View Vacancy - CGZ - Senior Trade & Investment Officer, Financial and Professional Services B3(L)

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)

The UK Government’s Department for International Trade (DIT, formerly UK Trade & Investment) has been established by the Prime Minister to integrate and elevate the trade agenda and is responsible for promoting British trade across the world. DIT works with UK-based businesses to ensure their success in international markets through exports and supports overseas companies to facilitate inward investment to the UK.

DIT China is the largest global overseas team in DIT and an extremely busy part of the China Network. Following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic State Visit to the UK in October 2015, the UK and China have entered a ‘golden era’ in bilateral relations. Further collaboration in the area of Financial Services is a priority for both sides through which we can continue our “unparalleled long-term partnership on financial services, as a leading area in the bilateral relationship”. We are looking for a team member to join our ambitious, energetic, and fast paced organisation at this exciting time in UK-China relations.
 

This role sits within DIT’s Financial Services Team. The jobholder may operate from the British Embassy in Beijing, British Consulate-General in Shanghai, or in the British Consulate-General in Guangzhou.

We will consider all applications for all three locations. Applicants do not need to apply separately. Please note that no accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position.

 

We are looking for an effective team-player who is highly-organised, motivated, and who takes real pride in providing a quality service to internal and external stakeholders alike. The jobholder will be joining a high-profile and high-performing team and lead on developing our work in the Fintech sub-sector – one of the most exciting and fast-moving areas within Financial Services – with a view to becoming the ‘go to’ person within the China Network on opportunities for trade/ investment between the UK and China on Fintech. The jobholder will work across DIT Financial Services Team’s priority sub sectors (banking, asset management, capital markets, and insurance) to help the team better target Fintech opportunities and better support UK companies win more business in China and secure new and increased investment from China into the UK.

The core focus of the job will be to deliver high value business wins and high quality investment for the UK to meet sector targets, by:

  • Building strong relationships with key government and Fintech industry bodies and business clients;
  • Identifying and linking new Chinese opportunities and investment interest with UK capability and strategic needs in the sub-sector;
  • Promoting UK excellence in Fintech;
  • Working in collaboration with partner networks and business associates, including to overcome business barriers and market access issues; and
  • Working with China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) to achieve targets for new toChina exporters and sustainable exporters, revenue and business opportunity responses.

 

This position is advertised on a fixed-term basis for one year with a possibility of renewal dependent on satisfactory performance and operational needs.

 


Roles and responsiblities:

  • Identify and build relationships with key companies and organisations in China and the UK, including intermediaries, trade associations, government departments, and others in order to understand their business intentions and needs. Work to identify potential high value opportunities for trade and investment where government support is needed for UK company to succeed, feeding these leads into the system for evaluation and follow-up.
  • Identify and coordinate inputs to help with the evolution of the sector strategies to include Fintech opportunities. Contribute to the design and manage the delivery of trade and investment financial and professional services sector activities to generate leads, build networks, and establish DIT as thought leaders. Also to contribute to building a robust pipeline of Chinese companies who may wish to invest in the UK, as well as UK companies who may wish to export their goods and/ or services to China.
  • Develop and deliver compelling pitches to Chinese companies, working with colleagues in the UK to convince them to do more in the UK and working with them to make their plans a reality. Particular emphasis should be on Tier 1 companies, for which we have Strategic Relationship Managers (SRM). This role is currently responsible for two SRM companies.
  • Advise on the design and manage the delivery and follow up of high-level visits and events that contribute to sector targets and address business environment and market access issues. Plan and manage practical and logistical aspects of VIP visit programmes (by Chinese companies to the UK and by UK companies to China) that contribute to sector targets, working with CBBC and other networks where appropriate.
  • Develop a strong understanding of the sector, the UK capability in Fintech, and UK/ China business environment to support the team where appropriate. Develop particular knowledge/ expertise in the Chinese Fintech sub-sector, identifying key areas of opportunity.
  • Well-organised, motivated and diligent
  • Excellent IT skills, in particular Microsoft Excel
  • Fluent in English, both written and spoken
  • Relevant professional qualifications (qualified or part-qualified)
  • Experience/ understanding of the UK and/or Chinese financial services industry, particularly Fintech
  • Experience working with local/national Government
  • UK experience/exposure – living, studying or (particularly) working in the UK
  • Good spoken Chinese Mandarin would be highly desirable, but not essential
4 June 2017
Executive Officer (EO)
Fixed Term, Full-time
35
Asia Pacific
China
Guangzhou
British Consulate General
1
CNY
17,670
17 July 2017

We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary, good leave entitlement, and insurance plan, etc. The gross starting salary (before all deductions) is CNY 17,670/ month for Chinese Nationals 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 http://www.gov.uk/government/world/china.

Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy Beijing is subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Chinese employment law.


All applications must be received before 11:55PM (China Standard Time) on 04 June 2017.

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.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted regarding the next phase of the selection process. To those applicants not short-listed, we extend our appreciation for considering the British Government as a potential employer.

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.