View Vacancy - CPK - Trade and Investment Manager, Head of North China, Financial and Professional Services, C5(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) is responsible for promoting British trade across the world, providing operational support for UK exports and facilitating inward investment to the UK. DIT China is an exciting and fast-paced place to work.  We are now the largest overseas DIT network in the world, with approximately 170 staff across five posts (the British Embassy in Beijing, plus four Consulates-General in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Wuhan), reflecting the increasing importance of our work to the UK Government and to British business.

Following President Xi Jinping’s historic State Visit to the UK in October 2015, the UK and China are in a ‘golden era’ in bilateral relations, with further collaboration in the area of Financial Services a priority for both sides, continuing 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 at this exciting time in UK-China relations.

There has never been a better time for international financial services firms to execute entry and expansion plans in China and this role will play a key part in helping UK financial services firms to do achieve their ambitions in this exciting, but challenging, market.

Based in the British Embassy Beijing, and reporting directly to the Deputy Director, the jobholder will be a part of DIT’s Financial Services leadership team, contributing  to the formation and delivery of our cross-China strategy, as well as provding leadership to the team in North China, as Regional Head.

The jobholder will have a broad remit to develop and shape our strategy/approach – identifying key drivers, regulatory barriers and emerging areas of opportunity – to help UK financial services companies win more business in China, and to support Chinese financial services companies to grow their business in/with the UK.

This position will also have a central role within the team, managing our strategic engagement with the main Chinese regulators – People’s Bank of China (PBoC), China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) – as well as other key intermediaries (e.g. Asset Management Association of China). This will be a critical role within the team and the jobholder will need to develop a strong understanding of the financial policy environment in both China and the UK, across a range of subsectors, and proactively develop his/her own contacts to effectively influence policy to reduce barriers, working closely with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s Economics team. Due to the complexity and importance of this work, the job holder will need to be able to think creatively, see the big picture and exercise sound strategic judgement, as well as encouraging a “one team approach.” The job holder will also  frequently be required to brief/advise senior members of the China Network’s management team, as well as share insights with external contacts.

The Embassy receives a large number of senior Ministerial visits and the jobholder will play key role in developing activity/engagement plans for our financial services work – generating, planning and managing specific projects – and effectively leveraging these senior visits to deliver meaningful commercial and policy outcomes.

The jobholder will have direct management responsibility for 4-5 locally-engaged staff, but will also need to leverage support from our wider team(s)/network(s) - inspiring others to work with you to deliver against challenging targets.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of UK-China trade and investment providing leadership in one of the most exciting/fast-evolving sectors in our bilateral relationship.  The role requires you to operate with a high degree of autonomy, whilst also allowing you to gain exposure to and utilise senior level contacts, both from UK/Chinese Government, as well as within the financial services industry.  

Core responsibilities of the role include:

  • Establishing a comprehensive, evidence based account management system in North China to deliver better service to customers and drive more benefit from the relationship for both parties. Segment the market and effectively relationship manage priority clients in the North China region to deliver trade and investment outcomes.
  • Develop a sound understanding of evolving Chinese economic and regulatory policy and the opportunities emerging from it, including through developing strong relationships with relevant Chinese departments and regulators, at a local and national level.
  • Develop and deliver compelling pitches to Chinese financial services 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.
  • Maintain and develop key internal stakeholder relationships to assist in achieving DIT’s overall targets. This includes working with China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), TheCityUK, City of London Corporation, HM Treasury, DIT Financial Services Organisation, London & Partners, as well as other organisations and industry bodies.
  • Develop effective working relationships with wider stakeholders in the Embassy/Consulate-Generals and China Network.
  • Take the lead on relevant VIP visits/events, maximising opportunities for business, including programme preparation, oral and written briefings, accompanying VIPs, speech writing, and follow-up; managing/coaching your team and external colleagues through the process.
  • Coach, develop and manage team members to ensure delivery within budget, promoting best practice and evaluate performance against the sector business plan. Contribute to wider post objectives, working to ensure that the DIT agenda in China is understood and brings value to the wider China network, and vice-versa.

  • Mandarin Chinese skills essential.
  • Strong oral and written skills in English are essential, and a proven track record in report writing and effective oral briefing is highly desirable.
  • Comfortable in written and oral financial language, including technical details of financial products is essential.
  • Proven international experience, ideally including experience/understanding of the UK and UK financial services industry.
  • Strong IT and organisational skills, including Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and database management.
  • Sound understanding of the fundamental of financial services industry, including drivers and regulatory barriers to trade and investment.
  • Excellent networking skills.
  • Understanding of the Chinese financial services marketplace and key players
  • Relevant professional qualifications , e.g. CFA, ACSI, ACMA etc (qualified or part-qualified)
  • Experience of business development and/or strategy
27 February 2018
Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
Fixed Term
35
24 months
Asia Pacific
China
Beijing
British Embassy
1
CNY
29,314
2 April 2018

We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary, good leave entitlement, and insurance plan, etc. The gross salary (before all deductions) is CNY 29,314/ month for Chinese Nationals and an abated monthly salary of CNY 38,244/ 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 27 February 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.

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.