Senior Trade Officer Health & Life Sciences

at  Foreign Commonwealth Office

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• 3 years of experience in international trade with knowledge of legal and business regulation or Health & Life Sciences.
• University degree in Business Administration, Economics, International Relations or related areas to Health.
• MS Office literacy (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Proactivity and generation of new ideas and methodologies to achieve an outcome.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to conduct market research, analyze data, and translate insights into actionable strategies.
• Experience in acquiring and interpreting business data and market intelligence.
• Excellent communication and relationship building skills internally and externally.
• A positive, honest and loyal team player willing to contribute to the overall objectives.
• Organized and efficient in work and time management

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Knowledge of the British-Mexican relationships.
• Experience of working with UK companies/organisations.
• Knowledge of the Mexican Health & Life Sciences sectors.
• A good understanding of international trade and of the Mexican economy.
• Experience in trade promotion, business development, or related fields, preferably in an international context.
• Project management skills, including the ability to prioritize tasks, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet deadlines.
• Experience of the UK or working with UK-based stakeholders.
• Experience working with events, marketing or eagerness to learn about these fields quickly

MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB:

You will provide support to the Head of Health & Life Sciences sectors within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) at the British Embassy in Mexico City or Consulate in Monterrey/Guadalajara in their efforts to support the development and promotion of business opportunities throughout Mexico for UK companies from the Health & Life Sciences sectors.
This is an exciting opportunity to work on improving bilateral trade relations between the United Kingdom and Mexico through increased trade flow and enhancing knowledge-sharing networks and ecosystems in fast-growing sectors such as AgriTech and Food+Drink sectors. You will have the opportunity to gain experience in organising trade promotion activities within Mexico, and potentially the wider region and the UK. Additionally, you will gain high-level experience dealing with senior business stakeholders and large companies while developing your knowledge of Health & Life Sciences.
The position will suit an energetic team player and motivated self-starter with a passion and genuine interest in international business and trade. It will require a positive and proactive attitude in terms of unlocking opportunities for UK companies in Mexico.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) of the Government of the United Kingdom aims to secure UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade by:

• Bringing together policy, promotion and financial expertise to break down barriers to trade and investment, and help businesses succeed.
• Promoting British trade and investment across the world.
• Building the global appetite for British goods and services.

The DBT in Mexico is recruiting for the position of Senior Trade Officer Health & Life Sciences to contribute to this ambition.
It will be a full time position starting in June 2024, subject to receipt of a successful security clearance.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Senior Trade Officer for Health & Life Sciences with the British Embassy will mainly:

Support the development and promotion of business opportunities throughout Mexico for UK companies from the Health & Life Sciences, sectors by:

• Proactively seize market opportunities for UK companies with a focus on the Sector and Regional strategy for the delivery of the established targets for each Financial Year,
• Providing advice to UK companies in their export journey to Mexico with market intelligence, regulatory information and business advice,
• Opening opportunities in the different distribution channels in the country to increase the number of UK products in each sector,
• Conduct comprehensive market research to identify new companies with the potential to expand to Mexico,
• Develop and manage relationships with key stakeholders (distributors, importers, hospitals, government agencies, etc) to increase the awareness and desire for UK products,
• Support the long term work with COFPERIS to bring down trade barriers and guarantee market access of UK products.
• Working closely with the Marketing and Communication team and contributing to communications and marketing activities the sector to promote the UK capabilities and achieve the highest impact possible for the correct audience.
• Identify market access barriers for UK Health & Life Sciences products (eg pharmaceuticals, medical devices). Develop and implement plans with the Embassy trade policy team and the industry representatives to unblock these barriers via the relevant Mexican authorities.
• Pay particular focus to sustainable solutions from UK innovative Health & Life Sciences companies to advance the teams’ cross sectoral Clean Growth targets
• Effective line management of an intern.
• Ensure good financial, project and procurement management of work in the team.
• As part of the DBT team, deliver work in line with Embassy Values (Honesty, Professionalism, Inclusion & Respect)
• Contribute to the corporate objectives of the Embassy.
• Support the wider work of the DBT Mexico team and other Embassy sections when required, including regional engagement, internal coordination and planning, events, analysis and briefing, and contribute to the corporate objectives of the British Embassy.
• Collaboration with other Embassy colleagues covering trade and economic policy, climate change and science and innovation in particular, identifying synergies and contributing to shared goals across the Mission.
• Collaboration with other UK government departments within the UK, to support cross-Government priorities such as clean growth and to support future commercial opportunities for the UK.

Resources Managed:
Effective line management of 1 Intern.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• 3 years of experience in international trade with knowledge of legal and business regulation or Health & Life Sciences.
• University degree in Business Administration, Economics, International Relations or related areas to Health.
• MS Office literacy (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Proactivity and generation of new ideas and methodologies to achieve an outcome.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to conduct market research, analyze data, and translate insights into actionable strategies.
• Experience in acquiring and interpreting business data and market intelligence.
• Excellent communication and relationship building skills internally and externally.
• A positive, honest and loyal team player willing to contribute to the overall objectives.
• Organized and efficient in work and time management.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Knowledge of the British-Mexican relationships.
• Experience of working with UK companies/organisations.
• Knowledge of the Mexican Health & Life Sciences sectors.
• A good understanding of international trade and of the Mexican economy.
• Experience in trade promotion, business development, or related fields, preferably in an international context.
• Project management skills, including the ability to prioritize tasks, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet deadlines.
• Experience of the UK or working with UK-based stakeholders.
• Experience working with events, marketing or eagerness to learn about these fields quickly.

Required behaviours
Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together
Application deadline
12 May 2024
Grade
Executive Officer (EO)
Type of Position
Full-time, Permanent
Working hours per week
38
Region
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Country/Territory
Mexico
Location (City)
Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey
Type of Post
British Embassy
Number of vacancies
1
Salary Currency