View Vacancy - Midlands Engine Regional Specialist and Overseas Champion, DIT (Monterrey/Mexico City)

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Department for International Trade roles (DIT)
DIT

Overview

This is an exciting time to join the Department for International Trade (DIT). Our aim is to promote British trade and investment across the world, which is vital for the prosperity of the UK. DIT brings together policy, promotion, and financial expertise to break down barriers to trade and investment in markets across the world to help businesses succeed. This is a great opportunity to be part of an international team that contributes to the success of the UK's trade and investment goals. The role is for a new regional specialist champion for the Midlands Engine region* with a focus on key priority sectors for the region in Advanced Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Food & Drink and Infrastructure. It has been created as part of the UK Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda, which includes increasing trade and investment support for key UK regions.  

DIT Latin America and Caribbean (LATAC) is one of the nine DIT overseas regions with and is led by Joanna Crellin, HM Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for LATAC who is based in Brazil. This role will be based in Mexico, the region’s second largest market.

Your job will be to lead for the Midlands Engine region here in LATAC and you will need to be mobile across the region to respond where we see strong business opportunities in priority sectors for the UK. You will be primarily responsible for helping Midlands Engine companies to win business. You will work closely with DIT Midlands Trade team, relevant DIT Midlands Specialist ITAs (e.g. Advanced Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Food & Drink and Healthcare & Life Sciences), local regional trade partners, and the East and West Midlands ITA International Trade Teams to achieve this.

The Midlands has a working population of over 4m, over 500,000 of whom are involved in manufacturing and engineering. The region provides 20% of the manufacturing output of the UK. It is home to the largest cluster of rail manufacturers in Europe and the world’s second largest jet engine manufacturer (Rolls-Royce), with 400 companies involved in the aerospace supply chain. Every major car manufacturer is represented in the Midlands, including Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover, with strong component supply capability. Alongside global brands such as JCB, Bombardier and Walgreen Boots, hundreds of companies specialise in sectors ranging from rail, mechanical engineering to battery technology, food & drink, and medical devices.

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

The role provides opportunities to work at strategic and delivery levels. This is a challenging and rewarding job and we are looking for an experienced professional with a generalist knowledge of a range sectors across the LATAC region. Ideally you will have a well-established range of high-level contacts in a range of sectors which will allow you to rapidly acquire a sophisticated knowledge of the opportunities and challenges for Midlands Engine companies in the market.

You will need strong business development skills and acumen, and be energetic and creative, with good judgment to prioritise and keep focused on the delivery of your objectives. Importantly, you must have strong communication and influencing skills to be credible with business and to expand your network to support your goals. The following sets out more detail on the duties and responsibilities of this new role:

Export campaign development and delivery aimed at increasing the demand for Midlands Engine sector specific goods and services in market (65%)

  • You will use your knowledge, connections, and analysis to develop and deliver targeted campaigns in the sector to increase Midlands Engine exports to the LATAC region. A key feature of the role will be to promote LATAC and to develop a campaign for Midlands Engine exporters to present the market as one of the most open, accessible, and easiest regions for business.
  • An important part of this will be to facilitate Midlands Engine trade missions, webinars, and events, and by connecting visitors with senior stakeholders in market. While the focus will be on key sectors outlined above, the postholder will be required to support other priority sectors or wider Midlands strategic priorities (for example the 2022 Commonwealth Games), as necessary. This will include ensuring that Midlands Engine sector propositions are fed into LATAC trade campaigns.

  • For incoming missions, you will provide strong on the ground support by working in collaboration with colleagues in the DIT LatAC teams and external partners like the British Chambers, Banks etc.   This will include plotting out mission programmes, organising seminars/workshops and securing possible buyers and speakers. You will work alongside the East and West Midlands ITA International Trade teams to build a credible pipeline of business opportunities and potential suppliers.
  • You will also support the planning of inward market roadshows to the Midlands Engine region and ‘Meet the Buyer’ events, helping to raise awareness of opportunities and recruiting businesses to join. This will include using your enhanced knowledge of regional sector strengths to target substantial buyers to bring to the UK. 

Building awareness of Midlands Engine capability (30%)

  • You will need to gain a good understanding of Midlands Engine capability in the sector and use this to build capacity and awareness in the LATAC DIT teams to support your objectives to win more export business for Midlands Engine companies. The postholder will also utilise newly developed Midlands Engine Trade Sector propositions to actively market the region to perspective buyers and LATAC business networks.

Reporting (5%)

  • You can expect to provide a range of reporting and analysis to the DIT Midlands regional team and local partners, including contributing to briefing. In addition, you will need to produce a monthly progress report on your activities for DIT Midlands, as well as input to a quarterly steering group looking at the overseas champions programme as a whole. The postholder will also input into DataHub for the appropriate activities.
  • The postholder will support dedicated DIT LATAC quarterly review meetings DIT Midlands Head of Trade to ensure continued alignment of shared objectives.

  • A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and/or three or more years of business development/commercial experience, with a strong functional knowledge of the local business environment.
  • Excellent knowledge of the key sectors within LATAC along with a substantial network of high-level contacts.   
  • Demonstrable experience of developing relationships and building influence with multiple stakeholders at a senior level in the public and private sector. 
  • Excellent computer skills and the ability to use data management systems.
  • Excellent communication skills in English and Spanish, both written and spoken.  
  • Ability to draft succinct reports and provide briefing for generalist and specialist audiences, often to very tight deadlines.  
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and a strong team player who can work on their own initiative and across virtual teams.
  • Willingness to travel.
  • Language: Fluent in both English & Spanish.
  • Master’s Degree in a relevant field.
  • Experience of working in trade/export promotion.
  • Account management experience.
  • Knowledge of key sector capabilities in the Midlands region.
  • Previous experience of working with the UK Government.
  • An understanding of Midlands Engine political landscape and/or experience of working with Midlands Engine local partners. 
1 October 2020
Higher Executive Officer (HEO)
Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
35
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Mexico
Mexico City, Monterrey
British Embassy
1
MXN
43,380
23 November 2020

Post details:

This duration of this post is 24 months with the possibility of extension.

The post holder may be based in either Monterrey or Mexico City.

Candidates must be able to live and work in Mexico in their own right. The successful candidate will be subject to a security clearance and professional reference checks.

Learning and development opportunities:

This role provides enormous opportunities to grow and develop.

As well as gaining a full understanding of the Midlands Region, you will have access to the full suite of DIT and FCDO learning and development opportunities including the FCDO’s Diplomatic Academy, training in the UK, and will be encouraged to join DIT’s trade profession. We also provide regular in-house learning opportunities and are committed to supporting further academic opportunities. Our staff who demonstrate great leadership potential are encouraged to apply for the FCDO’s Emerging Leadership Programme.

Working patterns:

Flexible working can be considered for the right candidate, but please note the following:

You may be required to work a few evenings each month.

You will be expected to travel to other cities across the region and to the UK.

Any other information (or specific local Post requirements):

Midlands Engine Geography

The Midlands Engine region is made of the counties of the East and West Midlands.

Counties in the East Midlands are:

  • Derbyshire
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Leicestershire
  • Lincolnshire
  • Northamptonshire

Counties in the West Midlands are:

  • Herefordshire
  • Shropshire
  • Staffordshire
  • Warwickshire
  • Worcestershire
  • Also includes metropolitan boroughs of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, and Sandwell
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.