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Are you interested in a career in international trade? Would you like to make an impact in a fast-moving, high-profile international environment? We are looking for an enterprising team member with commercial experience to join the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) team based at the British Consulate in Munich.
DBT’s mission in Germany is to improve market access for businesses, champion free and fair trade, and encourage trade and investment between the UK and Germany. This is critical to our economies, supporting millions of jobs, driving economic growth, raising wages and improving living standard across the globe, whilst at the same time promoting wider goals – e.g. tackling climate change and improving economic security. For more information about DBT’s objectives, see here.
As Senior Trade and Investment Advisor – Future Mobility you will play a crucial role delivering this work for DBT Germany a department of around 40 staff based at the Embassy in Berlin and the Consulates-General in Düsseldorf and Munich. As part of the Future Mobility team, your work will focus on supporting industries such as Automotive, Space, and Aerospace, which are important sectors for the UKs prosperity and currently in a period of radical transformation driven by technology and the need to eliminate emissions.
At the British Consulate in Munich you will work in a friendly and welcoming environment with an excellent team spirit. With support from the DBT Germany Head of Future Mobility in Munich, you will lead on a number of important automotive workstreams focused on engaging some of the UKs largest exporters as well as some of the largest German investors into the UK. Through your commercial experience (ideally in automotive) you will support the growth of UK exporters in Germany and increase investment from German industry into the UK, while also supporting the UK government’s agenda to promote R&D, level-up the economy and deliver the UK’s Net Zero ambitions.
In addition you will provide regular reporting on the key policy and market access drivers for both trade and investment related to the Future Mobility sector. You will also prepare briefings and events for senior British government diplomats and Ministers for important engagements with German industry and stakeholders. As part of the DBT team you will have the opportunity to work with colleagues across the DBT Europe Region’s 33 markets as well as with teams at DBT HQ in London and across the UK. As such, this role offers an excellent opportunity to build on your existing network of industry contacts as well as your knowledge of the UK’s commercial and business relationship with Germany.
The successful candidate should have strong presentation, analytical, business development and communication skills. They should be experienced in engaging with senior level executives and demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and discretion when representing the British government. Working as part of a large team and matrix structure, you will need to be highly organised, able to handle competing demands and quickly grasp new topics.
Main duties and responsibilities:
- Focusing only on those activities where government can add value, you will work as part of the DBT Germany Future Mobility team to develop and deliver a plan to boost trade, investment and market access for the mobility industry between the UK and Germany;
- You will proactively engage with potential and existing future mobility investors into the UK to generate new high value jobs for the UK economy as well as secure existing employment;
- You will analyse and map strategic demand trends and engage with the UKs highest potential exporters from the future mobility sector to boost UK exports to Germany;
- Working with trade policy and market access leads within DBT Germany, you will provide timely and insightful ad-hoc and scheduled analysis on topics relevant to the UK-German future mobility sector;
- You will lead on and deliver business events, VIP and Ministerial visits, including coordinating detailed and concise briefings in order to prepare seniors and Ministers for important engagements in the German market;
- Organise key meetings and calls with relevant business stakeholders, produce meeting readouts;
- You should be comfortable engaging and presenting to senior stakeholders on a regular basis and be able to articulate your advice and recommendations based on your experience and own analysis in a clear and concise manner.
Essential qualifications, skills and experience:
- Excellent oral and written English and German (to at least level C1 CEFR);
- 3-5 years of Business to Business and/or Business to Government experience;
- An interest in the field of Future Mobility, with emphasis on and experience in the area of automotive;
- A university degree in relevant field and/or proven commercial/economic and/or policy experience;
- Experience in presenting to senior stakeholders in government and/or business;
- Detailed knowledge of either the German or UK business environment;
- Strong analytical and research skills including the ability to identify trends based on your own and 3rd party research;
- Strong organisational skills and experience leading projects including events and trade fair participation;
- A demonstrable interest in business, trade and policy matters;
- Excellent interpersonal skills and excels working as part of a team;
- Self-starter and ability to work well on own initiative,
- Excellent IT skills, especially Excel PowerPoint and modern CRM systems.