friday.

We are currently operating a hybrid working pattern with at least 60% of the time being spent in the office.

The Embassy has a smarter working policy and is committed to offering flexible working patterns balanced with the operational requirements of the role. In crisis/emergency situations you may need to work as required to support the Embassy response, sometimes on a shift pattern, which may result in unsociable hours and/or weekend working.  

As an inclusive employer we are happy to discuss alternative working patterns at interview or at the point of any job offer.

Other Information:

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

No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit. Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.

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.

Please note that your application must be submitted before 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. 

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 note that it is likely that any non-Thai national who is successful in securing a role within the Embassy will need to leave the country and re-enter with a specific type of visa if currently living in Thailand or will need to apply for a visa before travelling here if currently based outside of Thailand. Whilst the Embassy can support you with this process, the costs involved will need to be met by the candidate.
  
Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks. Staff who are recruited by the British Embassy are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law.  

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.
      
The British Embassy offers a competitive compensation package including a guaranteed 13th month pay, 20 days paid annual leave (calculated on a pro-rata basis if you join after 1 January), extensive medical insurance and access to a guaranteed 5 days of learning opportunities a year.  

The British Embassy Bangkok promotes the following values:

  • Collaboration          

We support each other and are inclusive

We work closely with others to deliver

  • Empowerment        

We are innovative and adaptive
We achieve a healthy work-life balance, taking advantage of hybrid working

  • Expertise

We build on and champion our diverse skills and expertise
We draw on data, technology and evidence

  • Respect

We build trust and value differences
We invite and appreciate other perspectives

  • Impact

We take a strategic approach
We prioritise and are all clear on expectations

To those applicants not short-listed, we extend our appreciation for considering the British Government as a potential employer. 

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.