View Vacancy - Trade Officer

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Department for International Trade roles (DIT)
Department for International Trade (DIT)

The UK’s Department for International Trade is recruiting for a new position of Commercial & Trade Policy Officer. The position will be based in the British Embassy in Montevideo. 

The role has two main functions.

First, you will lead in responding to commercial enquiries from the UK and UK companies looking to do business in Uruguay. This could involve helping to find local partners. In addition, you will promote new commercial opportunities in Uruguay to the UK business sector, for example in public infrastructure projects. You will also lead on organising trade missions/visits by UK companies.

Second, you will be asked to follow and report on the Uruguayan government’s trade policy agenda and to lobby on behalf of the UK government with the relevant Uruguayan authorities (eg government ministries, parliament, Mercosur Secretariat). You will need to follow closely Uruguay’s trade policy priorities at the WTO and also its position on EU / Mercosur negotiations. You will also be the point of contact for Brexit-related trade/commercial work.

The position is initially for a 6 month pilot to run until 31 March 2018. If the pilot proves successful we would hope to extend the position, but this is subject to funding.

Roles and responsibilities:

  • Follow-up enquiries from UK companies interested in trading with Uruguay; helping companies find Uruguayan partners/distributors.
  • Conduct market research / analysis on the opportunities for increasing UK trade with Uruguay. Identify barriers to trade and analyse ways to overcome them.
  • Establish a network with UK investors, in order to work on investor protection issues, which may include government lobbying. 
  • To lead on trade policy work at the Embassy. To provide high quality reporting on Uruguay’s position at the WTO (eg on agricultural quotas/tariffs), EU/Mercosur and other trade groupings. To reinforce, if needed, the UK Embassy team in Buenos Aires during the WTO Trade Ministerial in December 2017.
  • To lobby on UK trade policy priorities, including non tariff barriers (eg phyto sanitary certificates) with Uruguayan government officials and industry groups.
  • To help to develop regional trade policy with Department of International Trade and the wider UK government network, acting as the lead for Brexit-related trade & economic work in the Embassy.
  • As needed, to support the Ambassador and other Embassy colleagues in promoting the UK’s wider work and to offer assistance in crises or VIP visits.

Resources managed:

  • No direct staff management, but you might be asked to mentor/manage one of the part-time interns.
  • You may also be asked to manage some small project/travel funds (around £5-10,000).
  • Previous experience in Trade Promotion and/or Trade Policy work.
  • Good IT skills.
  • Economically literate.
  • A proven ability to carry out research and write/present reports.
  • Able to work as part of a team on larger Embassy/regional events (eg Trade Fairs) and individually, with minimal supervision, following up commercial leads.
  • Experience with using social media (eg Twitter).
  • Knowledge of International Trade Policy Environment eg WTO negotiations, EU/Mercosur negotiations and Free Trade Agreements.
29 September 2017
Executive Officer (EO)
Full-time, Fixed Term
35
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Uruguay
Montevideo
British Embassy
1
16 October 2017
31 March 2018

Working within the Embassy team you would be expected to participate in wider Embassy learning and to complete mandatory training on performance management and security. You may also be asked to travel regionally (dependent on funding).

This is a full-time role. We are open to flexible working patterns. In return the officer may be asked to help with occasional evening events.

This is a new position for 6 months. Therefore you will need to be a self-starter, able to quickly develop the role. You will need to be confident in interacting with senior members of staff and be able to represent the Embassy individually at external events and/or with UK customers.

The Embassy is a small, but friendly team, with most staff filling multiple roles. Flexibility and team work are essential. You will also need to work remotely as part of a wider regional team (including with colleagues in Mercosur, London), so strong communications skills are essential and will be tested at interview.

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.