View Vacancy - Head of Renewable Energy (Prosperity Fund Commercial)

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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
Economic and Prosperity

Main purpose of job:

 

To manage the commercial priorities of the Energy (Renewable Energy in particular) strand of the UK’s four year £60 million Mexico Prosperity Fund (PF) Programme which aims to reduce poverty and gender inequality through economic development in the country. This will be achieved by acting as Head of Renewable Energy in the Department for International Trade (DIT) within the British Embassy in Mexico City.It also seeks to create commercial opportunities (aka secondary benefits) for international businesses including companies from the UK.

The Mexico PF Programme is working in four sectors: Energy, Financial Services, Future Cities, and Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law. It’s activities have been specifically designed to capture primary benefits of poverty reduction and gender equity valued at £866m over the next ten years and secondary benefits of opening market opportunities for international business including UK companies estimated to be worth £462m over the same period. In addition to the bilateral PF Programme, five global or thematic PF Programmes plan to operate in Mexico (Anti-Corruption, Health, Education, Infrastructure and Trade). These programmes will bring additional resources and secondary benefit opportunities.

 

As an integral member of the PF Team at the British Embassy in Mexico City, the jobholder will focus on delivering secondary benefits for the Energy (Renewable Energy in particular) strand of the bilateral programme and on identifying additional commercial opportunities. These include: export wins; increased foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK into Mexico; promoting Mexico as GREAT place for doing business (trade promotion);improvements to Mexico’s business environment; and supporting improved trade between the two countries. This role will be funded by the non-Official Development Assistance (non-ODA) funding of the PF.

 

The jobholder will work closely with a wide range of public and private sector stakeholders to realise secondary benefits. This includes the PF and DIT HQ in London, which helps coordinate knowledge sharing and provide information on suppliers who might be in a good position to access these opportunities. . The jobholder will become familiar with the range of tools and resources available from London.

 

This is an exciting time to join the British Embassy in Mexico! Following 2 years of hard work a brand new Prosperity Strategy is ready to be implemented. This strategy outlines why Prosperity is a priority, what it means, and how the teams in the Embassy will deliver it. It’s delivery will involve significant learning and development opportunities for the jobholder during a strategic and exciting time in Mexico.



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

 

  • Have an in-depth understanding of the commercial opportunities created by the Mexico PF  in Renewable Energy.
  • Contribute to the wide dissemination of these opportunities to UK companies. Ensure British firms have the knowledge and capacity to bid successfully for PF-generated contracts. Build up trusted partnerships between UK companies and their Mexican government and private sector counterparts.
  • Taking ownership of the Secondary Benefits Plan for the Prosperity Fund programmes operating in Mexico. This includes the Mexico Bilateral Programme (Energy, Future Cities, Financial Services, and Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law) and other Global Programmes (including but not limited to, Health, Trade, and Skills).  This will include ensuring coherence of those commercial interests across Programmes and with DIT strategies.
  • Be alert to emerging commercial issues and trends, especially for UK companies, which might impact or benefit the Prosperity Fund secondary benefit objectives and activities. Help update Prosperity Fund commercial priorities and approaches as new knowledge and evidence come to light and Mexican markets and economic development opportunities evolve. These includes  other opportunities in priority PF sectors not already covered by the Mexico DIT team.
  • Holding cross-Embassy Virtual Teams accountable for delivering to the Secondary Benefits Plan, promoting the use of non-ODA to ensure it leverages the secondary benefits of the Prosperity Fund for UK business.
  • Deploy Embassy commercial levers to support the programme’s secondary aim of opening new markets in Renewable Energy.
  • Report on the status of the implementation of the Secondary Benefits Plans to the Head of the Prosperity Fund in Mexico, the Senior Responsible Owner (Her Majesty’s Ambassdor to Mexico) and to the Global Programme Leads in the UK. This will include regular updates to the network on secondary benefits.
  • Coordinate opportunities in Renewable Energy between DIT and Prosperity Fund teams– ensuring each is aware of each others’ work and identifying opportunities for both teams.
  • Advise on the use of non-ODA funding in the strand of Renawable Energy in line with identified secondary benefit opportunities.
  • Build, use and maintain a network of UK stakeholders (primarily from the private sector)  in the Renawable Energy sector that can benefit from visibility of and participation in Prosperity Fund programmes. This will involve the development and implementation of a communication strategy and market engament in the UK working together with DIT colleagues.
  • Support match-making between UK and Mexican suppliers in the  in the Renawable Energy sector.
  • Integrate with DIT and cross-government work to scope and develop future priority sectors, High Value Campaigns, business planning and recording export wins ; ensuring alignment with  Prosperity Fund programmes.
  • The successful candidate will be expected to work in an integrated manner with teams working in other sectors, cross-pollenate commercial opportunities and contribute to DIT business planning and targets (where applicable).
  • Identify and manage risks to successful programme implementation.
  • Contribute to briefing / programme design for high level and/or business visitors relevant to secondary benefit realisation



There will be some (limited) possibilities for travel as part of the role. Relevant job related training will be given as required. The contract will be extended beyond 31 March 2019 after a probation period subject to candidate´s performance and depending on budget confirmation.


The successful candidate must:


-   Be a self-starter, resilient and resourceful – the aim of the job is to deliver a meaningful and successful range of activities which support both HMG’s objectives more widely as well as the Embassy’s business objectives.


-   Create and maintain positive, professional and trusting working relationships with a wide range of people within and outside the British Embassy to help get business done. At all levels, it requires working collaboratively, sharing information and building supportive, responsive relationships with colleagues and stakeholders, whilst having the confidence to challenge assumptions. 


-   Take responsibility and be accountable for quality outcomes, including by delivering on a timely performance with energy. Work to agreed goals and activities and deal with challenges in a responsive and constructive way. Build a performance culture to deliver outcomes with a firm focus on prioritisation and address performance issues resolutely, fairly and promptly. 




Essential Qualifications and Experience


  • Graduate with a university degree and at least 5 years of experience in a relevant field.
  • Experience and demonstrated success in sales or business development
  • Demonstrable experience in promoting international exports and investment.
  • Experience in developing policy and commercial advice/analysis and delivering successful programmes.
  • Proven ability to deliver results.
  • Computer literate, working with Microsoft Windows and able to manage information effectively with available computer systems.



Language requirements:

Language: Excellent working levels of English and Spanish both written and spoken. This will be tested before and during interviews for candidates reaching that stage of the recruitment process.

Level of language required: Business


Expertise in at least one of the priority sectors. 


Demonstrable experience in trade policy.


Experience of working with UK Government and businesses


Experience of managing budgets.


Knowledge of UK commercial expertise in Renewable Energy.


A strong understanding of gender equality issues.


6 January 2019
Higher Executive Officer (HEO)
Full-time
35
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Mexico
Mexico City
British Embassy
1
$41,670
25 February 2019


Successful candidate must have availability for occasional travel.


 


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This opportunity is closed to applications.