View Vacancy - AUH/ DXB - Trade & Investment Officer A2(L)

The British Embassies in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have vacancies for Trade & Investment Officers under the Department for International Trade (DIT).

DIT is looking for three highly capable individuals to deliver a high standard of trade and investment support to British companies looking to enter or expand their presence in the UAE market. The jobholders will be delivering a range of support services including organising trade missions, VIP visits to and from the UK, local workshops, exhibitions and events (including virtual events), all with tight deadlines. The team members will also undertake desk-based research on business sectors and associated visit programmes on behalf of colleagues and are expected to proactively gain sector-specific expertise and wider knowledge about the UAE business environment. The jobholders may be delegated to take ownership of work projects in specific sub-sectors.

The jobholders will focus one of the following three sector clusters:

1. Infrastructure (Construction, Transport and the Creative Industries) or
2. Expo 2020 Dubai and Food, Drink, Retail & E-Commerce or
3. Healthcare and Life Sciences.

This position will see the jobholder exposed to senior UAE officials/ business (at times) and a wide range of contacts at UK and local companies, and therefore strong communication and relationship building skills and a high level of resilience and persistence are essential.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Working as part of a team and independently and under the supervision of an experienced colleague to develop and maintain relationships in the government and private sector. Sourcing and publishing Export Opportunities and producing export wins through a programme of targeted calls. Drafting sub-sector engagement strategies and obtaining timely and accurate market information on commercial projects while promoting UK strengths in the sector.
• Act as a resource in support of the relevant DIT cluster sector leads delivering the UK component to major events and trade fairs in the UAE, such as Arab Health, Big5, Expo 2020 Dubai, Gulfood, Middle East Design & Hospitality Week, and others. This would include a wide range of event-related tasks, from helping organise logistics to preparing briefings for senior officials, offering market access advice, and making introductions and appointments on behalf of UK companies. 
• Develop partnerships with DIT regional offices in the UK, DIT Sector Groups, Devolved Administrations, Chambers of Commerce, sector colleagues across the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MEAP) region, Trade Associations, the local British Business Group, and the British Centre for Business in Dubai.  
• Utilising DIT’s internal client relationship management (CRM) system and Microsoft Teams on a day to day basis. 
• Any other duties as determined by the Director/Deputy Director of DIT, including cross-sectoral work.

The above list is not exhaustive and the jobholder will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required, including participating in the Embassy’s emergency planning and any response to a crisis.

Key competencies required:

• Delivering at Pace - Focusing on delivering timely performance with energy and taking responsibility and accountability for quality outcomes. Working to agreed goals and activities and dealing with challenges in a responsive and constructive way.
• Managing a Quality Service - Being organised to deliver service objectives and striving to improve the quality of service, taking account of diverse customer needs and requirements. Effectively planning, organising, and managing time and activities to deliver a high quality and efficient service, applying programme and project management approaches to support service delivery.
• Collaborating and Partnering - Creating and maintaining positive, professional and trusting working relationships with a wide range of people within and outside the organisation to help get business done. Working collaboratively, sharing information and building supportive, responsive relationships with colleagues and stakeholders whilst having the confidence to challenge assumptions.
• Achieving Commercial Outcomes - Maintaining an economic, long-term focus in all activities. Having a commercial, financial, and sustainable mind-set to ensure all activities and services are delivering added value and working to stimulate economic growth.

• Excellent communications skills in English, both written and oral. Candidates short listed for interview will have their level of spoken, written, and reading English assessed.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. Ability to maintain a range of contacts to build effective working relationships, and work closely with senior staff and their contacts.
• Ability to work to agreed targets and with confidence to proactively approach stakeholders seeking Export Opportunities for UK companies to consider.
• Exceptional planning and organisational skills. Ability to work independently, apply initiative, problem solve, and work under pressure to meet multiple and changing priorities, deadlines, and objectives.
• Ability to prioritise own workload and meet deadlines, without compromising the quality of the work.
• Flexible approach and resourceful in solving problems.
• Strong work ethic. Ability to work independently and to take the initiative as well as able to work well with others.
• Computer literacy in all Microsoft Office packages, especially Excel. Accurate typing and proofreading skills.