View Vacancy - Prosperity & Economics Officer

The British Consulate-General in Boston is seeking a highly motivated Prosperity Officer to lead on programmes related to entrepreneurship and Life Sciences scale-ups, understand the venture funding landscape and political economy, and to be the Consulate lead on clean energy and climate change initiatives, across the New England states.

The British government maintains a network of Consulates-General around the United States. Reporting to the British Embassy in Washington, they work on a range of objectives on behalf of the British government in the US. Their work includes areas such as trade and investment, supporting British nationals in difficulty in the US, Science and Innovation, press and public affairs reporting on political and economic development, and building relationships with decision-makers and opinion formers. 

The British Consulate-General, Boston, covers the New England region, encompassing Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Further information about the Consulates-General and Embassy and their work can be found on www.gov.uk/world/usa. 

The Prosperity Officer will report to the Consul General, and will work alongside our Commercial team, Science & Innovation team and Public Affairs team.

The jobholder reports to the Consul General. At present confirmed funding for the position runs to end-March 2017, but we envisage this role to be multi-year through the life of the overall Prosperity Fund.  

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Scope and launch the British American Life Sciences Initiative ('BALSI') – a new initiative to expose scaling life sciences companies from the UK to the greater Boston ecosystem. You will coordinate the programme design, act as secretariat to project management board; establish and meet funding requirements; drive marketing and company recruitment (with UK sector stakeholders), implementation (with content advisors) and M+E.
• Capture and communicate best practice from Boston area in fostering innovation-driven entrepreneurship ecosystems:
• Promote the UK as an enterprise friendly location (speaking at conferences, joining / hosting events, convening appropriate networking opportunities, hosting visitors) and identifying and implementing creative ways to raise the positive profile of UK entrepreneurship and innovation in New England, including with future leaders.
• Consulate lead on the Off Shore Wind / CleanTech delegation project being pitched for prosperity funds (led by British Embassy Washington), and co-ordinate and contribute to Post-wide Climate Change and energy initiatives.
• Contribute to cross-team understanding and messaging on how the Life Sciences sector, Clean Tech and VC financing sectors, will be impacted by new trade relations.
• Participate in crisis training and exercise and be part of the Consulate-wide team response in the event of a crisis, leading on external Comms (with CG).

• Bachelors’ degree minimum;
• A minimum of 3-5 years relevant work experience
• Demonstrated interest in the greater Boston entrepreneurial ecosystem;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with a good understanding of the challenges and sensitivities of working in the world of government and politics.
• Strong ability to work across teams and with all colleagues, and skilled interaction with external contacts of all levels.
• Strong research skills and familiarity with key regional information sources including the ability to identify and access a range of online resources.
• Reliable, capable under pressure, able to complete multiple tasks and high volume of work on deadline with colleagues and with considerable autonomy.
• Track record of successful delivery of projects through co-ordinating work of diverse teams, including at a distance and with external organisations, making creative use of opportunities, resources and technology.
• Ability to travel across the patch, occasionally elsewhere within the US (particularly Washington DC), and the UK. Clean US driving license an advantage.
• Appreciation and understanding of multicultural Britain
• The successful candidate should be prepared to work occasional long hours, including early mornings, evenings and sometime weekends, flexing to the Consulate's needs. 

Under US State Department requirements, the Embassy Network may only employ, as non-diplomatic staff, persons who are US citizens, US Green Card holders or A or NATO visa holders with EAD cards*. If you hold a visa other than an A or NATO visa you are not currently eligible to work at the Embassy.  Please refer to our website for information on exceptions to this policy at www.gov.uk/government/world/usa.  All candidates will be subject to background checks and security clearance. 

*A visas or NATO visas with EAD cards are acceptable at the Embassy, Consulates, and British Defence Staff (BDS) outposts.  The UK Mission to the UN (UKMIS) accepts G visas.