View Vacancy - SH - Senior Trade and Investment Officer (Financial and Professional Services), B3

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) is responsible for promoting British trade across the world, providing operational support for UK exports, and facilitating inward investment to the UK.

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, 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”.

China’s financial and professional services industry is rapidly evolving.  We are looking for someone who is able to think commercially about the opportunities for the UK in this exciting sector, with particular focus on the Insurance sub-sector.

The jobholder will need to develop a sound understanding of this sub-sector in order to be able to spot and develop opportunities, as well as proactively building their professional networks.

We are looking for a proactive self-starter, with knowledge of the financial services sector, and a passion for strengthening bilateral trade and investment between the UK and China.

Core responsibilities of the role include:

  • Building and maintaining strong relationships with key government departments and industry associations both in China and in the UK;
  • Working with leading Chinese financial institutions, helping them understand the fundamental dynamics of the UK financial services sector, working closely with them to shape their UK investment strategies;
  • Working with UK financial institutions to help them understand the opportunities in China, as well as identifying and addressing market access issues/barriers to growth;
  • Identify high value opportunities for UK export and foreign direct investment (FDI) from China and ensuring these are proactively pursued to fruition, contributing to team/directorate commercial targets for the the financial year;
  • Actively contribute to development of sub-sectoral strategy (Insurance), developing programme of focused activity/engagement for the financial year and ensuring this these plans are executed to the highest standards;
  • Develop strong understanding of regulatory environment in China, including the key market access barriers to non-Chinese market participants;
  • Promoting the UK excellence as a global financial centre;
  • Working with teams across the Consulate/China Network to support senior Ministerial/VIP visits between the UK and China, including contributing to the design and delivery of high-level visits programmes, as well as follow-up work, working closely with the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC).
  • Proven international experience, ideally including experience of the UK and/or Chinese financial services industry;
  • Excellent networking skills;
  • Evidence of strong commercial acumen;
  • Broad understanding of financial services industry, particularly the Insurance sub-sector;
  • Well-organised, motivated and diligent;
  • Good IT skills, including Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and database management.
  • Excellent communication skills - spoken and written English and Chinese
  • UK experience/exposure – living, studying or (particularly) working in the UK
  • Experience working with local/national Government
  • Relevant professional qualifications (qualified or part-qualified)
22 October 2017
Executive Officer (EO)
Fixed Term
35
24 months
Asia Pacific
China
Shanghai
British Consulate General
1
CNY
17670
27 November 2017
26 November 2019

We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary, performance related bonus scheme, good leave entitlement and insurance plan, etc. The gross starting salary for this position before all deductions is RMB 17,670 per month for Chinese nationals and an abated monthly salary of RMB 24,529 per month for British Nationals and spouses/partners of 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: https://www.gov.uk/government/world/china

Staff recruited locally by the British Consulate General Shanghai are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Chinese employment law.

All applications must be received before 23:55 China Standard Time on 22 October 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.

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

Please check the application centre regularly for any update on your application.

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.