View Vacancy - SH - Regional Marketing and Communications Manager - Asia Pacific, C5L

As the economic development agency for Northern Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland (‘Invest NI’) www.investni.com is driving the transformation of Northern Ireland into an innovative, competitive and knowledge-based economy. 

Internationally, Invest Northern Ireland’s offices are co-located with the British Diplomatic posts and we work closely with other UK government stakeholders, especially the Department for International Trade.

To support our team and raise the profile of our presence in the APAC region, we are seeking an enthusiastic and highly motivated Regional Marketing & Communications Manager for our Regional HQ in Shanghai, based within the British Consulate General. 

The successful candidate will be a current senior level marketing/communications professional with a clear understanding of the market, and the drivers of international business.

You will be responsible for promoting Northern Ireland as a business location in support of the business development teams in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou), Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia (Sydney) and Japan (Tokyo). This will involve profiling the region’s key sectoral strengths and capabilities to targeted audiences in order to help increase exports for Northern Ireland companies; attract inward investment projects and support the recruitment and collaborative objectives of Northern Ireland’s Universities, Colleges and Schools.

The role will also involve planning and implementing events including management of Invest NI’s presence at conferences and exhibitions, hosting VIP visit programmes and building a communications network across APAC with other UK stakeholder groups, such as Department for International Trade (DIT), British Embassies/Consulates, the British Council and the Science and Innovation Network as well as UK Business Groups and the global business diaspora, through Northern Irish Connections.

Additionally, the successful candidate will be responsible for promoting and communicating market information and opportunities to the client, sector and trade teams in Invest Northern Ireland.

The position will be based in Invest NI’s Regional HQ which is located within the British Consulate in Shanghai and report to the Head of International Marketing in Belfast, but be managed by the Head of Asia Pacific Region, based in Shanghai, as an integral part of the region’s Business Development Teams.

Roles and responsibilities:  

• Work closely with HQ, via the Communications team, and the locally-based Business Development teams to develop and implement a clear marketing and communications strategy for the APAC region, including identifying the most appropriate communications channels and platforms, developing and delivering digital and social media activity suitable for the various markets (especially for China and its unique social media platforms) to raise awareness and promote Northern Ireland as a place to visit, study or do business. This will include engagement with local and international stakeholders across the region.
• Build relationships with key journalists and publications to ensure a constant flow of positive news articles and stories appear in relevant trade and press media outlets in the APAC region; and also with key contacts at the British Embassies across the region.
• Build the profile and reputation of Invest NI and Northern Ireland amongst key stakeholders and influencers including British, Irish, and other relevant foreign Embassies, Department of International Trade, Tourism Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Northern Ireland Universities, Colleges and Boarding Schools, and local governments to leverage their contacts to promote awareness of Northern Ireland and deliver a positive business message to markets across the APAC region.
• Work closely with Invest NI’s Internal Communications team to ensure that corporate messages and issues are communicated to APAC staff and to identify and communicate relevant information from the APAC team for inclusion in corporate-wide internal communications.
• Work closely with the in-market business development teams and the HQ Communications team to support the delivery of annual sales targets.
• Work closely with Northern Irish Connections in the APAC region, developing the diaspora network to support the ambitions of Invest NI. You will work with the Head of Northern Irish Connections, based in Belfast, and the APAC management team in-market to identify, communicate with and build diaspora relationships.
• Support the business development team with the production of sector/market related research reports
• Lead on the reporting of relevant statistics and data to management in an understandable, presentable manner.

The job holder will be required to manage all marketing expenditure within the APAC region and to profile and report on spend against budget on a regular basis. All budget expenditure should be carried out in accordance with Invest NI’s procurement and financial procedures.  

The job holder will not be required to manage staff but may be required to appoint and manage third party suppliers in line with Invest NI protocols.

• A Bachelor’s Degree level qualification or equivalent in a marketing or business related discipline.
• A minimum of five years recent (within the last 5 years) business or marketing experience within the Asia Pacific region with at least two of these years within mainland China.
• Significant recent experience of executing effective strategic communication campaigns within the private or public sector in the Asia Pacific region, particularly mainland China.
• Recent (within the last 5 years) successful experience of developing and fostering good media relations with key target business media groups and contacts in the APAC region, particularly within Invest NI’s key markets (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia). 
• Significant recent experience of using a variety of marketing communications channels (including event management) and experience of successfully developing and implementing recent digital and social media strategies.
• Fluency in English and Mandarin as well as strong oral and written communication skills, including demonstrated success and creativity in drafting press releases, making presentations, copywriting and negotiating with media, all of which will be carried out in English and Chinese.
• The ability to work efficiently and independently as part of a remote team and also as part of cross functional teams.
• A high degree of professionalism, excellent time management and organizational skills and the ability to handle pressure and meet deadlines.
• Excellent and certified working knowledge of MS Office software, especially PowerPoint and Excel and assumed basic working of Outlook and Word