Senior Trade & Investment Officer - Financial and Professional Business Services

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View Vacancy - Senior Trade & Investment Officer - Financial and Professional Business Services

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.

Job Category

Department for Business and Trade roles (DBT)

Job Subcategory

Department for Business and Trade (DBT)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Be part of the Department for Business and Trade's (DBT) mission to drive more trade and investment between North America and the UK. With a mature, high spending consumer market and an open economy, world-class talent and a business-friendly regulatory environment, the UK is the leading destination for foreign investment in Europe, and the second highest investment destination in the world. The UK is also the world's seventh largest exporter and the second largest services exporter.

We employ over 150 people across North America, all united by our vision of a future where we champion open and fair global trading that drives growth, creates better jobs and higher wages, and improves living standards in the UK and around the world. We seek talented team members with the passion and drive to help us in our mission to build a global appetite for British goods and services; drive investment; negotiate trade deals and open up markets; improve international trading standards and fight unfair trading practices.

The role of the Senior Officer is to increase cross-border economic cooperation, attract foreign direct investment into the UK economy, and support British businesses with US market entry. The UK is highly regarded for its strong financial services sector, which represents over 12% of the UK's total economic output and 8% of all jobs. With a long history of innovation and buoyed by a pro-growth regulator in the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's 3,200+ fintech startups and 26 fintech unicorns represent one of the most exciting and fast-growing subsectors of the British economy and a leading source of export success across North America.

You will develop positive relationships with senior executives from FinTech, Banking, Asset Management, and Professional Services firms in the New York region (including NY, PA, NJ and parts of CT). As account manager, you will play a leading role to these companies, including supporting some of the most important investors in the UK. This involves proactive engagement with key decision-makers to identify and cultivate potential new investment opportunities for US companies in the UK. You will also work directly with founders and growth teams from innovative UK SMEs, as well as established British businesses and multinationals to develop US market entry strategies, grow US market share, and address any market access barriers.

Although part of a team, this is an individual contributor role with no direct reports. The Senior Officer is expected to work in an effective and efficient manner, independently and with minimal supervision, to deliver positive trade and investment outcomes.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Provide a comprehensive account management service to key US prospects in the financial and professional services sectors looking to maintain or grow their footprint in the UK.
• Successfully build and manage a pipeline of knowledge-driven projects that have the potential to bring high-value jobs and investment to the UK.
• Assist high-growth and innovative UK SMEs, the UK's leading fintechs, as well as established British businesses to develop US market entry strategies and / or grow US market share; and support established British companies in-market to address any concerns around US trade policy or market access barriers.
• Assist UK professional services companies, including legal, accounting, and consulting firms, with raising their brand profile across the Eastern US.
• Deliver against an ambitious set of annual trade and investment targets.
• Develop and implement high impact, targeted marketing programs and events in conjunction with stakeholder partners to build our brand awareness, promote key messaging, and showcase UK competitiveness in the financial and professional services industries.
• Keep pace with market trends in North America and the UK to identify commercial opportunities and provide informed advice to clients and stakeholders.
• Work with internal and external stakeholders to deliver high-impact programming, including developing and hosting round tables, trade missions and matchmaking events, seminars and supporting VIP visit programs.
• Support cross-team projects to advance UK economic and trade policy goals.
• Represent the Department for Business Trade and the British Consulate at external functions, including occasional speaking engagements.
• Assist in a consular crisis, if required.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• This role operates as part of a wider North America sector team but will not have direct reports.
• Some budget management.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Substantial experience in an economic development, financial services, or business role.
• Thorough knowledge of the financial and professional services industry, major companies, and trends in the Eastern region - and preferably in the UK.
• Excellent stakeholder management abilities.
• Excellent interpersonal, presentation and networking skills.
• Excellent management and collaboration skills with the ability to negotiate and deliver results.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.
• Ability to multitask and complete work while traveling.
• An excellent network of industry contacts in the financial services sector and/or start-up ecosystem in the US, or the ability to develop such a network.
• Proficiency in standard Microsoft applications.
• Must be able to attend events outside of office hours and undertake travel in the US and internationally up to 20% of your time.

Language requirements:

Language: English
Level of language required: excellent verbal and written English.

Please note: Under US State Department requirements, the UK Government in the US may only employ, as non-diplomatic staff, persons who are US citizens, US Permanent Residents, A and NATO visa holders with EAD cards, and L2 visa holders with an up-to-date I-94 form. You may refer to our website for additional information: . All selected candidates are subject to background checks and will require a security clearance prior to starting work.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• An understanding of international relations and UK Government policy preferred.

Required behaviours

Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Managing a Quality Service, Seeing the Big Picture

Application deadline

8 July 2024

Grade

Higher Executive Officer (HEO)

Type of Position

Full-time, Permanent

Working hours per week

40

Region

Americas, Caribbean & Overseas Territories

Country/Territory

United States

Location (City)

New York

Type of Post

British Consulate General

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

USD

Salary

$87,130 annually

Start Date

26 August 2024

Other benefits and conditions of employment

Benefits:

The UK Government operating in the US offers a substantial benefits package including generous leave, a choice of medical insurance, 401(k) matching up to 7%, extensive learning opportunities and a great work/life balance.

We offer:

• Generous leave package plus public holidays
• Generous 401k matching
• Excellent healthcare options
• Paid sick leave
• Generous parental leave policy
• A great work-life balance including flexible start and finish times and a hybrid working model with staff splitting their time between working from home and the office
• Short-term disability, long-term disability and life insurance coverage
• High quality L&D services with global sessions and events every day to help you develop and meet organisational needs, including up to 5 days paid leave each year to pursue your professional development
• Inclusivity is one of our core values and we strive to treat everyone openly, fairly and equally. All new team members learn about how they can contribute to an inclusive environment and the importance of diversity and inclusion

Learning and development opportunities:

The British Embassy and its US Network is committed to all employee's ongoing learning and development needs. We actively encourage learning & development, and will develop a specific plan in collaboration with the successful candidate. We offer a comprehensive platform for personalised learning for everything from soft skill development (communicating with impact, handling difficult conversations, time management) to more technical or professional skills necessary to complete your job (software training, formal qualifications etc.).

Working patterns:

This role is 40 hours a week.

The British Embassy and its US Network embraces hybrid working. You are required to work from the office 3 days a week. We are an organization that also recognises the critical value of teamwork, and we embrace and endorse collaboration by ensuring that all staff attend the office flexibly yet regularly.

Additional information

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a 'reserve list'. If during the reserve period of 6-12 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, eg some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

Internal candidates must inform their supervisor before they apply to a different position.

Only successful candidates will be contacted. Please no phone calls. Due to the high volume of resumes we receive, we cannot guarantee consideration of your application if the submission instructions are not properly followed.

The British Embassy is committed to a policy of equal opportunities and to creating a diverse working environment, free from discrimination, where everyone is included and treated fairly, based on merit alone. We are an equal opportunity employer, making all employment decisions without regard to race, gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, citizenship, disability, age, sexual orientation, political affiliation or any other criterion protected by law.

The FCDO operates an agile workforce. To facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require.

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.