View Vacancy - Senior Intellectual Property Advisor – New Delhi/Economics and Trade Policy

Main purpose of job:

Delivering the UK’s Intellectual Property Office’s goals in India.

This will involve working closely with UK government colleagues, the Government of India – and UK businesses. It will mean being the British High Commission’s lead expert on IP, promoting IP issues across the UK government’s India network. The postholder will be responsible for ensuring a coherent approach to the UK's engagement with India on intellectual property; and managing projects that support this engagement.

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

Intellectual Property (IP) helps promote creativity and innovation, and attracts trade and investment between countries. This is particularly important for high-technology goods and services. Indian-UK relations on IP matters are led by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) with support from the British High Commission. The protection of IP in India benefits both UK and Indian business – and the UK and India recently agreed a Memorandum of Understanding on Intellectual Property.

The Senior IP Adviser will be expected to engage in dialogue with relevant Indian stakeholders including the Indian Government, industry, and civil society groups. They will promote the UK’s IP interests in collaboration with other UK government departments - working particularly closely with UK Department for International Trade (DIT), Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Department for International Development (DFID) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) including the FCO-BIS Science and Innovation Network (SIN).

This is an exciting and challenging opportunity, covering the work of the dedicated UKIPO representative in India. Your task will be to ensure that effective management of IP plays an effective role in the UK's enhanced relationship with India.  The position is intellectually challenging, to be able to understand and explain UK and Indian policies on IP to specialist and non-specialist stakeholders.  It also requires a high degree of pragmatism and dedication.

The position also requires excellent networking skills and negotiating skills, both in order to win confidence and to deliver outcomes across a wide range of Government departments, business and research sector stakeholders. As the only UKIPO Adviser in India, the position also demands effective self-management and prioritisation. You will be required to often operate independently without the need to seek guidance from others and be able to tackle new and unexpected issues.

The jobholder’s time will divide as follows:

1.       Advice to UK businesses (one third of the time)

• Provide well researched and influential advice to individual British Government and UK businesses operating, or wishing to operate, in India.
• Act as the local representative for UK IPO, engaging with Indian business and government stakeholders to identify priorities for engagement on IP.
• Work with UK business to act as a source of general IP information, IP expertise and signposting, as required. Coordinate with UK Government colleagues to ensure an optimised service to UK businesses on IP matters.

2.        Advice on individual IP cases (one third of time)

• Build an in-depth understanding of the individual issues faced by UK businesses in India - working with partners to find practical solutions to their challenges
• Improve UK’s understanding of Indian IPR protection and enforcement policies
• Analyse and understand local policy issues, managing contacts and maintaining and influencing external relationships.

3.      Engage with the Government of India to influence Indian IP policy, IP registration processes and the IP legislative framework (one third of time)

• Work with the Indian Government and relevant stakeholders to deliver the India-UK IP Work Plan which will implement the recently signed MoU between both countries. This will include activities such as exchanges of best practice between the UK and India. 
• Identify, initiate, facilitate and monitor in market projects to improve knowledge/evidence base of IPO, to increase IP awareness and other purposes.
• Build relationships and engage with stakeholders and policymakers in India, enabling UK IPO to shape the debate on IP.
• Represent the UK IPO locally and communicate clearly and persuasively to raise the profile of, and engage in, the public debate on IP in India.
• Understand and analyse the relationship between the UK’s international agenda and the Indian Government’s domestic aims, and the role that IP can play in India’s development, identifying areas for policy and technical cooperation.
• Organise and coordinate IP related visits to the UK by overseas counterparts from India and visits to India by UK Ministers and IPO officials.
• Engage with the Indian Government on domestic, bilateral and multilateral IP issues in support of UK interests.

Essential on arrival:      

• Extensive knowledge of IP policy, process, administration and governance within India.
• Experience of working directly with businesses and civil society groups and being able to communicate complex issues to them clearly.
• Experience of presenting persuasively.
• Well-developed negotiation skills.