Saturday 26 October 2019

Trade Services Manager at Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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, 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)

Main purpose of job:

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is the Trade Promotion and Negotiation organisation for the UK. We promote UK businesses overseas and attract foreign investment to our shores. We have 3,000 staff across the globe in over 100 countries. Our aspiration is to address some of the challenges facing the UK, by helping British businesses to internationalise and grow overseas and  as well as helping African businesses better engage with the UK and the world.

DITAfrica is one of the nine DIT global networks and is led by Emma Wade-Smith, HM Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Africa.The Africa Region is exciting and energising and UK firms have a strong presence here, making the UK the the second largest investor on the continent. With some of the strongest growing economies in the world and booming population growth there are numerous more opportunities for UK firms; from tech start-ups in the West to infrastructure in the East. The Network’s role is to promote these opportunities and position the UK as the continent’s number one trading partner and investor.

This is a great opportunity to be part of an international team that contributes to the success of the UK’s trade goals. With excellent interpersonal skills and strong sense of initiative, the jobholder will work within DIT Africa in Nairobi and will report to the Head of the Africa Trade Services Unit (TSU), based in London. The job holder will lead the team responsible for responding to East Africa related enquiries and support UK companies exporting and investing in the region through the delivery of trade services, which include market research, introduction to contacts in-market and organising trade missions and networking receptions.

They will be required to deliver within the team as much as possible, collaborating with colleagues across DIT Africa and other UK Departments in Africa, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) when necessary. They will also need to actively engage external stakeholders in the private sector.

Roles and responsibilities

Working with the Head of the TSU, the jobholder will take full responsibility for leading on all TSU work in East Africa and ensuring trade and investment enquiries are actioned and chargeable trade services across the region are delivered promptly. They will:

Trade Services Unit – 70%

  • Lead the regional team in providing prompt and fact-checked replies to trade enquiries;
  • Plan and oversee delivery of regional chargeable trade services to UK companies including market research, warmed-up contacts, introductions to local partners as well as events/activities such as networking receptions, market visits, trade mission, workshops etc. The jobholder will be required to see to agreement of work plans with companies and delivery of the service to a high standard and within the specified timeframe. They will also need to ensure the team keeps open lines of communication with the company throughout delivery of the service and ensure follow-up takes place after the service is delivered to review the effectiveness of the services received; and support the company expand further into Africa if needed.
  • Build strong and collaborative relationships with officers in the region and work with regional teams when required to deliver regional projects;
  • Promote the regional trade services offer to British companies with a view to increasing demand and building a healthy regional pipeline of clients and projects.
  • Lead the regional TSU team in uploading business interactions weekly onto Data Hub and shared spreadsheets.
  • Identify viable business opportunities for UK companies and communicate these to the Operations Team for uploading.

Core DIT – 30%

  • Support operational requirements from DIT in respect of high-profile work such as VIP visit planning as well as a range of other events on the trade side: receptions, dinners, exhibitions and trade missions.
  • Lead on Kenya’s Agritech sector, promoting opportunities to British Companies with a view to increasing demand and building a healthy pipeline of activities.
  • Support the Head of Trade in Kenya and the Deputy Trade Commissioner for Africa.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

2 trade officers

  • Fluent written and spoken English
  • 3+ years of relevant International trade experience
  • Relevant degree
  • Great team player, able to build collaborative working relationships across teams
  • Good client engagement skills
  • Strong IT skills in Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint
  • Able to adapt to a quick changing and evolving business environment; working proactively and autonomously
  • Ability to work with people at all levels of seniority in an international environment and within a fast paced, results orientated organisation
  • Line management experience
  • Experience working in a virtual team
  • Experience developing and managing a pipeline
  • Experience with the Agritec sector

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The post Trade Services Manager at Foreign and Commonwealth Office is republished from Jobs – Jobs in Kenya – http://jobwebkenya.com/