View Vacancy - MYR - Commercial and Strategy Advisor, C5 (L)

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.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
Commercial Diplomacy

Main purpose of job:

The UK Government’s £1.2bn Prosperity Fund funds a series of programmes aiming to promote economic growth in developing countries. As well as contributing to a reduction in poverty in recipient countries, we expect the reforms brought about by the programmes to create opportunities for international business including UK companies.

The Commercial and Strategy Advisor will play a key role in working with the 3 Prosperity Fund programme leads in British Embassy in Yangon, with the Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Department of International Development (DFID), to unlock the opportunities created by the Programmes’ activities to expand the British business footprint in Myanmar. The role is a mix of stakeholder engagement / management with the specific aim of identifying and creating commercial opportunities.

The focus will be on commercial opportunities generated by four programmes – Low Carbon, Economic Reform and Healthcare and Future Cities. The Low Carbon Programme will focus on green finance and energy efficiency. The Economic Reform Programme will work on anti-money laundering and accountancy. Future Cities will focus on infrastructure and urban planning. The Healthcare programme will focus on non-communicable diseases, nursing and medical education and training. In addition, you may pursue opportunities created by our wider work on economic reform.

The successful candidate will (i) build relationships and work closely with delivery partners, the Government of Myanmar (at national and local levels), the British Chamber, businesses and other external stakeholders to develop commercial opportunities; and (ii) lead on the detailed design, planning and delivery of a number of workshops and events to promote new opportunities across the four programmes.  You will manage senior level relationships, so you will need excellent communication and influencing skills.

You will coordinate with other Embassies in the region – in particular Singapore - and government colleagues in the UK to achieve UK commercial objectives.  You will also draw expertise from policy officers and communications officers in the Embassy.

The post will be based in the British Embassy in Yangon. This is a challenging and exciting opportunity to play an influential role in a high-profile and strategic development initiative in Myanmar, which aims to have a positive impact on economic development and trade, as well as strengthening the relationship between the UK and Myanmar.

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

We are looking for a pro-active, engaged individual with a passion for delivery. The job holder will have three main responsibilities which will generate commercial benefits: close work with DIT, Prosperity and DFID colleagues to deliver projects and trade missions and promote commercial opportunities; supporting Director of DIT; and stakeholder engagement and outreach.

Lead on all Prosperity Fund work in Myanmar which is not directly related to development and provide strategic direction on these issues to DIT (50%)

  • Lead on all design, planning and delivery of projects and trade missions in support of all four Prosperity Fund programmes, promoting UK expertise and creating commercial opportunities for UK firms while working closing with DIT, DFID and Prosperity Team colleagues.
  • Identify and promote commercial opportunities in the low carbon energy, financial services, health and future cities spheres, to expand markets for UK trade and investment.
  • Work with the Director of DIT Myanmar to help steer the strategic direction of DIT’s market development and market access work with a focus on the commercial benefits flowing from UK aid programmes.
  • Co-ordinate and monitor the commercial opportunities with other Posts in Southeast Asia. Engage regularly with Posts in the region to track performance, ensuring consistent and adequate delivery, and sharing best practice.

Deputise and Support for DIT Director/Project Delivery (30%)

  • Deputise for DIT Director in periods of absence and assist in maintaining core briefing documents and lead on ad hoc projects.
  • Be the primary point of contact between DIT and our external partners in delivering outsourced project work.

Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach (20%)

  • Build and maintain relationships with Government of Myanmar interlocutors responsible for programme priority areas, in order to identify and develop commercial opportunities generated by the programmes – in collaboration with DIT, DFID, FCO policy and Programme leads.
  • Conduct regular outreach to private sector and business associations, in order to identify and develop commercial awareness, and evaluate and publish opportunities generated by the programmes – in collaboration with Programme leads and DIT.
  • Work with DIT to reach out to trade bodies in country and the UK on events to increase UK awareness of commercial opportunities and promote UK expertise in relevant sectors.

Other information

  • Some evening and weekend work is required on occasion. Embassy Standard Terms and Conditions apply and provide for time outside of working hours to be compensated with time off at another time.
  • The role will involve travel within country and, potentially, in the region or to the UK. A willingness and ability to travel is required. 
  • Fluent written and spoken English and Myanmar.
  • Graduate with a university degree relevant to the job and at least 5 years experience of working in a relevant role such as procurement, sales, management, marketing, trade promotion or business development;
  • Strong sector knowledge relevant to the role, e.g. low carbon, financial services, urban planning, health;
  • Excellent communication and influencing skills including in giving presentations to external audiences;
  • Events and project management skills and experience delivering results against deadlines/targets;
  • A proven track record of successful relationship management with high-level stakeholders and international clients;
  • Strong knowledge in IT applications and Microsoft;
  • Evidence of self-motivation, professionalism and the ability to work under minimal supervision;
  • Evidence of adaptability and ability to prioritise against competing, challenging tasking;
  • A flexible and creative problem-solver, able to come up with innovative solutions to complex challenges.
  • Corporate Business Development, Sales or Marketing experience would be highly advantageous;
  • Familiarity with the UK is not required, but would be an advantage;
  • Additional technical qualifications relating to low carbon energy, financial services, health or infrastructure/urban planning;
  • Local knowledge and network with relevant stakeholders;
  • Experience of dealing with government;
  • Experience of working with international delivery partners and governments;
  • Market research and analysis experience would be helpful but not essential.
28 July 2019
Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
Full-time, Fixed Term
35
7 months
Asia Pacific
Myanmar
Yangon
British Embassy
1
USD
2149
2 September 2019

Please note the role is confirmed up to end of March 2020. The duration will be determined by the successful candidate's start date, which may not necessarily be 7 months.


The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is committed to developing its staff, working hard to provide a comprehensive L&D offer. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources through the Diplomatic Academy and Civil Service Learning. Staff are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all the available opportunities.


The job-holder will be required to take some specific training courses related to their role. All new staff undertake a workplace induction and there are a number of mandatory e-learning courses covering areas such as diversity, health and safety, and information management.


In addition to formal training, collaboration with a wide range of colleagues will deliver on-the-job learning experiences, including:


  • Working in a diplomatic mission;
  • Understanding how UK international development assistance is managed / implemented;
  • Understanding effective programme management; and
  • Understanding how UK commercial objectives are achieved.

The British Embassy Yangon offers a competitive remuneration package, including salary, benefits, leave entitlement of 22 days per annum (calculated in pro rata). 

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks.

Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy Rangoon is subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law.

All applications must be received before 23:55 on the day of the deadline indicated above. 

Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. We regret to advise that we will only be contacting short-listed candidates. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core competencies listed above.

The successful candidate should be able to start as soon as possible subject to successful clearance of pre-employment/security checks.

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.