View Vacancy - SH - Trade and Investment Officer, Food and Drink (B3)

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

UK Department of International Trade is the government department responsible for trade policy, helping UK based businesses succeed globally and helping international businesses invest in the UK.  Within China, DIT is one of the busiest parts of the British Embassy’s operations and is focused on strategic high value trade and investment opportunities. China is one of the highest priority countries for trade in agriculture, food and drink, and has substantial engagement from both the British Government and industry.

This is an exciting opportunity for a capable, self-starter who can work with energy and ambition and in return will gain a real insight into the breadth of operations of an Embassy/Consulate. They will be at the forefront of the British Government’s growth agenda, to be part of a small team delivering DIT’s sector vision for agriculture, food and drink, working with internal and external partners such as the Food and Drink Exporters Association (FDEA) and the China Britain Business Council (CBBC).

Reporting to the Head of Agriculture, Food and Drink, the jobholder will embark on a 12 month sabbatical cover of the exisiting Shanghai based Trade & investment officer.

As part of this they will develop and cultivate relationships with industry and provincial Government in and around Shanghai and across Eastern China. They will identify the top priorities in the region and plan how those opportunities could be taken forward, building close working relationships with some of the major Chinese food companies and in particular the largest ecommerce platforms. They will also support UK companies who are aiming to take forward export opportunities in Shanghai, Jiangsu and the rest of East China and in doing so contribute to key performance targets for the food and drink team as a whole.

The jobholder will  have the opportunity to emerse themselves in an exciting period of trade work and events and will travel to the regions within East China.  They will work closely with the food and drink and marketing teams to contribute to a range of campaigns and activities to promote the British brands, raise the profile of DIT’s work and to shape and organise trade related events. Key events will include FHC (Food Hotel China), SIAL,CBME, and Best of British Exhibitions.  Ideally the successful candidate will have past work experience in the agriculture, food and drink sector and can apply that knowledge in this new role.

Roles and Responsibilities:

  • Support the head of team with a clear strategy for the team’s work in East China and beyond. Map leading importing Chinese companies in this sector, develop key relationships and understand opportunities and relevant barriers as well as trends with the rest of the food and drink team.
  • Manage a portfolio of business opportunities in Shanghai and Eastern China to achieve challenging commercial outcomes. Build close contacts and relationships with key Chinese companies to cultivate their interest in the UK.  Support UK clients to take up these opportunities, and maintain accurate tracking records.
  • Plan, manage and follow up on high level visits and events that contribute to sector targets and address business environment and market access issues.
  • Develop and manage a relationship with the China Britain Business Council to ensure a two way flow of information and opportunities, ensuring that the Food and Drink Team and CBBC are able to achieve respective targets.
  • Graduate degree or equivalent professional experience/qualification
  • Good commercial awareness and be able to identify commercial opportunities
  • Ability to work well in a team as well as cultivating external relationships
  • Good communication skills and an ability to engage with contacts from different environments and backgrounds
  • Ability to be creative, flexible and resourceful in developing ideas and solving problems
  • Experience of ecommerce, social media marketing or event management would be an advantage
  • knowledge of internet research, Microsoft Office, Word, Excel and Powerpoint is necessary Knowledge of CRM would be an advantage
27 May 2018
Fixed Term
35
12 months
Asia Pacific
China
Shanghai
British Consulate General
1
CNY
17, 670 Chinese / 24, 529 British
2 July 2018

We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary, performance related bonus scheme, good leave entitlement and insurance plan etc. The gross starting salary for this position before all deductions is RMB 17, 670 (Chinese) per month and an abated monthly salary of CNY 24, 529/month for British Nationals and spouses/ partners (all nationalities) of diplomats who are ‘W’ (diplomatic) visa holders and meet passport criteria.. We also offer excellent development opportunities and a 22 day annual leave entitlement in pro rata. Conditioned working hours is 35 hours/week from Monday to Friday and flexible working can be arranged upon personal needs.   For more details on our Total Rewards Package, please visit our website: https://www.gov.uk/government/world/china.

Staff recruited locally by the British Consulate General Shanghai are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Chinese employment law.

All applications must be received before 23:55 (CST) on 27 May 2018.

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.

Please check the application centre regularly for any update on your application.

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.