View Vacancy - CPK - Ministerial Liaison Lead C4

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)

This is a frontline role covering a key aspect of the UK-China bilateral relationship. The British Embassy experiences a high number of visits throughout the year from UK Ministers and Senior Government Officials. The formation of the department of International Trade (DIT) by the Prime Minister following the EU referendum highlights the importance of international trade promotion and policy in the years ahead. DIT China is the largest overseas DIT network, and plays a key role in delivering on Government’s objectives to ensure the success of UK businesses in international markets through exports and in supporting overseas companies to set up or expand their business in the UK. Our focus is on strategic, high-value trade and investment opportunities in five priority super sectors (Advanced Engineering and Transport; Financial and Business Services and Technology; Energy, Environment & Infrastructure; Healthcare and Life Sciences; and consumer, creative and education). 

 

China is an important trading partner for the UK and as a result DIT China’s work is high-profile and challenging.  As Ministerial Liaison, you will be the main point of contact for senior official and Ministerial Visits for DIT in the China network and you will support the Head of the Policy and Ministerial team during our set piece Government-to-Government Dialogues. In 2017 the Joint Economic and Trade Commission, Economic and Financial Dialogue and Prime Ministerial Summit are scheduled to be held in China; and the People-to-People dialogue and the Regional Leaders summit are due to be held in the UK. We also expect stand alone visits from a wide range of Cabinet Ministers, Junior Ministers, senior officials and business leaders – some of them repeatedly. At the same time we expect the number of senior Chinese visitors to the UK to continue to rise, including from provincial and municipal leaders, as our outreach network builds strong relations in support of UK interests.

 

You will work closely with Political, Outreach, Economic, Science & Innovation, UKVI, Consular and British Council teams in the China network to use our senior official and Ministerial visits to meet our objectives. And ensure their outreach and engagement in China and the UK contributes to the development of new customer pipelines for DIT and the China Britain Business Council, and ultimately results in trade opportunities for British companies to partner and win business in China.

 

You will also engage with the Chinese Government, principally the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), to ensure Ministerial and other high level visits and Government-to-Government set-pieces deliver the maximum boost to two-way trade and investment.

 

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

 

Ministerial Visits 

  • Lead on strategic planning of DIT ministerial visits to China, including the Secretary of State-level UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commssion (JETCO). You will hold the pen on DIT China’s strategy for Ministerial Visits, in tandem with sector teams and DIT HQ Ministerial Strategy Directorate in London to ensure that we maximise the impact of senior visitors from China to achieve our objectives and unlock further opportunities in China.
  • DIT lead for G2G dialogues and ministerial and senior-official visits, including the PM-level bilateral summit, the Economic and Financial Dialogue and the People to People Dialogue. You will be the main point of contact for DIT Ministerial Private Offices in London. During a visit you will coordinate ministerial programmes, briefing  contributions from Post, contribute to speeches and report visit outcomes back to London.
  • You will need to maintain a thoughtful and co-ordinated approach to engagement with our internal and external stakeholders, including Chinese government ministries, making the best use of contacts to support delivery of creative, slick and impactful Ministerial Visits that are value for money and help build DIT’s reputation and influence. 
  • Lead on visits to China by senior officials members of the Business Ambassador Network.    
  • You will need to work with DIT HQ to co-ordinate input to Ministerial correspondence and Parliamentary business relating to the UK’s trade and investment relationship with China.

 

Leadership and Line Management

  • Leadership and line management of 2 x B3 Visits Officers (based in Shanghai and Guangzhou) and 1 x A2 (based in Beijing). You will be responsible for directing and overseeing their work, working closely with Consulate teams.
  • Experience of events and visits management
  • Excellent briefing skills, both written and oral
  • Proven international experience, ideally in the Chinese context
  • Strong IT and organisational skills, including Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and database management
  • A university degree
  • Experience of working in government
  • Project management skills
  • Chinese language skills
24 May 2017
Higher Executive Officer (HEO)
Full-time, Fixed Term
35
Asia Pacific
China
Beijing
British Embassy
1
CNY
35,742
1 July 2017
30 June 2018

This position is advertised on a fixed-term basis for one (1) year, with a possibility of renewal. 


The job holder is expected to be willing to travel and be temporarily based across the China Network to deliver visits.

 

Appointment of the successful candidate will be subject to Overseas Security Clearance. Due to the security clearance level required for this position, this vacancy is open only to the following:

  • Nationals from the UK who have spent at least two (2) years out of the last five (5) years in the UK
  • Nationals from the UK who have Diplomatic status in China ('W' visa holder)
  • Other nationals from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, or Australia, providing they have Diplomatic status in China ('W' visa holder)

 

The successful candidate may commence employment whilst security checks are undertaken. However, failure to obtain Confidential clearance would require ending of the employment contract.

 

We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary, good leave entitlement, and insurance plan etc. The abated monthly salary is CNY 35,742 per month for British Nationals and spouses or 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 per 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 are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Chinese employment law.

All applications must be received before 24 May 2017 at 1700 China time.

 

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.

 

Interviews for this position will commence during the week of 12 June 2017.

 

The successful candidate should be able to start as soon as possible.

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.